Should You Use Medication Long Term?
should I use stimulants long term so let’s understand why psychiatrists prescribe medication psychiatrists prescribe medication to achieve a particular outcome given a circumstance so if your situation is that I can’t afford to go to therapy right now I don’t have time for therapy I don’t have time for bandwidth I can’t learn productivity skills I need to get my mind to function in 15 minutes then you should take a pill long-term stimulant use I do not recommend there isn’t great evidence that it is harmful in any profound way it seems to be the most harmful during development but if you’re like a 25 year old and you get start started on stimulants and you take them for 30 years there isn’t great evidence that that hurts you in a significant way I’m not a fan of it but the key thing to understand is that taking medication is more about your circumstance than it is about your brain so with all mental illness and when it comes to mental health medication is a shortcut sometimes it’s a necessity I’d say in 30 of people it’s a necessity
Full video: 02:06:02 – https://www.twitch.tv/videos/1904801072
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38 Comments
Full vid?
Loving the comments explaining what medication means to them. Calling medication a shortcut is a bit reductive.
That being said, I am on sertraline partially because of circumstances and seeing as it's making my mouth taste like metal, I can't wait to improve my circumstances enough to start getting off of it. So far, it's helped a little, but it's only been two weeks. I'm using it in conjunction with coaching and therapy. Without the medication, neither will be as effective. I may have to stay on some kind of medication, since I got the autism and attention and memory issues, but we'll see.
“Seems to be the most harmful during development”
Cool, so glad I grew in the generation where being a boy was seen as a behavioral problem, requiring drugs.
I love you❤
Most pschirst are brickwall. You allways recmomed recomed mindfulles
For me it was “I’m going to take this Ritalin to get through college while I develop the skills to function without it”. Now I’m corporate as fuck but I’ve positioned myself into a role where I get to use some critical thought and move quickly between tasks so I don’t even consider taking the meds. The reality is that I am a different person on the meds, arguably better, but not myself. And with therapy, I’ve been able to find a solid middle ground of still being me but also being a productive employee. I don’t believe I would have proven myself as a creative problem solver to my manager and director if I was medicated, but I would also have been fired by now for productivity issues if I hadn’t done the therapy
@destiny
I feel like, even if it’s not super harmful to take it long term, it’s the fact that you become reliant on a medication to function, and then you feel like, without it, you’re not yourself. Also, it’s just a bit more affordable long term if you can develop the skills and not have to take medication than to take medication forever because you never learned the skills. I think it can really help you get started tho.
How weird, as a psychiatrist, to have a personal bias against a usually necessary medication for a diagnosed disorder 🙄
A shortcut? Not in the US. It’s been my experience that due to our woefully inadequate healthcare system, medications are used as a way to pacify people because there’s just not enough access and availability to counselors. In some practices, you’re seen by a psychiatrist first—who simply prescribes you an antidepressant with no real understanding of what your issues are. Then, if available—you’re given access to a counselor. People are completely and unnecessarily medicated, and all you have to do is look at the results. There’s no real healing taking place? We just have angry zombies.
Medication served as a "guiding hand" for me. It basically showed me what it was like to behave neurotypically and function better as an adult so when I went off the meds, while there was definitely a lapse in my ability, the skills had been established and just needed building up.
Good to know!
I was basically forced to take a heap of these things since second grade!
I am now 24
I stoped taking it all last year
My body was ruined
My mind was ruined
I didn't GET to develope, normally or otherwise
I have mountains of trauma
I wasn't born with any problems
My problems were made
My only problem, was being born to the wrong family.
I remember getting put on Vyvanse at 14 just thinking oh this is supposed to help. Struggle to function without it now at 23, even after taking a years break.
You don’t assume anything when your recommended to take something as a kid by your parents and doctors.
Medication if it doesn't solve a systematic defiency (you cannot make a hormone/protein in the body) is just a band aid, sometime is a must like a band aid, but not the treatment itself, well usually not.
For me it’s the fuzz… the brain fog. I think therapy would help 75% of my symptoms except that. The only other solution is 1-2 hours of intense cardio daily. Which isn’t incredibly sustainable either especially each morning.
I was put on Anti-depressants/psychotics as child, until I quit without the Doctors permision at the age of 19, and ever since I've felt better than ever.
Trust me, you don't need pills to be happy.
