High ambition and ADHD diagnosis?

[integration journey]

4 hours ago, Carl-Richard said:

Your takeaway was not that medication may stop working and may give serious and delibitating side effects and that there is a way to achieve essentially the same results by incorporating the correct habits and techniques? It's the last few minutes of the video that really count. I don't think you did watch the full video, or you weren't paying attention

I just need the medication for a year because the first year is the hardest one and my program is just a two year program and the second year is all practical work which everyone says is easier. 
yeah the strategies he talked about the end are good but it’s nothing new to me. His story is inspiring but at this point I do feel like I need to be medicated to do good in my program. 

Edited April 11 by integration journey

[Natasha Tori Maru]

[integration journey]

1 hour ago, Natasha Tori Maru said:

Sometimes that does work actually. 

[Natasha Tori Maru]

18 minutes ago, integration journey said:

Sometimes that does work actually. 

My half brother reports the same - he was the one who pasted this meme to me (he is diagnosed with ADHD). 

He dropped out of high school (much to my anger, but Mum was okay with it) due to his inability to focus. He is in a trade apprenticeship as a steel worker now. He refuses meds.

[Cred]

My theory seems ti suggest that a disregulated nervous system has more to do with hsp than with adhd but I'm not sure

[Cred]

On 11/04/2026 at 1:04 PM, Carl-Richard said:

Everything you're talking about flies right in the face of Dr. Mike's entire lived experience and existence as showcased in the video I posted.

If you force yourself to function with ADHD and ignore the fact that you are pursuing something you don't care about, what you get is success, but you pay with something much much much worse than depression: Functional depression.

I tend to look at hardships in my life through the lens of asking what I learned from it and because of that I never regret anything I do. However, there is one decision in my life that had a devastating impact on my life and I'm not sure if I can reverse the damage it has left on my body.

It was the decision to not give up and push through no matter what.

I did have success, I was able to study successfully, but it took an enormous toll on my body. I'm still suffering from chronic pain because of this phase in my life. It has been four years now of pain every day.

I don't believe that the lived experience of Dr. Mike is desirable at all. What happens if you push through doing the things that you don't actually want to do is that you become insecure and detached from your body.

I believe that this is the case with Dr. Mike. For him, his body is only a tool, tasked to grow like a balloon to soothe his insecurity that he has because he's making his life unnecessarily hard for his neurodivergency. I've once seen a video where he was tasked to do athletic activities like the broad jump and it's clear that he's completely detached from his body.

In some way my sensitivity saved me from pursuing this path because the chronic pain became unbearable. I think if I was not sensitive at all, I would still be on this path and suffering like Mike.

At the end of the day, what Mike wants to do is pursue his special interest. And that's what he's doing on YouTube. But if you think about it, neither does he need to take steroids or have bad body awareness to pursue it, nor does he need a PhD. He's only pursuing things he doesn't care about to prove to himself that he's good enough. I know this feeling exactly and I am so glad I have grown out of it.

Edited April 14 by Cred

[Carl-Richard]

@Cred I was pointing out your use of the word "caring". "Caring" can involve an expression of insecurity or self-deception, that's all. And we often don't know where the insecurity or self-deception begins or ends and where authenticity begins or ends. That's an ever-unfolding process, and we're free to do whatever within that.

And I can agree with the general logic, but I would say it's not limited to ADHD. Everybody I look at who push themselves way past what they want and repress the consequences of that (and that is most people who have a "job"), develop this kind of depression and lack of embodiment, and they are as neurotypical as they come.

I always looked at people in high school who talked about how they wanted to become a certain person in a certain profession, and I was always like "really?". And not coincidentally, years later, I could see them struggling, or using drugs (like Mike does; I'm referring to regular use of weed). And most people I see have this "lowered" consciousness or emotional state, not truly passionate, not truly tapped in, just getting by and forgetting about why they feel the way they feel.

There was recently an article in my country about the rampant use of alcohol by politicians; probably the most neurotypical profession there is. And just the alcohol culture in general, it exactly fits this dynamic of "drowning out" whatever you are truly feeling when you finally get off work and have time to feel. This disconnection, alienation, repression, is ubiquitous. It has to do with swallowing whatever outside standard was put in front of you and not introspecting into how you yourself feel. But sometimes you don't know better or you don't have the privilege to choose, and again, sometimes we want to pursue our insecurities or self-deceive ourselves. That's our prerogative as humans.

Edited April 14 by Carl-Richard

[Cred]

@Carl-Richard No disagreement here.

Quote

I was pointing out your use of the word "caring".

Yes your critique of my word choice is correct. People with ADHD are less able to find purpose in conformity, but this doesn't mean they don't care necessarily. It means they shouldn't care, but sometimes they actually double down out of insecurity and end up caring more than even neurotypicals to fit in as a form of overcompensation.

You see this in people like Clavicular, Andrew Tate and Donald Trump for example who over compensate and therefore embody this caricature version of masculinity and capitalism. As I said I know this too well and I fell into this hole myself with my obsession with David Goggins and James Scholz.

Edited April 14 by Cred

[Nivsch]

On 10.4.2026 at 4:47 AM, Leo Gura said:

Don't they have meds for this?

I would test out whatever meds are available. That would be your first step.

If I remember correctly, Destiny had success with meds for his recent ADHD diagnosis.

It is difficult for me to accept meds as the fundamental treatment to any mental condition.

I am not speaking on acute phases when the person is overwhelmed, then sure, get help from meds.

But overall I think meds have to be used as training wheels and rarely as the ultimate solution.

Because how a person suppose to trust himself and be really connected to himself when he think he needs a chemical mediator for life? I fear this will not pass without breaking something inside the person self trust and self esteem, and I admit I have difficulty with this.

Edited April 15 by Nivsch

[Nivsch]

On 10.4.2026 at 9:03 PM, Carl-Richard said:

@integration journey This is truly the most insightful and revealing and inspiring video about ADHD you will ever watch. Mike went from being the worst in the class, to being the best in the class while medicated, to experiencing side effects from the medications and eventually losing the effect from the medications and then finding out a way to get off the medications and still function at a high level. It's truly a hero's journey:

 

Our body is smarter than any medication and will reach tolerance sooner or later leaving the disorder more complicated than it was before the intervention. This is what happens when we try to teach our brain how it needs to behave (rather than connect with it deeper) and think we can get away with this.

Edited April 16 by Nivsch

[Ry4n]

yes diagnosed here and took dex amphetamine for 2 years maybe 400 tablets worth but no longer take them because no longer needed. 
 

Stimulant Meds are first line treatment for adhd for a reason so always go with that because even if you don’t take them for long they can help you understand the condition better and work with your mind to function better and have permanent benefits to your executive functioning, hopefully allowing you to not need them very much if at all later on in the future.