[N]o other class of medications in virtually all of medicine inspires more baseless fears, intentional disinformation, and wild beliefs as do the stimulants used to treat ADHD.

Interestingly, these fears are almost entirely an American phenomenon that hardly exists elsewhere in the world.

[H]aving ADHD lowers a person’s estimated life expectancy by 12.7 years.

From other articles on the site:

  • ADHD medication use lowers risk of death by 19%, risk of overdose by 50%, and it reduces hospitalizations

  • [T]he risk of substance abuse decreases substantially when [ADHD] patients are treated with stimulant medication

  • PapaEmeritusIII [any]@hexbear.netEnglish
    24·
    2 days ago

    I think a lot of people’s fears come down to some combination of these silly reasons:

    • Drugs bad
    • Drug name is similar to methamphetamine and meth is bad
    • I know someone who abused stimulants and it didn’t go well for them, so that’s what’s going to happen to you too, even if you just take them as prescribed
    • ADHD is fake and you’re just taking drugs because you’re lazy
    • ADHD is real, but if you can’t overcome it through sheer effort of will, you’re lazy. And a drug addict. And that’s bad
    • ADHD is fake; it was invented by big pharma to peddle addictive drugs. So you’re being taken advantage of and you should stop taking your medication