NDRIs are stimulants. bupropion is just an especially weak one with an exceptionally bad ratio of side effects to effects to effects, that's why it is considered "not abusable". furthermore, it is well-known that stimulants lift mood, self-esteem and alertness (already the nazis knew that and gave their soldiers "pervitin"). for some strange reasons (most likely a collecitive psychosis), our society does not accept drugs which increase mood strongly or even cause euphoria; that's why the exceptional inefficience of bupropion was used in its advantage by some clever marketing specialists, who just relabeled it an antidepressant (which in no rational way can be justified). this move was as ridiculous as it is genius (look at all the money "wellbutrin" makes; it's almost as reaching the Alchemist's goal of turning shit into gold!), and it only worked because of the funny fact that almost all medical doctors have no clue about psychipharmacology, and this gets in no way better when one only considers psychiatrists (which raises an interesting question - what do they learn at all in their long training?). because of their ignorance they just apply the same rules they have learned for SSRIs for any drug (no matter what type), if only "ANTIDEPRESSANT" is written in big letters all over the package. they then life in the absurd conviction that by this labelling all basic laws of psychopharmacology are set out of order (this is e.g. also the reason they just refuse to believe that SSRIs develop tolerance just like any other psychoactive drug, which they also observe with almost every long-term user, but they have obviously developed double-think like techniques to keep this fact out of their mind).
yes, after swallowing the first pill it will take some hours to kick in. this is because of the simple fact that almost all medical formulations of buproprion use some extended-release mechanism. and yes, the effect will be a bit stronger on the second day, but again this has nothing to do with the complex regulation mechanisms that cause the "therapeutic lag" of SSRIs, which are still not fully understood (as the action of the SSRIs in general), but is the simple result of the fact that the half-life of bupropion is long enough that a significant amount of the pill from 24 h ago is still active. it would not be different with any other long-acting drug, like, e.g. methamphetamin; the only difference would be that with meth you would have more fun, and probably the destructive side effects would also be worse (but just a little). (of course this increase in action only goes over some days or maybe weeks until tolerance sets in).
fun exercise: try googeling "wellbutrin psychosis" and "wellbutrin destroyed my life" - but wait. first give an estimation how many hits google will give you.
PS: another especially funny / shocking / tragic aspect (depending on your viewpoint) of this "medication" I have heard and read in slight variations already several times: some physicians are even stupid enough to prescribe this toxic waste to anxiety patients. every sentient being can reckon that giving such a person amphetamines will worsen their anxiety, but because those doctors reason pointedly, that which must not, can not be, they either declare this to side effects that will vanish with longer intake (causing them to worsen even more), or even increase the dosage of the buprpopion even more (which of course worsens the symptoms even stronger)..
