For me, medication and counseling compliment each other. Have you considered going back to counseling now that you are medicated to get even more "good habits" that you can apply to your life as it is in 2020?
Many newly diagnosed ADHD patients make the mistake of thinking that they don't need therapy or self-help techniques now that they have stimulant medication. That's wrong. The stimulant medication should be used as an adjunct to therapy, self-habit, and developing good self-control techniques. The initial motivational boost of a new stimulant prescription won't last forever (concentration-enhancing effects do persist, though). However, good self-control habits will last a lifetime.
A (rather iffy) analogy is like a man trying to lift weights with very low testosterone. Going to the gym still helps, but it's an uphill battle to put on muscle until the underlying issues are corrected. However, fixing testosterone alone won't get you into great physical shape. You still need to put in the work to make the most of the corrected physiological condition.
A person with ADHD on medication isn't in any greater need of therapy or self help than a normal person. Normal people can also have problems staying on task etc, most of them still don't need therapy.
Self help includes things like the healthy habits described in this article.
Anyone with ADHD severe enough to warrant stimulant medication is absolutely in need of good self-control habits and other such improvements. Therapy is one way to get it done, but I never suggested it was the only way.
It's a common mistake for newly diagnosed ADHD patients to assume that medication will automatically build good habits for them. That's not true. Medication is best combined with a deliberate effort to improve self-control and create positive environments for focus, as many ADHD patients have explained elsewhere in this comment section.
But why would that be the case? ADHD means you have more need for good habits to get things done. And if you seek treatment as an adult you likely already tried everything, since otherwise you would have looked for treatment a long time ago as this is typically diagnosed for children. For me I saw massive improvements immediately and they never really stopped.
> And if you seek treatment as an adult you likely already tried everything,
I think the mistake in your line of thinking lies here. Why do you think is the case? Could you not imagine a person who tries medication first before anything else?
If you struggle because you never learned proper habits growing up due to inattentive type ADD, then you need to relearn these life skills and the stim meds give you the ability to focus on bettering yourself. Therapy provides a professionally guided framework for teaching you these life skills faster than on your own.
Never stopped. The reason why I started medication was because I switched to a therapist who convinced me that I wasn't going to be a deranged drug addict.
