I really am asking, not trying to get an answer I assume is right. I only have my experience and that of someone I lived with to go on.
My experience is that I've been “lazy” my whole life. I'm pretty sure I do have ADD or something like it. Even as a kid I would forget things, like cleaning my room. And I don't just mean I was messy (I am) but that my parents would tell me to clean my room and if I didn't do it right away, half the time I would forget. My parents never believed that of course, and claimed I forgot because I just didn't want to do it. I believed them and felt bad about myself. I still struggle with feeling like I'm lazy and less than because of it. But as an adult I've been able to recognize that I really do forget things, and that it really is harder to motivate myself. I used to think that everyone has it this hard, and others just deal with it better, force themselves to do the stuff they don't like. I know to an extent that is true, but I became convinced that it really is harder for me when I was prescribed adderall.
I was suddenly able to just “do the thing”, and I was finally able to explain to my mom and stepdad how hard it was for me without it. I explained that it seems to me most people can identify an unpleasant task and do it more easily because they get a little boost of dopamine or serotonin or something like that when they think about the task being completed, and that gives them the energy to just do it. Whereas when I'm unmedicated and I think about, say, washing the dishes, I feel instead an immediate sense of vague dread. I have to prepare myself to get my hands wet, make sure I have all the dirty dishes gathered, find something to listen to or think about while I do it, and all that somehow takes so much energy that it doesn't feel worth it. I can tell myself I'll feel better when it's done, but I don't feel that sense of anticipation of it being done. I can only anticipate the part that sucks.
On adderall that went away. I could take care of all the small tasks that prevent me from having a bigger mess to deal with later, and could approach them with a sense of anticipated accomplishment. Being productive was suddenly so much easier. On the other hand, I couldn't shut off anymore. Sleeping and eating became tasks I had to schedule myself, and suddenly much harder because I could be doing something productive, and of course because… amphetamines. I started craving alcohol because it would mellow me out, limit that feeling of “go go go”. Lowering my dose didn't help. Eventually I stopped taking it, because even though my productivity was much higher, my quality of life was suffering.
And that brings me to my question. Is that what it's like for most people? Maybe I am just lazy and there's nothing “wrong” with me or else the adderall would have been tolerable. I'm more comfortable with my laziness now because the only other option I've ever had made life suck. It may take me twice the time to wash the dishes or chop garlic as it does for most people, but who cares? I'm doing those things for myself and my household, it's not like I'm working at a restaurant where efficiency is essential. If I was working at a restaurant though, I probably wouldn't be able to keep up without adderall.
So basically I'm asking, even if someone definitely has ADHD, would they need an amphetamine if our society wasn't so obsessed with productivity? Or would it be fine to just let them be who they are and be less productive? Are amphetamines only necessary because being below a certain productivity threshold is just unacceptable?