Wait, i was on stimulates like Vyvanse for school since i was 7 till 20. What are the long term effects for development
Schizophrenia and bipolar disorder would like to have a word…
My circumstance is that my brain is ducked up by combined ADHD
What I’m wondering is, why is it so damn difficult to find a medication for anxiety or depression that’s effective and doesn’t have terrible side effects? The only meds that helped my anxiety a bit were Xanax and Wellbutrin. Both caused annoying side effects and addiction is a major concern with the first, since I’m an addict in long-term recovery. Sucks that there aren’t better options
This guy talk yelps like donald trump..dont get the appeal..another influencer portraying hes an expert on everything… blek
My particular circumstances require me to take coffee for a semester, twice a year, for 5 years.
How many years did you guys push this on developing minds starting at age 5? Some people have been on these drugs for 15years before their brains are even finished developing
Oh boy! What a time to learn that while I was forced to take Adderall at 100mg 3 times a day for 10+ years during my school years! 😃
Sometimes, the circumstances that are enough to defeat us is just "trying to have a normal healthy life". For some people, it is genuinely hard to exercise, eat well, sleep well AND shower the same day. Even after having done a lot of therapy work. Even after learning about adhd and implementing a whole bunch of strats. Especially in women who get older or who have an hormonal disorder such as PMDD, this is lesser known but estrogen variations greatly influence dopamine metabolism.
So in these cases I feel that stimulants are pretty justified. 30% is a lot, this is a third of the treated patients.
I have a question: I feel that a lot of practionners encourage adhd folks to be less ambitious so that they can manage their adhd without medications. I am asking: shouldn't adhd people be allowed to want to achieve their potential like others? ADHD folks make pretty damn good researchers, entrepreneurs, creative… They can significantly impact the world. Shouldn't they be allowed to want that? It is ok to worry about long term possible effects, but what are the long term effects of an unfullfilling life?
There is strong correlation between adderall and increased risk of parkinsons. Man psychiatrists have a huge gap in pharmacology knowledge
How they SHOULD prescribe more like. This is not how we have understood use of psychiatric medications for decades now or used in actual practice. Pharma was just fine with that as well, going by their aggressive marketing campaigns.
How about using anti-depressants long term? I don’t want to use these because they don’t help and don’t change the circumstances.
Studies using neuroimaging (MRI) have shown that children with ADHD who use stimulant medication often exhibit more typical development in certain brain regions (e.g., the prefrontal cortex and basal ganglia) compared to those who do not take medication.
These areas are critical for attention, impulse control, and executive functioning, which are often underdeveloped in ADHD.
Beatiful shorts like its meant to be
Can you speak about Bipolar and medication? I hope you will say one needs to take it for their whole life as it is a life time condition. Otherwise it means my psychiatrist which is one of the best, has lied to me!
I love stimulants because they help the brain stay focused and quiet. I can do all the techniques in the world but my brain will still be flooded with thoughts and anxiety and that sucks!
Medication is never the answer… it will never work… think about why so called "mental illness" is so prevalent in modern society than ever before…😢😢
Adderall XR killed my ability to enjoy music. Never again! It took me months off the drug to listen to music again.
Yeah, my doctor said that unless it's like super severe you could get a great result without meds or you could rely mostly on meds – but if I am not a heiress who doesn't have to work, if I want to pursue any kind of hobby or education other than practice around ADHD it's really hard to get that result without medication, especially in short time… In the end I keep taking meds (mostly on workdays) but I do also have therapy and make some adjustments to not rely only on them – doc says it's okay if I never get to a place where I don't need them at work, I just should work on myself and feeling good, not have a goal of "not needing meds" – if it comes it comes, but no shame in not being able to, if I have otherwise a healthy lifestyle and accomplish my goals 😊 Rare to see docs like this, who don't just push meds or villify meds, just in the sane middle.
You cant even do TM or any kind of meditation if you have raging Adhd. Its the emotional dysregulation from having to many active thoughts that messes ppl up. For me the medication gives me an opportunity to focus on one thing at a time.
I literally cannot work a decent paying job because I can’t focus and everything that’s not stimulating makes me want to scream. I feel like I need the stimulant. I’m absolutely miserable without it.
In what world does spiking your dopamine and adrenaline and then having a rebound depletion of dopamine below baseline every single day for 30 YEARS, or even 1 month. Not have negative circumstances
An honest answer thank you Dr