Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Workers Seeking Productivity in a Pill Are Abusing A.D.H.D. Drugs

nytimes.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

51–60 of 84 posts

Re: Workers Seeking Productivity in a Pill Are Abusing A.D.H.D. Drugs

#51

Post by zxcvcxz »

snarfy wrote: post #16
zxcvcxz wrote: post #7

Off topic, but I was diagnosed with ADHD about 10 years ago, been taking methylphenidate ER ever since. Throughout the years I have had over ten different doctors at the same location and I informed each doctor that I was a marijuana user. Recently my latest doctor decided to drug test me, before asking any questions about my usage or even looking at my file he stated he would no longer prescribe me my medicine becau…

> I'm aware that the doctors opinion is what goes and he has all the power, but I feel I've been wronged. He actually has little power. You can go to a different doctor. There are many people that abuse this fact, e.g. keep switching doctors until they find one that prescribes them painkillers, but in your case it sounds perfectly valid. You have ten other opinions that think it's perfectly fine to combine your meds.

The problem is that I go to a mental-health center and because of my financial situation they only charge me three dollars a visit. I'm going to look for other doctors, but I'm not sure if I'll be able to find another health center willing to work with poor people. We'll see..

Re: Workers Seeking Productivity in a Pill Are Abusing A.D.H.D. Drugs

#52

Post by whybroke »

jdefr89 wrote: post #47
whybroke wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Does labor compound? My understanding is that say a freelance carpenter who works 20% harder for 40 years ends up about 20% richer not 1.2 ^ 40 = 1469 times richer >Also, they make most people feel fantastic and like they can conquer the world. Is it really any question why people would find that appealing? Perhaps, but what is the delta increase in zeal for their project. Presumably they were tolerably enthusiastic…

Crystal meth and heroin make a user feel better.. Should we hand that out as well?

I have no opinion on the this decade's fashion concerning evil vs good drugs. But expecting life changing increase in productivity from any of those things would be an error.

Re: Workers Seeking Productivity in a Pill Are Abusing A.D.H.D. Drugs

#53

Post by mej10 »

jdefr89 wrote: post #46
mej10 wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Get a new doctor.

Great advice. "I am going to doctor shop until I find someone who gives me the pills I want..." No..

Here is what OP said:

> After less than three minutes I was asked to leave his office. No discussion about my condition was allowed.

You have to be able to discuss anything about your health with your doctor. This is simply unacceptable behavior from the doctor and means s/he should find a new one.

Re: Workers Seeking Productivity in a Pill Are Abusing A.D.H.D. Drugs

#54

Post by jotm »

eli_gottlieb wrote: post #23
jotm wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hopefully it's a health startup promoting the legalization of stimulants and enhancers :-)

Legalize all you like: amphetamines are still bad for your heart and can engender quite the headache when they wear off.

Just like caffeine.

Re: Workers Seeking Productivity in a Pill Are Abusing A.D.H.D. Drugs

#55

Post by DanBC »

jdefr89 wrote: post #46
mej10 wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Get a new doctor.

Great advice. "I am going to doctor shop until I find someone who gives me the pills I want..." No..

It is good advice. You should be able to be honest with your doctor and they need to be honest with you.

If my dr said cannabis had adverse interactions with one of my meds I'd expect to see any one of NICE guidance[1], or a BNF (British National Formulary) or MIMS (Medical Information Monthly) or similar reference, or at least some study showing a link.

[1] see the errata on the front page of the NICE guidance for schizophrenia which talks about hydrocarbons from cigarretes. http://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/cg178

Re: Workers Seeking Productivity in a Pill Are Abusing A.D.H.D. Drugs

#56

Post by whybroke »

mej10 wrote: post #49
whybroke wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Does labor compound? My understanding is that say a freelance carpenter who works 20% harder for 40 years ends up about 20% richer not 1.2 ^ 40 = 1469 times richer >Also, they make most people feel fantastic and like they can conquer the world. Is it really any question why people would find that appealing? Perhaps, but what is the delta increase in zeal for their project. Presumably they were tolerably enthusiastic…

There are three areas I am aware of where labor can absolutely compound (in terms of output): business, software, and learning. > Perhaps, but what is the delta increase in zeal for their project. From my personal experience, it can increase dramatically. This is across the board. Whether it is something I am actually interested in doing or just drudgery. > But let's not suppose that a bad project or feckless employe…

>There are three areas I am aware of where labor can absolutely compound (in terms of output): business, software, and learning.

