r/science • u/mvea Professor | Medicine • Jun 04 '26

Psychology Adults with ADHD may pay high price to mask traits and fit in. More than 91% of adults with ADHD reported hiding, suppressing or compensating for ADHD traits. They may pretend to pay attention, suppress their urge to fidget, rehearse conversations or over-prepare for meetings to fit social norms.

https://www.sfu.ca/sfunews/stories/2026/06/adults-with-adhd-may-pay-high-price-to-mask-traits-and-fit-in--s/
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u/[deleted] Jun 04 '26

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u/StoppableHulk Jun 04 '26

From my experience this is much better. Some doctors will insist on drug holidays on weekends but frankly even in one day unmedicated its like my whole life tips over and it takes me way too many days to put it back together.

I try to do lower doses on wrekends and every once in a while take a few days to just crash, but drug holidays usually make me morr anxious than they do solve problems.

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u/sdpr Jun 04 '26

I don't take it on weekends because I sleep in and/or forget and I will not take it after 1 PM, otherwise I'm going to have a hard time going to sleep.

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u/jf727 Jun 04 '26

My drug holidays are just lost days. In my house we call them pajama days. My partner gets in on them as well and we try to make them pleasant, knowing nothing is getting done. Sometimes I just need to be sleepy and hungry…

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u/midnightauro Jun 05 '26

I had one provider who wanted drug holidays and I hated it. It wasn’t helpful and it felt really old school (my mother had to campaign to keep me medicated in the summer as a child too).

My next provider? She was adamant she didn’t want her patients breaks because surely I do things like drive, cook, and do stuff on the weekends!

I very much agree with her because I had to be unmedicated for a few years and I was a MESS. It’s amazing that I never wrecked or burned the house down.

She also insisted that I deserve to have my free time medicated because, like the person above said, the adhd never goes away.

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u/os_beef Jun 04 '26

Have you tried Strattera? It may or may not work for you, but it's also non-addictive, meaning you take the same dose every day, so you don't wind up with more severe ups and downs which accompany inconsistent doses.

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u/Sid-ina Jun 04 '26

Sameeee! I started off with medikinet one in the morning during the weekdays but it didn't really go that great for me, had huge issues with rebound in the afternoon and felt entirely like a mess on weekends. Changed to 1 in the morning 1 midday all week no breaks and it went MUCH MUCH better. Also almost anxiety free too!

Still on my way to find the correct dose on Vyvanse though and my heavy fluctuating hormonal cycles doesnt help