Why Stimulants Help ADHD

It seems like stimulants and hyperactivity shouldn't mix, so why are they so often prescribed to treat ADHD?

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[amandapicard]

Finally an ADHD explanation that doesn't focus on children with ADHD.
Thanks SciShow!!!!

[PerriwinklePadfoot]

As an ADHD person, the "go back 10 seconds" button is a godsend. Took me a while to get through this video lol but I loved it!

[Hison-Dcarman]

I was severely traumatized years ago as a teenage, got diagnosed with ADHD. Spent my whole life fighting ADHD. I suffered severe depression and mental disorder. Not until my wife recommended me to psilocybin mushrooms treatment. Psilocybin treatment saved my life honestly. 8 years totally clean. Much respect to mother nature the great magic shrooms.

[formantaudio]

The world needs to recognize ADHD in adults is a real thing. People on the streets n stuff gotta stop playing street psychologist telling everyone ADHD folk are manic and ADHD doesn't exist. There are so many people out there expressing dangerous misinformation.

[HowtoADHD]

Amazing explanation, thank you so much for tackling this!!! Will link to it in the description of our video today :)

[Yewon]

As someone with ADHD that has caused me to lose almost every job I've ever had I thank God people are taking this disorder seriously. Adderall has given me my life back and I finally moved out of my parent's house at age 34.

[potatolegs]

These stimulants can really make a world of difference for someone with adhd.

I was luckily diagnosed pretty young. The difference was night and day, I went from failing in school to the top of my class. Now I’m in college and I can’t even comprehend how different my life would be if I’d never gotten diagnosed and medicated.

[isabellevance]

I wasn't diagnosed until i was in my 40's. I'm a little jealous of people who are diagnosed young. The disorder is for real and wreaks havoc on lives when left undiagnosed. I was the last one to know i had an issue. You did a great job on the vid. explaining the chemical mechanics of the disorder, and sometimes a gift.

[korynnininm]

Fun fact when i was about 6 my teacher thought i had adhd and said my parents should take me to a doctor to check I out. My parents instead just ignored it. So for years I just thought I was broken. I drank a lot of coffee cause it was the only thing that seemed to even me out enough to function in class.

[charlotte-mgwj]

I'm 35', ADD wasn't "A thing" when I was a kid, so I went through school doing badly and thinking "why does everyone hate me?" instead. Trust me, I had extra tuition, special classes, counselling, parents limited my junk food intake you name it but after being diagnosed with ADD at 31 and prescribed Ritalin I saw a bigger improvement in 6 weeks than 6 years of non chemical intervention. You can take that "drugs are not the answer" attitude and stick it were the sun don't shine; for me Ritalin has been a life changing miracle.


Edit; I honestly didn’t expect so many replies to this comment. Just to clarify, ADHD was a thing when I was growing up here in the UK, but it was “that thing that doesn’t exist and is just some excuse for bad kids that America has made up”. I’m sad to see from some of these comments that, for some people, nothing has changed.

[mzelk]

I'm 22 and it's a little sad to learn about this now bc this information couldve helped me so much at any other point in my life. I was in kindergarten not understanding why I had trouble progressing at reading and math like the other kids and feeling like I wasn't good enough. the shame starts so early but it'd be so easy to explain this to kids. I had so many teachers early on who made me feel horrible for struggling with homework.

[keaten]

I just wanted to use this as an opportunity to say if you're feeling a sense of desperation, whether that be in the form of depression, anxiety, or anything you feel like is holding you back in life, to talk to your doctor! You do not need to suffer through this alone, and you certainly should never feel like it is just "something you need to deal with." I've personally been diagnosed with ADD recently and it's taken me all this time to finally accept that it doesn't make me weak or pathetic to seek help for something that was clearly holding me back and damaging my work/personal relationships! Let's de-stigmatize mental health and de-stigmatize seeking help.

[Pibblepunk]

I get a lot of comfort out of learning more about ADHD. Having a real explanation for how and why my brain seems to function differently from most others' brings a big sense of relief.

[MeghanMoore]

Irony: my ADHD kicked in around 3 minutes and I had to rewind the video to rewatch what I'd missed. 😂

[andik]

Noticing a pretty bird gives me the same stimulus as when I finished my PhD. Actually watching the bird feels better.

