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December 11th, 2008 by MikeAdderall is a crutch. A big one. Quitting Adderall is like learning to walk without crutches again.
Maybe you haven’t been on crutches that long and your legs aren’t too atrohphied. Maybe you’re OK with weaning yourself off, taking baby steps. Limping a few feet a day with only one crutch, and gradually working up to being able to walk a couple steps without any crutches at all, and then one day you’ll be walking all on your own again, albiet carefully for a while and still using the crutches occasionally.
That’s one way to go.
Personally, after throwing 7 years of my life away on Adderall, I couldn’t take it anymore. I didn’t want to waste another second. So I chose approach #2.
Approach #2:Â Burn your crutches. Spend every moment of every day after that figuring out how to move on your own again because you don’t have a choice.
A year later, I’m happy with the choice I made. I’m glad I didn’t waste more time trying to wean myself off.Â
But it’s up to you. However you get there. Just get there. As soon as you can.
When you burn your crutches you’re faced with cold reality: I have to move, but I don’t have my crutches. Every move you make is on your own. There is no second of the day when you are not rehabilitating.
With the “wean yourself off approach”, you may use your crutches to move around the kitchen making some breakfast, crutch-walk to the bathroom, and then crutch-walk over to your little excercise area to try a some rehabilitation exercises.
When you’ve burnt your crutches, making breakfast, going to the bathroom, and any other activity is  a rehabilitation exercise because you have to figure out how to do everything without your crutches and that keeps you focused on it.
Maybe the “wean yourself off” approach is right for you if you haven’t been taking Adderall for that long or if you don’t mind putting in the extra time and discipline that the “wean yourself off” method would  require.
But if you feel really far gone. If you’re worried that you’ve lost who you were supposed to be by spending all this time on Adderall. If you’re sick of that nagging guilt and feeling like you’re faking and cheating all the time and ready for a genuine life as a true and naturally passionate person, then I challenge you: Throw away your crutches. It’s a messy and emotionally-expensive decision, but I can’t begin to tell you how “worth it” it is in the end.
[…] post: Throw away your crutches. Now move. « Once you take a pill, you can’t turn it […]
I could not agree more with this essay. genious. But on the other hand.. what do you think about people with true ADD? It is not proven, but it is obvious to me that ADD is a real disorder. It is just a disorder that is heavily over diagnosed. People raised in todays society tend to be more lazy than previous generations, and this is, to me, why ADD has been showing up more. I believe that adderal can be used effectively when used right. I am 18 and I recently realized what ADD is and how psychologists should be treating it, due to my past experiences. I have “attention deficit disorder”. I grew up severely sheltered with my two brothers who also have “ADD” add is formed from the way children are raised by TV and Videogames when they are left alone to grow up alone. I grew up without a mother and my dad was constantly working, so I had to figure out a lot of things on my own. ADD can be cured by reprogramming the brain. When on ADD people become more motivated. Things become fun and focusing on them is very simple. Well, a person does not need to take this medication their whole life. If they(which I am doing right now) take a small dose to get them back on the right track, with the right priorities, then all will be well. I love your article “throw away your crutches”. I only wish my generation wasn’t so lazy, and they would accept the responsibilties of living.
Tony Gawarecki
Hi Tony,
As I said in my reply to your other comment on the “VIDEO: Reader Chris throws away his pills…” post, I’m going to address your broader questions about the nature of ADD and ideal-case/intended effects of Adderall in a series of forthcoming posts (give me till next Monday to get them all up).
But I’ll say this for now. I once saw a quote that hit me, that went something like this “There are no lazy people. Only those without goals that sufficiently inspire them.”
I think there might be more than a little truth to that.
Will post more later. Thanks again for your great comments.
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