Autism

See I have a rather different experience because I have never had meds. I still managed to get a master degree and apply for jobs. The issue I have in my life is that despite applying for many jobs (okay probably less than a more motivated person) I still don't get anything. Why? I don't know. I doubt it's something I have done given I don't even get replies to most of them, so it's not like I have interview problems. In this case it's unrealistic expectations put upon graduates looking for jobs especially with regards to experience. How can you have 1+years of industry experience when you have only just graduated and no one is willing to take a chance? I think others get around this by applying very early while still in University. You could argue that my neurodivergence prevented me from applying while busy doing my dissertation, but I don't think every NT person could have done that either. The bigger issue is that this barrier exists in the first place when it something everone has to clear. Sorry for the rant, it's been a very frustrating time.

I can relate to the understanding of feeling broken and I am glad you have something that helps at least a little bit. The issue is I don't think medication alone is the anwser, if it was you would already have a job. I think if a society wants you to be productive it needs to organize itself and give you work suitable for you're talents rather than expecting people to find work that may not even be avalible. I think labour needs to be more organised to better take advantage of the skills of different people.

I generally think that the same medications that allow ADHD people to be more productive also helps NT people be more productive. That's why college students and the army use these medications. It's the same effect just in a different context. I am aware there are people that stimulants do impact differently, but from my understanding it's more about calming them down rather than giving them energy and executive funtion to get through various tasks. I could be very wrong here as I don't have the experience as I have never been prescibred psychiatric medications. What I know about these things is through similar recreational substances or through listening to others

Edit: also I should point out that some of the things I tried recreationally also ended up improving my productivity and we're later used for that perpose. Kratom in particular comes to mind. You may find it helpful though it has more risks than some people want to acknowledge. In the vain of treating symptoms MDMA has been tested for treating social anxiety in autistic people and I think it may have heled me understand other people a bit better but it's kind of hard to tell because lots of things were changing for me in that time of my life.