The Psychology of Ambition

The Psychology of Ambition

My journey from ADHD skeptic to Adderall enthusiast

And what it taught me about living with agency

Dr. Gena Gorlin's avatar
Dr. Gena Gorlin
Aug 16, 2025
∙ Paid

At 22, I thought ADHD was fake. An excuse for underachieving kids to get “accommodations” for procrastinating on their homework. From what vague knowledge I had of stimulants like Adderall, I regarded them with the same scorn as the accommodations.

Seventeen years later, I credit Adderall with enabling me to build a 10x happier, healthier, more virtuous version of myself (to the chagrin of the countless Twitter trolls decrying my “meth addiction” in reply to this recent viral post). Here is my story.

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