People self medicate all the time if they’re undiagnosed. Heck, even some that are diagnosed might avoid proper meds because they don’t work for them, cant afford/get them, parents want to “fix” their kid via other methods, or have a belief the drugs have some likely serious complications like cancer or something.
Caffeine, supplements, cigs/vapes, pot… They all get used. A lot.
And of course there’s the dark underside of ADHD, where it isn’t some “quirk” that someone has to maneuver their life around. Instead it leads to harsh treatment by parents, serious social issues, bad grades leading to poor job prospects, poor work or school performance… these can lead to serious stress and depression, combined with ADHD risk-taking behavior and you get a lot of people that end up alcohol or other drug abusers trying to cope with the problems ADHD has exacerbated.
People self medicate all the time if they’re undiagnosed. Heck, even some that are diagnosed might avoid proper meds because they don’t work for them, cant afford/get them, parents want to “fix” their kid via other methods, or have a belief the drugs have some likely serious complications like cancer or something.
Caffeine, supplements, cigs/vapes, pot… They all get used. A lot.
And of course there’s the dark underside of ADHD, where it isn’t some “quirk” that someone has to maneuver their life around. Instead it leads to harsh treatment by parents, serious social issues, bad grades leading to poor job prospects, poor work or school performance… these can lead to serious stress and depression, combined with ADHD risk-taking behavior and you get a lot of people that end up alcohol or other drug abusers trying to cope with the problems ADHD has exacerbated.