First of all, nope. While people with ADHD are not all just magically immune to addiction, I’ve yet to meet any ADHD person who hasn’t just forgotten to take their meds. Which really isn’t something addicts tend to do.
In fact, for some people—like myself—if I skip a dose, i kind of just stop taking my meds and it takes effort to start again. Like the opposite of withdrawal where i have to force myself to start taking them again.
Now this non-addiction is probably also influenced by the fact that adderall dosages are low enough that addiction is less likely in general regardless of neurodivergence.
Furthermore, adderall is dextroamphetamine not methamphetamine. They may look similar but the methyl group on the latter is actually enough to change its behavior significantly. Meth’s uptake is much faster —and thus the effect is stronger—than dextroamphetamine.
There are other things which slow the uptake too, like the anion for adhd meds tends to be sulfate or saccharate (or a mix of both) while the anion for meth is HCl which makes much easier to dissolve and thus gives meth stronger/faster acting effects both of which increase addiction potential.
Lastly, ADHD meds like Adderall are built to slow the uptake even further. The dose is not entirely comprised of dextroamphetamine salts but also levoamphetamine which is several times weaker than dextroamphetamine in regards to reuptake and production of dopamine.
Edit: Removed the incorrect explanation of the left handed enantiomer.
Do you not comprehend the difference between taking an addictive medication in a safe way and not? That doesn’t make the medication itself change. It’s still an addictive medication.
I’m well aware of what adderall is. Methamphetamine also exists as an ADHD prescription medication.
You’re spouting nonsense. You don’t understand the effects of the left and right-handed isomer. Read more. It’s good for you.
Oh good catch on the enantiomers, thanks, I was thinking about a different drug.
As for the rest, you didn’t say “Its an addictive medication” you said
It’s addictive to everyone the same way
Which is categorically false for basically any addictive drug in the world. Your brain and biochemistry are going to have a significant effect on whether or not you get addicted to a substance regardless of whether you take it in a “safe way” or not.
A great example of this is alcohol. People use alcohol in a not-so-safe way all the time (see: any college fraternity ever). However the “I’m so addicted to alcohol I’ll drink hand sanitizer to satisfy that craving” really doesn’t show up very much despite binge drinking being common.
Taking addictive substances in a safe way reduces the chances of addiction in general but the actual likelihood of addiction is significantly impacted by the way the individual’s brain/body process it.
Addendum: Oh and the reason I went into detail about composition and addiction potential was because
k, try some meth kids
Made it sound like you might not have known there is a significant difference between meth and the more typical ADHD meds (AFAIK being prescribed actual meth quite is rare in general and even more unlikely for kids) so I thought I’d explain it
First of all, nope. While people with ADHD are not all just magically immune to addiction, I’ve yet to meet any ADHD person who hasn’t just forgotten to take their meds. Which really isn’t something addicts tend to do.
In fact, for some people—like myself—if I skip a dose, i kind of just stop taking my meds and it takes effort to start again. Like the opposite of withdrawal where i have to force myself to start taking them again.
Now this non-addiction is probably also influenced by the fact that adderall dosages are low enough that addiction is less likely in general regardless of neurodivergence.
Furthermore, adderall is dextroamphetamine not methamphetamine. They may look similar but the methyl group on the latter is actually enough to change its behavior significantly. Meth’s uptake is much faster —and thus the effect is stronger—than dextroamphetamine.
There are other things which slow the uptake too, like the anion for adhd meds tends to be sulfate or saccharate (or a mix of both) while the anion for meth is HCl which makes much easier to dissolve and thus gives meth stronger/faster acting effects both of which increase addiction potential.
Lastly, ADHD meds like Adderall are built to slow the uptake even further. The dose is not entirely comprised of dextroamphetamine salts but also levoamphetamine which is several times weaker than dextroamphetamine in regards to reuptake and production of dopamine.
Edit: Removed the incorrect explanation of the left handed enantiomer.
Do you not comprehend the difference between taking an addictive medication in a safe way and not? That doesn’t make the medication itself change. It’s still an addictive medication.
I’m well aware of what adderall is. Methamphetamine also exists as an ADHD prescription medication.
You’re spouting nonsense. You don’t understand the effects of the left and right-handed isomer. Read more. It’s good for you.
Oh good catch on the enantiomers, thanks, I was thinking about a different drug.
As for the rest, you didn’t say “Its an addictive medication” you said
Which is categorically false for basically any addictive drug in the world. Your brain and biochemistry are going to have a significant effect on whether or not you get addicted to a substance regardless of whether you take it in a “safe way” or not.
A great example of this is alcohol. People use alcohol in a not-so-safe way all the time (see: any college fraternity ever). However the “I’m so addicted to alcohol I’ll drink hand sanitizer to satisfy that craving” really doesn’t show up very much despite binge drinking being common.
Taking addictive substances in a safe way reduces the chances of addiction in general but the actual likelihood of addiction is significantly impacted by the way the individual’s brain/body process it.
Addendum: Oh and the reason I went into detail about composition and addiction potential was because
Made it sound like you might not have known there is a significant difference between meth and the more typical ADHD meds (AFAIK being prescribed actual meth quite is rare in general and even more unlikely for kids) so I thought I’d explain it