I'm not saying the "if a stimulant helps you must have ADHD" thing is true - it's just something I've heard more than once from multiple doctors. As for the degree to which it's "right" for people with different kinds of cognitive limitations to get different treatments - that's out of my league!

You're both correct that lots of people use ADHD meds as performance enhancers. And it's also true that everyone has attention deficits - just not all to the same degree.

The main difference (according to the sources I can find) in reactions to stimulants for people with ADHD versus not, is whether the meds are 1) calming (and focusing), or 2) the opposite - which can include sleep loss and euphoria. Basically it's whether your body gets stimulated versus calmed at a normal therapeutic dose.

Speaking only for myself, I don't get a "stimulated" feeling from ADD meds, and it does not trigger hypo/mania as might happen otherwise for someone who is bipolar. I have never lost sleep, felt euphoric or gotten energetic from the meds - it's exactly the opposite! I feel calmer, I slow down, and I actually sleep better. My insomnia problems (dating back to early childhood) ended when I started taking meds for ADD - which sounds counterintuitive, but makes sense given the calming effect. Obviously this is an n of 1, and others have different experiences.

Thanks also for including the link for the CBT article. I had actually tried all of the strategies that are mentioned in the article independently with very limited success. I actually found them incredibly frustrating (in the "that's easy for you to say" category) because they didn't help much no matter how hard I tried. Until I started stimulants, at which point I could actually use those strategies.

There are also non-stimulant treatments - mainly Strattera but also Wellbutrin. At a high dose of Wellbutrin, I was able to get by alright for a little while without ADD meds, but it was not very effective for me and basically didn't last. If you're concerned about taking stimulants but think there could be some ADHD issues, then you could try Strattera and see how that works.