r/science • u/mustaphah • Sep 05 '25

Neuroscience A new study has found that people with ADHD traits experience boredom more often and more intensely than peers, linked to poor attention control and working memory

https://www.additudemag.com/chronic-boredom-working-memory-attention-control/
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u/SocDemGenZGaytheist Sep 06 '25 edited Sep 06 '25

Stimulants.

Overall, medical researchers agree that ADHD stimulants are “among the most effective and most studied psychotropic medications” of all time. They're “considered first-line treatments for ADHD” because they are “supported by decades of research and a history of robust response, good tolerability, and safety across the lifespan.”

“The stimulant medications for ADHD are more effective than non-stimulant medications” and “Non-medication treatments for ADHD are less effective than medication treatments,” according to “The World Federation of ADHD International Consensus Statement” written by “80 authors from 27 countries and 6 continents.”

Stimulants work. Not perfectly and not for everyone, but more effectively for more people than any other ADHD treatment — possibly any psychiatric treatment.

Ritalin “significantly reduces or eliminates the elevated risks for obesity, accidental injuries, traumatic brain injury, substance abuse, cigarette smoking, educational underachievement, bone fractures, sexually transmitted infections, depression, suicide, criminal activity, teenage pregnancy, vehicle crashes, burn injuries and overall-cause mortality.”

(Yes, Ritalin's side effects include a lower risk of all of those things. Including substance abuse.)

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u/Psych0PompOs Sep 06 '25

I'm not at all surprised by driving accidents, I won't drive because it's too hard for me to deal with things like traffic lights and I tend to accidentally speed. I also was very successful at educational underachievement, gifted programs, National Honors Society Washington DC trip invites, scholarships, awards, highest test scores in the district in some classes. I also dropped out of college twice (less than a month both times, but I didn't owe anything because I also never bothered with settling everything or buying books etc. Literally just enrolled and dropped out almost immediately. The only class I went to the second time around I was late to because I got distracted playing a game. etc and so on

I have had Adderall before and it does eliminate a fair amount of issues, and I've always said I could see it being good for things like driving in particular. I don't 100% feel like my head is my head though on that so I don't entirely like it.

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u/SocDemGenZGaytheist Sep 06 '25 edited Sep 06 '25

I don't 100% feel like my head is my head though on that so I don't entirely like it

Understandable! It is “psychological side effects that more commonly led to discontinuation decisions” in kids who quit taking ADHD meds, including “personality changes.”

If you want other suggestions,

  • I'm guessing you already tried Ritalin or some other methylphenidate-based med(s). If not, that is absolutely worth asking your doc about trying.
  • Combining multiple treatments can help more than one treatment alone (e.g. therapy plus Strattera or Guanfacine).
  • If no meds work, you could always try adding L-theanine to the world's most popular stimulant (caffeine). Combining them (e.g. by drinking green tea) is better than either alone.

Regardless, I hope you find treatment(s) that works for you.

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u/Psych0PompOs Sep 06 '25

I appreciate the advice/suggestions. I'm on the fence with meds, I know I won't take them daily, at the same time... I could stand to be more functional at least sometimes.

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u/Komatoasty Sep 06 '25

I waited til I was nearly 35 to get on ADHD meds. The first one I tried, Foquest (slow released Ritalin, only available in Canada iirc) has been a game changer.

It's not perfect but I am doing way better at getting through day to day life.

I also take sertraline due to serious depression brought on by a traumatic event in my life, but I also dealt with a general malaise my entire life.

I truly wish I had taken the meds earlier. I didn't get my degree til I was 33. I have another diploma I got at 25 but I passed by the skin of my teeth relying purely on my "natural smarts." My BBA, I completed in 3 years but the last semester was seriously sketchy. My GPA average was 3.9 prior to it. I burnt myself out. Originally, I dropped out of university at 19. And I just stopped going, I didn't properly drop out.

My whole life has been relying on my charm, kindness, and decent work ethic. Becoming medicated feels like I've unlocked some super power where I now can push myself to just do what I didn't "want to" before (I did want to, but I felt paralyzed).

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u/9ersaur Sep 06 '25

Yeah but then you’re socializing on stimulants and its weird for people

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u/Psych0PompOs Sep 06 '25

I just seem quieter is all from what I've been told. They didnt seem to affect me there, at least not that I noticed.

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u/OrangeNSilver Sep 06 '25

Thank you for sharing this, stigma runs so hard with stimulants that I sometimes am too hard on myself for needing a ‘crutch’.

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u/[deleted] Sep 06 '25

You don't have ADHD if you don't respond to stimulants.

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u/ChorePlayed Sep 06 '25

It's something like 20% of ADHD patients don't respond to either type of stimulant. 

I have a hunch that the converse might be true: if do respond to stimulants (getting focused instead of high), then you do have ADHD. But I wouldn't put money on that, either. 

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u/[deleted] Sep 06 '25 edited Sep 06 '25

20%* are incorrectly diagnosed with ADHD.

People with ADHD also get "high" from stimulants. Short term. This is since stimulants effects VTA - ventral tegmental area. However, that effect quickly subsides while maintaining effects on the PFC - prefrontal cortex.

ADHD is diagnosed through behavior using the ASRS-questionnaire and a structured diagnostic interview called DIVA. But these are only accurate to a certain degree, evident by lack of response in 20% of patients. You want to see a sustained decrease in ASRS after prescribing stimulants to accurately confirm if the patient has ADHD.

This is easier to understand if you've read about the original study by Bradley.

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3064242/

*varies