Do you have any thoughts on my view expressed above that stimulants allow one to focus... but if that focus is (mis)directed towards something negative it can cause bigger issues than it solves? I'm curious about what differed between you and your brother's situation.

For instance, I still struggle with procrastination at work and avoiding starting tasks... I can often take my dose and then proceed to hyperfocus on social media for hours on end. But once I am working, it's great. I first noticed the impacts of the meds when I could actually enjoy just playing with the kids and not constantly battle with feeling like I should be doing something else.

I agree. It’s the same problem for me. Starting tasks is the real problem. Even without stimulants, a task I’ve put off for two weeks is often finished in less than an hour. It’s a lesson I expect to keep learning until I am dead.

The pill can help you maintain interest in something, not start that thing. I don’t have an answer to this problem. I’m 34. I don’t take anything for my disorder anymore. Either tolerance builds up, or the novelty wears off and my intention to start things declined as a result. And I end up back where I started but now I’m taking drugs everyday.

On my brother. I think that he doesn’t have ADD. That his issues at school were unrelated, and Ritalin just made him more anxious and neurotic.