Hopper15

This makes a lot of sense. The scary thing about any psych drug (IMHO) is that we really don't understand their mechanism of action 100%. Who knows what is really happening to our fragile brains when we take these drugs??! It's really great that you have such caring for veterans. I imagine that whatever service you provide, full or part-time is very helpful. If you are looking for a referral program for veterans that works, check out Outward Bound. They have a program that helps vets transition back into civilian life - the testimonials are impressive, and I believe that it is FREE for veterans: http://www.outwardbound.org/veteran-adventures/outward-bound-for-veterans/

"Paranoia" (Daniel and Joseph Freeman) explains how paranoia and other mental illnesses can be induced by environmental factors not related to the individual. Living in a city, being a contract employee or working part-time jobs, and being an immigrant can also make people more prone to paranoia. Given this information, we have a responsibility as a society (as do the leaders of the society even more so) to look at whether our individual actions are really helping one another or if they are actually making things worse by creating more and bigger problems.

If that's true, you had better results with the drug than I did. I feel like adderall helped me keep the house cleaner/more organized, but didn't really help me accomplish so much more that I couldn't without it. Also, the personality changes and paranoia that came with the drug were absolutely horrible! Count yourself lucky if you didn't experience those! "Better than Before" by Gretchen Rubin is great book that may give you insight into why you have the habits (which are also in a sense, routines) you have and how to trick yourself into changing them. Also Charles Duhigg's book, "The Power of Habit" is helpful as well. Good luck! :-)

Your brain (and body) need sleep time to recover/repair. If you were getting less sleep on adderall, chances are you weren't really at your best anyway. Could there be another reason that you are slow to wake up? What is the quality of your sleep generally like?

Thought you all might be interested in this. Seems like something very similar to the effects of adderall long term: "In that moment of anticipating a reward, the cells of the nucleus accumbens usually swing into action, pumping out a 'pleasure chemical' called dopamine. The bigger the response, the more pleasure or thrill a person feels -- and the more likely they'll be to repeat the behavior later. But the more marijuana use a volunteer reported, the smaller the response in their nucleus accumbens over time, the researchers found." My question is, if you've been smoking (or taking Adderall long-term) how long does it take before your reward center response returns to pre-marijuana/pre-adderall levels? I'm sure that individual results vary (as individuals' dosage strength/length of time using also vary), but I was curious if there have there been any individual user experience surveys on this site about recovery time?

My doctor used to tell me that Adderall actually had antidepressant effects. And to some extent, at least initially, I would agree. It feels good to feel like you are accomplishing things better and more than ever before (however real or substantive those accomplishments are). But those positive effects wore off over time, and depression that went along with feeling crazed and paranoid was much more prevalent. Sorry you went through what you did. :-( I was never handcuffed to the floor, but was I "out of my mind?" Without a doubt. It's probably not fun to acknowledge, and I wonder how many folks actually go through similar experiences but don't talk about them because of the stigma ass'd w/being "crazy." From my experience w/adderall, I have more empathy for people who are born with (and sometimes have to live all their lives) diseases like schizophrenia. Glad you have gotten better and are doing well Greg!

http://gawker.com/all-my-friends-are-dead-489716639 Bearing in mind that these stories are (all) anecdotal (and that individual results may vary), it still is scary to read about someone 5 years off this drug and still feeling withdrawal effects. As a patient formerly "treated" with Adderall, alot of the accounts described are depressingly relatable: “But being productive was me refolding my clothes 10 times in one day,†she said. “You don’t think about the larger things at all [when you’re on Vyvanse] because you can’t get past any of the small things.†It is also scary to know that Vyvanse (not Adderall, but not so different really) just recently got FDA approval for "binge eating."