Comment by nashashmi

I hope you don't find my experiences as a guiding principle for your own decisions. Sharing on HN in the age of AI sometimes makes us tight lipped so you never hear the full story here.

I have seen others who took it and something changed in them. I have taken other psych medications for stuff other than ADHD. And I saw myself change. It made me less vulnerable and more protective. I sought stable situations rather than be open to new experiences.

The special care and privilege is how people back off and lay low around you. They don’t expose you to the full line of emotions they are feeling. They give you more time to come around. They give you less stress. It is the external awareness that has the benefits.

When you are protected from stressful situations, or you are deafened to excitement, you are like in a state of peace and preservation. Never growing. Just calm. Never encountering problems. Never finding solutions. Never developing. Medication gets you there, not fully but just enough that you learn and develop slowly.