Well this would mean that every 10 times engineer ends up 10^20 richer than average at the end of his career. Since that far exceeds the planet's wealth, I am somewhat skeptical.

And if there are no 10 times engineer, even a five times engineer would end up roughly a hundred trillion times wealthier than average. So I humbly submit there's a flaw in the idea of literal compound labor value.

Re: Workers Seeking Productivity in a Pill Are Abusing A.D.H.D. Drugs

#57

Post by takeda »

zxcvcxz wrote: post #7

Off topic, but I was diagnosed with ADHD about 10 years ago, been taking methylphenidate ER ever since. Throughout the years I have had over ten different doctors at the same location and I informed each doctor that I was a marijuana user. Recently my latest doctor decided to drug test me, before asking any questions about my usage or even looking at my file he stated he would no longer prescribe me my medicine becau…

After quick search [1][2][3] I'm not surprised your doctor was hesitant, if something would happen to you he would be the first to be sued and possibly lose his license. You still have option to go to a different doctor who is willing to take that risk.

If taking the drug is important to you, what about not taking the drug with marihuana?

[1] http://ritalinaddictioninfo.com/addiction-information/danger...

[2] https://www.erowid.org/experiences/exp.php?ID=96384

[3] http://www.addforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=46740

Re: Workers Seeking Productivity in a Pill Are Abusing A.D.H.D. Drugs

#58

Post by jdefr89 »

xamuel wrote: post #10
amelius wrote: post #3

And these practices are in a way unfair against the rest of us workers! > Most users who were interviewed said they got pills by feigning symptoms of A.D.H.D., a disorder marked by severe impulsivity and inattention, to physicians who casually write prescriptions without proper evaluations. And thus these practices disturb statistics about the true prevalence of ADHD.

>And these practices are in a way unfair against the rest of us workers! This raises interesting philosophical questions about work in general. If work is inherently valuable, isn't anything that enhances it a good thing (assume lack of side effects for simplicity)? Is it "unfair" if a doctor/scientist/programmer uses a product to be more productive? Very few of us are formally competitive athletes, and special rules…

The real issue is they don't improve your performance much at all. A recent study demonstrated people simply feel as if they are performing better, however its a false perception. Additionally the drugs won't give you that "buzzed motivated" feeling for long. You have to keep upping the dose and upping the dose, and people end up addicted and in a worse spot than when they started.

Re: Workers Seeking Productivity in a Pill Are Abusing A.D.H.D. Drugs

#59

Post by jdefr89 »

leephillips wrote: post #21
xamuel wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Yes, but between two people who are otherwise equal (in status), the one using the drug has an unfair advantage. Okay. Between two people who are otherwise equal (in drugs), the one with the more servants has an unfair advantage. >The least he could have done was disclose in his publications that his results were obtained while using these drugs Should the same go for caffeine?

Well, Erdos was the guy who came up with the definition of a mathematician as something that converts caffeine to theorems. He also claimed that without the speed he could produce no math at all, so for him it was essential, not just an enhancement.

After he already started taking it. Thats the problem. You become psychologically dependent quickly. What starts as "it really helps me with my work" ends as "I cannot work at ALL without it."

Re: Workers Seeking Productivity in a Pill Are Abusing A.D.H.D. Drugs

#60

Post by jdefr89 »

ugexe wrote: post #18
Synaesthesia wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The military ran tests comparing the efficacy of caffeine and amphetamine. Amphetamine was not shown to improve performance over caffeine, although it gave the perception that performance was improved.

I hope you're not referring to the 46 person study that states: *Our participants were not representative of the general population

There are other studies that show the same thing. One of the most recent is the one done at University of Pennsylvania
Post reply on HN