Ritalin
Ranked 2 of 9 adhd medications by recommenders
Widely recommended for ADHD focus and getting unstuck, especially when prescribed in set amounts. Critics warn it is addictive and causes side effects like crashes and poor sleep.
Widely recommended for ADHD focus and getting unstuck, especially when prescribed in set amounts. Critics warn it is addictive and causes side effects like crashes and poor sleep.
37 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 18
- criticize it
- 19
- approval share
- 49%
Recommended in 8 of 13 months
- November 2025: recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: recommended
- August 2026: recommended
- September 2026: recommended
- October 2026: recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Owned for 11 years
Median of the 4 owners who said how long they have had it.
Each square is one year.
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 18 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- 0.9 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, not met.
- Recommended in 8 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Helps focus and breaks mental blocks
“after ~30min will actually allow me to partially focus on off days, and be able to get more work done on normal days”
Comment from 8 Jan 2026 in “Introducing ChatGPT Health” “With ritalin, i might have this mental block to, but its overcome in a few seconds.”
Comment from 4 May 2026 in “OpenAI's o1 correctly diagnosed 67% of ER patients vs. 50-55% by triage doctors” “it has been transformative in aiding me in getting out of ruts/stalls.”
Comment from 1 Sep 2026 in “Reverse engineering my ADHD test” - Comment from 13 Jul 2026 in “I Learned to Read Again”
- Comment from 18 Nov 2025 in “Aldous Huxley predicts Adderall and champions alternative therapies”
- Comment from 5 May 2026 in “Does Employment Slow Cognitive Decline? Evidence from Labor Market Shocks”
Effective ADHD treatment when prescribed
“ADHD medication absolutely works, but for a lot of people it didn’t for this reason.”
Comment from 21 Nov 2025 in “Prozac 'no better than placebo' for treating children with depression, experts” “Ritalin (methylphenidate) is visibly helping people avoid those early deaths”
Comment from 28 Aug 2026 in “Doctors are finally learning to manage antidepressant withdrawal” “research shows that the best treatment are the recommended drugs”
Comment from 6 Oct 2026 in “ADHD, autism or complex trauma? [pdf]” - Comment from 6 Dec 2025 in “Adenosine on the common path of rapid antidepressant action: The coffee paradox”
- Comment from 11 Aug 2026 in “Ask HN: How much Adderall do you use?”
Life-changing for those who need it
“This never happens on Ritalin and some of the others.”
Comment from 20 Aug 2026 in “ADHD charity complains about Channel 4 documentary” “Life-changing for those of us who actually need it.”
Comment from 11 Aug 2026 in “Ask HN: How much Adderall do you use?” “I just can't do it without it”
Comment from 26 Aug 2026 in “The brain may be about to have its Ozempic moment” Helps with tedious tasks and reading
“after ~30min will actually allow me to partially focus on off days, and be able to get more work done on normal days”
Comment from 8 Jan 2026 in “Introducing ChatGPT Health” “I take my meds (ritalin) before serious reading, and it usually works”
Comment from 13 Jul 2026 in “I Learned to Read Again” “The latter is great for tedious tasks.”
Comment from 25 May 2026 in “Scientists solve 200-year-old puzzle of how tobacco plants make nicotine”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Addictive and alters brain reward wiring
“Its a dangerous fucking drug and anyone who agrees to give that to any child needs to be arrested for child abuse.”
Comment from 8 Feb 2026 in “ADHD and Methylphenidate Use in Prepubertal Children and Adult BMI and Height” “Ritalin is a highly addictive substance that wrecks you, your life and the life of everyone around.”
Comment from 6 Dec 2025 in “Adenosine on the common path of rapid antidepressant action: The coffee paradox” “It's also great for totally messing up your brain chemistry and your reward wiring.”
Comment from 25 May 2026 in “Scientists solve 200-year-old puzzle of how tobacco plants make nicotine” Crashes, grumpiness and poor sleep
“Ritalin, from experience, makes me visibly grumpy, because everything is wrong!”
Comment from 25 May 2026 in “Scientists solve 200-year-old puzzle of how tobacco plants make nicotine” “feeling of being overstimulated and uncomfortable, inability to focus”
Comment from 23 Oct 2026 in “Mortality Among People with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder” “it also impacts my sleep quality enough that I don't take it”
Comment from 31 Aug 2026 in “Reverse engineering my ADHD test” - Comment from 19 Nov 2025 in “What nicotine does to your brain”
Doesn't work for everyone
“ADHD medication absolutely works, but for a lot of people it didn’t for this reason.”
Comment from 21 Nov 2025 in “Prozac 'no better than placebo' for treating children with depression, experts” “Ritalin gives you an illusion, not a remedy.”
Comment from 13 Jul 2026 in “I Learned to Read Again” Possible growth effects in children
“was considered one of the short kid my entire childhood (and suffered the consequences)”
Comment from 9 Feb 2026 in “ADHD and Methylphenidate Use in Prepubertal Children and Adult BMI and Height” “was considered one of the short kid my entire childhood”
Comment from 9 Feb 2026 in “ADHD and Methylphenidate Use in Prepubertal Children and Adult BMI and Height”
Other adhd medications people recommend
The four most recommended other adhd medications, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adderall | 38 | 26 | 59% | 11 | 3 yrs4 owners | — |
| RitalinThis page | 18 | 19 | 49% | 8 | 11 yrs4 owners | — |
| Vyvanse | 13 | 11 | 54% | 7 | 1 yr3 owners | — |
| Methylphenidate | 10 | 8 | 56% | 8 | — | — |
| Concerta | 9 | 6 | 60% | 6 | — | — |
What people said
32 of the 38 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“feeling of being overstimulated and uncomfortable, inability to focus”
“research shows that the best treatment are the recommended drugs”
“Ritalin is the grease in the machine that mass-produces disinterested doctors and stifled stockbrokers.”
“it has been transformative in aiding me in getting out of ruts/stalls.”
“Taking Ritalin for us is the equivalent of keeping the revs up.”
“it also impacts my sleep quality enough that I don't take it”
“Ritalin (methylphenidate) is visibly helping people avoid those early deaths”
“I just can't do it without it”
“This never happens on Ritalin and some of the others.”
“Life-changing for those of us who actually need it.”
“For some reason I took both GLP-1 and Ritalin everyday”
“Ritalin gives you an illusion, not a remedy.”
“I take my meds (ritalin) before serious reading, and it usually works”
“I blame the Ritalin to adderall to wellbutrin train of drugs for most of that”
“comes at a huge cost physically, mentally”
“Ritalin, from experience, makes me visibly grumpy, because everything is wrong!”
“It's also great for totally messing up your brain chemistry and your reward wiring.”
“The latter is great for tedious tasks.”
“Ritalin can help tremendously with that.”
“With ritalin, i might have this mental block to, but its overcome in a few seconds.”
“was considered one of the short kid my entire childhood (and suffered the consequences)”
“was considered one of the short kid my entire childhood”
“Its a dangerous fucking drug and anyone who agrees to give that to any child needs to be arrested for child abuse.”
“after ~30min will actually allow me to partially focus on off days, and be able to get more work done on normal days”
“prolonged exposure to Ritalin will multiply it by at least 10”
“In prescribed amounts it's often an effective treatment.”
“Ritalin is a highly addictive substance that wrecks you, your life and the life of everyone around.”
“double espresso with ritalin before work is pretty good too”
“by 36 months, that advantage had faded completely”
“ADHD medication absolutely works, but for a lot of people it didn’t for this reason.”
“Ritalin has a weird crash and all the side effects for me”
“The main effect for me is a decrease in inexplicable mental barriers.”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.