- Pills don’t teach the skills.
- Meds help you sustain focus, but they don’t control what you focus on.
Here is the Aha! Getting a buzz or being organized doesn’t determine whether ADHD meds are working. The litmus test is simply whether you can sustain focus longer with the meds than without them. If you could read only four pages before starting to take the meds, but with meds, you can read four chapters, then the meds are having an impact.
Here’s the trick! Understand that meds don’t control your attention. They just help you sustain focus. Directing your attention isn’t passive or without effort.
Here’s an attention exercise. Make a list of where your ADHD is most challenging and ask yourself: Could there be an easier way to manage this? Or do I lack the skill, ability, or clarity to activate? If the answer is yes to either question, then know that ADHD meds are not an effortless solution!.
Managing ADHD is about self-regulation, which is about overriding the urge to attend to life passively.
Can I get a BOOYA (a yea man!) on that tip?
For more on the topic, watch my interview with THE Dr. Russell Barkley!