What would taking AdderAll or Concerta do to someone who is extremely stressed and who has a lot of things on their mind?

Most definitely. Those drugs, bluntly, are speed. They will increase your amount of stress exponentially. (I know because I have been in this state of mind and under the influence of these substance before at the same time.) If someone under stress feels like taking something to help them, it should be a sedative, not a stimulant.

If she was truly ADHD the drug would have a calming effect allowing her to focus. Either the dose is far too high or the diagnosis is incorrect. Either way her prescribing doctor should be notified.

I was diagnosed with ADD in my high school years and was prescribed Adderall. i would take it normally most days, and it helped me concentrate like crazy…however, I still found myself not eating much, not getting much sleep. Sometimes, for “fun” I would take a few, and it still totally made me speedy. Whether you “need” it or not, speed is speed. Period. Therefore, it will enhance stress when stress is present, and make it considerably more hard to deal with, while exacerbating the stress itself.

Nothing helpful. They are categorized as stimulants (opposite depressants, like alcohol).
My guess: she doesn’t really have ADHD. Psychology can be tricky that way.

@ladymia69 Thank you for your input. I haven’t had much experience with them and do not really know anyone close who has had either. She says her mind felt like it went in overdrive and she was making all these random connections in her mind about the thoughts she was having…it took a great toll on her.

@Dog The doctor was notified and he said she probably is depressed. And recommended her to go see a counselor and take some drugs to alleviate her mind. The family has told me more details about how the counselor and doctor handled the situation and I can’t say I am satisfied with what I heard.

@Nullo Yeah I don’t think she does. She says she doesn’t…she says lately things had been tough on her for a while and those worries were always on her mind and she just could not focus on anything else.

Thank you for all your responses.

@raven860—I can get a little drug-paranoid, and I’m not an MD, but to me this doctor seems a little too ready to give people drugs that alter levels of brain chemicals. It worries me a bit. He went from agreeing on ADHD and prescribing drugs to deciding that since the ADHD drugs didn’t work she was depressed and needed different meds?

Maybe I’m missing the timeline since I’m hearing all the information at once, but it seems a little rushed.

Before she keeps taking the current meds, and before she switches to the other ones, if I were her, I’d take a break from the pills. Of course, if I were her, I doubt I’d be taking them at all…
Especially when she herself feels she knows the real cause of her lack of concentration, and it’s not something drugs can fix, or even affect.

Yep, she doesn’t have ADHD. If she did, the effects would be more therapeutic.

People that abuse it illegally say it’s like a mild form of meth!