>Yes, there’s certainly research involved in getting an existing drug approved for a new condition. That’s not development.OK, I concede that point then. That's the information I intended to communicate.
>The suggestion that Adderall would only benefit folks with ADHD diagnoses is also fundamentally weird
Sure, let me rephrase.
There is, as we both agree, research performed to establish that Adderall is something that can help with ADHD symptoms (...and obesity).
There's plentiful data that demonstrates its effectiveness for some people with ADHD in that regard. And appetite loss is a well-known effect.
But there's no research done to establish that Adderall would work the way Huxley describes the hypothetical drug: giving anyone a boost in "mental efficiency", without adverse consequences to health otherwise.
To the contrary, we have extensive data and research that demonstrates Adderall doesn't work that way.
Particularly, for folks without ADHD, mental efficiency is likely to decrease when they take Adderall [1].
It gives them the feeling of being productive, though...
...which only exacerbates the problem.
Quote [2]:
What Adderall clearly does extremely well is make people think they are doing better — and to feel good while they’re doing it. “Adderall might not be a cognitive enhancement drug, but a ‘drive’ drug,” says Anjan Chatterjee, a professor of neurology at the University of Pennsylvania’s medical school. Farah explains, “[Stimulants] make boring work seem more interesting, so they increase your motivation to work, energy for work, and that’s not nothing — that’s really helpful . . . Unfortunately, it also gets into the realm of feel-good drugs, and that means the risk of dependence is quite high.” Yet when I ask Farah exactly how addictive Adderall and other stimulant medications are, she tells me that there is currently no good answer. “Nobody has really looked at these drugs used as work enhancers and what the dependence risk there is,” she said.
"Nobody has really looked at these drugs used as work enhancers" is what I intended to communicate when I said that "this is not what Adderall was developed for".
When somebody did look (the study [1] came out years later), they found that a drug that wasn't for improving mental efficiency does not, in fact, improve mental efficiency.
The mistaken belief that Adderall is akin to Huxley's fantasy pill, which the author of the article perpetuates, is harming everyone.
As I said before, Adderall is for treating executive dysfunction: not being able to do things which you can do, should do, want to do, have the time and resources to do, but can't start doing because Brain Says No.
Adderall won't make anyone smarter. It'll make stupid people be stupid faster and with more enthusiasm.
That's not what Huxley talked about.
The headline, put simply, is a dangerous lie.
[1] https://www.cbsnews.com/news/adderall-ritalin-adhd-decreases...
[2] https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/caseyschwartzauthor/add...