I've always been very controlled, and I don't think my experiences or meds have changed that. The only exception was fluoxetine, which made me really dysphoric and impulsive, and was completely out of character for me, as I'm not remotely impulsive. It was actually really scary at the time. Thankfully, it went away when I stopped the fluoxetine.

The mechanism of action of AD(H)D is even more unclear than sz, but they think it might be low dopamine in the frontal parts of the brain, which is similar to with sz. However, aripiprazole is a partial D2 agonist and so it is supposed to increase dopamine functioning in the frontal areas where levels are lower. So I'm not sure if I'd blame the aripiprazole...Honestly, I'd be more likely to blame the underlying problem than the med in this instance.

There's also mixed info about whether willpower is a finite resource. Off the top of my head, I can't remember if it leans more than one way than the other. But I do remember reading this paper about how thinking that willpower is a finite resource makes it so, which is interesting and I can well imagine that'd be the case.

It could be that your priorities have changed since being ill, and so denying yourself things, or forcing yourself to do things that you don't want to do is no longer something you want to do deep down...?? Or maybe you're just out of the habit, idk?

*Willow*