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Comment by dahart | Hacker News Reader

> 1/5 of the population suddenly increases output

I’ve heard studies show Adderall doesn’t help people without ADHD… googling now seems to confirm. Apparently lots of people, especially college kids, take it thinking it will help, but it actually can slow them down.

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Not a study, but this article was enjoyable. Some of the experiences there say it made their writing overly perseverative on detail, too expansive, too many edits and re-writes. Sort of faster in the short term but slower over the long term?

https://pioneerworks.org/broadcast/club-med-adderall

My understanding is the amph. works the same in everyone - minus the edge cases.

The main difference is that the magnitude is greater in people with ADHD than those without. A reduction in hyperactivity, for example, is not really apparent in people that are not overtly hyperactive to begin with.

Beside, ADHD is kind of a nebulous label for a lot of symptoms. Having ADHD vs. not having ADHD is not exactly binary.

“Taking ‘Smart Drugs’ Like Adderall Without ADHD Actually Decreases Productivity”

https://www.forbes.com/sites/darreonnadavis/2023/06/14/takin...

> a new study finds that using these drugs while not suffering from attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder decreases productivity and increases the amount of time needed to complete tasks.

People using it for studying don’t take adderall to be more productive, they take it to be productive for much longer. It’s a stimulant that keeps you up all night and lets you study, not makes your studying more efficient.

That is not true. Vyvanse, caffeine, etc., helps my brain calm down and focus. I don’t get hyper. In fact, if I have too much caffeine, I start yawning.

My wife, who does not have ADHD (at all), gets hyper from stimulants.

That’s the difference.

That's the difference between two individuals, not necessarily the difference between having ADHD and not having ADHD.

Being tired after drinking caffeine is common.

I am not suggesting anyone use their response to stimulants as a diagnosis of ADHD. However, speak to anyone who has it and they will relay that stimulants make them calm, not hyper.

People without ADHD get hyper, not calm. Some others also get calm.

But people with ADHD who take stimulants do not get hyper.

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