[Spills]

Almost my entire life till my mid 30"s I was put on practically every depression med...I knew since preteen that something was always off but could never FIX IT and just got used to suffering everyday.
I had truly crushing anxiety and it only got worse as I aged to the point of not going out (besides work till I would just quit...over and over and over from impulsion) for only if I absolutely needed something that I couldnt go without.

At this point that is almost like a bad dream....from truly complete destruction of my life from anxiety to now almost seeing that as another person....Once I came to the end of taking and trying practically all the depression meds possible I just accepted it "is what it is".
Anytime adhd and medication came up I was told it would likely amplify my anxiety....HOW WRONG EACH AND EVERY SINGLE DOCTOR WAS...Except for one Psych....
I will always remember taking the very first dose of adderall and at 37 years of age...within minutes I started to cry....I was walking down the road and said out loud to myself "Its Over"....I knew as soon as it started working everything for the first time in all those years FELT NORMAL....Not anxious, not depressed, not tired, not the complete lack of hope...NORMAL.
It was all I ever wanted.

Before I saw that Doctor I told myself "This is the last stop, if this doesnt work I dont wanna live no more"
After 30 some years I was so worn down from fighting everyday....I had given up and was ready to leave...for good.

But that last attempt did work, and all the destroyed family relationships slowly started to improve when DAY AFTER DAY AFTER DAY people began to see "HE IS NOT THE SAME PERSON".
It truly was a gigantic personality shift....and it couldnt have been anything else....Im very grateful to of had the suffering stop basically do look back and wish I and the professionals would of figured it out far earlier....I sacrificed practically everything until, then....Missed out on College and so many other things I absolutely would have done if I had known....But....BETTER LATE THEN NEVER.

Mental illness can be brutal...In the end we are really still in the infancy stage as far as medications for it etc....KEEP YOUR HEADS UP.

[Soleilune]

I was diagnosed with ADHD when I was 21, about 3 years ago. When I first got the Adderall prescription, it seemed like an absolute miracle drug, because I could finally pay attention to things (other than my own interests) for the first time in my life. On top of that, it almost elminated my depression and anxiety. Which was interesting, because the SSRI anti-depressants that I had been on never seemed to work for me at all. In fact, they just always made me feel sick and light-headed, so I stopped taking them, but the Adderall worked.

Throughout my time in the public school system, I consistently got As in all of my science classes, but straight Ds in everything else, which confused my teachers for years. It was just because science actually interested me enough that I was able to pay attention to it. So, I guess, according to the theory talked about here, those classes were releasing high levels of dopamine for me, whereas everything else just simply wasn't arousing enough for my brain.

[cailynrossiter]

Please please please do more videos on ADHD. It so often gets overlooked for "more exciting" disorders

[NachoMan]

im crying right now. you explained how i feel my entire life and nobody seems to understand.

[thelovebugs]

Based on my personal experience with ADD and Adderall, this makes sense. I can relax and even go to sleep while using this medication. (I have it prescribed, so please don't worry about drug abuse).
I would get bored very easy, as a child, although I was interested in things, I just couldn't stay focused on it, and I would get very frustrated. I always scored very well on the IQ tests, but I could not apply my intelligence.
What really caused me difficulty was/is, behaviors that some considered a behavioral issue. It causes many issues, especially as a child, due to my issues being attributed to being a bad kid. What was worse, my parents were told what was going on, even being involved with my therapy. There were many suggestions made by my psychiatrist, but never followed through. I had a terrible time during elementary school, all of the way into high school. My father could be very mentally and emotionally abusive. There was some times that involved him being physically abusive.
I was a truly good kid, a good 'egg', being my term that describes an individual that was born as a wonderful child. It was a difficult time, because I couldn't understand why teachers and my parents were mean to me.
I wanted to attend school wearing a suit and tie, as well as a brief case.
I was picked on as a child. Often.
I just couldn't understand. As an adult, who was also sexually abused, I suffer fron PTSD, which I am dealing with pretty well. This wasn't always true. As I got older I pushed so much down I eventually turned drugs to cope. Around 24, I made a decision to use heroin in an effort to deal with life.
I grew up looking like Opie Taylor, and having a very similar view of the world.
No one guided me through life, only getting any 'guidance' when I was in trouble.
I loved to learn, I wanted to do well, but I just couldn't. I am under the impression that my father didn't really like me for being unable to be tough.
I am now picking up the pieces, along with an awesome support system that includes 'professionals' but they are great! No one who I know has ever taken any time to understand me.
I am a very empathetic person, which is a double edged sword.