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Adderall Addiction: The Last All-Nighter

opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com

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Re: Adderall Addiction: The Last All-Nighter

#181

Post by glesica »

clicks wrote: post #63
jpxxx wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As an individual who was actually diagnosed with ADHD, I have an axe to grind with a medical industry that sold me amphetamines at 15. The results were ~nugatory~ at best.

As an individual who was diagnosed with ADHD, but whose parents refused to acquire medicine based on superstitious 'but isn't adderall just basically cocaine?' grounds, I assure you I've got an axe about 3,000x bigger than yours to grind at individuals like those who wrote this NYTimes article. I'm sorry to hear that you were diagnosed by an incompetent psychiatric physician, but I would hope you don't use your misfo…

So because you had a bad experience, no one else can share their bad experiences if those experiences somehow conflict with yours? You sound like a cry baby.

This woman shared her negative experiences related to abusing Adderall. Note that she was never even really diagnosed with ADHD (and she makes mention of this fact). This is clearly an essay about the dangers of addiction and substance abuse, not about the dangers of Adderall. Perhaps secondary themes might be the disturbing "performance at all costs" attitude found in many workplaces and the ease with which legal drugs can be obtained without proper diagnosis.

These are real problems for society. The fact that the illiterate take the wrong message from something doesn't mean that it shouldn't be published.

Re: Adderall Addiction: The Last All-Nighter

#182

Post by jetti »

I have dealt Adderall addiction although in a way most likely different than most. In my college years I was on tons of medications ranging from mood stabilizers to anti-psychotics, all in all, I was on 8 different medications to treat psychological issues I was having. Now those 8 medicines combined to deliver a mighty powerful punch which made me sleepy all of the time and made it very hard for me to wake up. The psychiatrist's solution was Adderall.

In the beginning, it was great. I would set my alarm for 4 hours before I had to wake up and take an Adderall that I had next to my bed and I'd be awake. It was amazing being able to get to my classes on time. At the same time, if I got 4 hours of sleep I felt refreshed as if I had 8 to 12 hours.

Things started slipping once I was taken off my medications. All of a sudden I didn't need the Adderall but I was addicted to being able stay up late. I never used it recreationally or to be more productive, I was just hooked on not needing sleep and it was great. I took a few months of re-adjusting but I was finally able to get back to sleeping normally but it was still hard for awhile. Why sleep for 6 hours and be tired when I could sleep for 2 less and pop an Adderall and not be tired at all.

Re: Adderall Addiction: The Last All-Nighter

#183

Post by Tyrannosaurs »

etrain wrote: post #120
nikatwork wrote: post #114

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The long working hours of many law firms existed before the widespread availability of adderall. Drugs have absolutely zero to do with it. They are merely a symptom of the underlying workaholic culture.

I had a friend whose grandfather was a hot shot lawyer at one of the largest international firms of his day in the 60s/70s/80s. She told me that he was a speed addict for close to 20 years. Long story short he got into a situation where he had to quit cold turkey and did, successfully. Substance abuse to get ahead is nothing new. Drugs are not as new as we pretend they are, and it's been common practice to abuse them…

I've worked for a couple of the bigger law firms in the UK and I've never come across drug use (of this type).

Drugs may enable and perpetuate this behaviour today, at least in some countries, but I don't think there's much of a case that they caused it. At least if they did it arose in places like the UK without that assistance.

From my experience the root is far simpler - greed. They dangle the possibility of partnership with all it's attendant wealth and status in front of the bright young things and watch them scrap it out and burn out. I have a friend who made partner with one of the magic circle firms and while the rewards are amazing, I wouldn't swap his life for mine in a million years.

Re: Adderall Addiction: The Last All-Nighter

#184

Post by scott_s »

espeed wrote: post #127
JohnBooty wrote: post #82

The comments to this article mainly focus on the medical benefits and side effects of Adderall. I don't want a larger truth to get lost here... While I've been prescribed Adderall for part of my adult life, and feel Adderall has benefited me, I'd like to say that there's far more to successful ADHD treatment than medication: - Proper environment - Getting enough exercise - Getting enough sleep - Support and understan…

You're absolutely right. John Ratey ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Ratey ), the professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School who wrote Driven to Distration , recently published a book called Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain ( http://www.amazon.com/Spark-Revolutionary-Science-Exercise-B... ). Spark details how high-intensity cardio (like sprints or interval training) put your br…

Nitpick: "high intensity cardio" is kind of an oxymoron. "Cardio" is used to mean training which mainly uses the aerobic system. That is, longer term, lower intensity, training that you can sustain over a long period of time because you are going at a pace that your body can turn carbohydrates into all the energy you need.

Sprinting is anaerobic training, as is most strength training. It's high intensity, you can't sustain it over a long period of time, and it makes different energy demands on your body than aerobic training does.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aerobic_exercise#Aerobic_versus...

With that said, I much prefer anaerobic training. It's more fun, for me. And if you do intervals over a long enough time, you're also increasing your aerobic capacity.

Re: Adderall Addiction: The Last All-Nighter

#185

Post by darkarmani »

michaelochurch wrote: post #34

This made me sick. I don't know what's worst: the author's self-absorption, the victimization tone, or the fact that her colleagues had to do similar unhealthy shit in order to compete with her. It stinks the whole way. Using drugs to gain an unfair advantage over other people at work has unhealthy emotional side effects? Am I to be surprised by this?

> the fact that her colleagues had to do similar unhealthy shit in order to compete with her.

This is one of the things that bothers you? The paralegals felt the need to compete with her?

Re: Adderall Addiction: The Last All-Nighter

#186

Post by nawitus »

jasonlotito wrote: post #180
nawitus wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>anti-science Is debate allowed about in science anymore? It seems that everyone who disagrees with the status quo is branded as anti-science, therefore destroying all chances for a constructive discussion.

In the context of the comment, anti-science was correctly used. There was nothing scientific about it. > Is debate allowed about in science anymore? Of the type we are discussing? It's never been allowed. It's always been discouraged. You can see similar types of debates when people talk about teaching the controversy. In fact, science is not about debate. It's about presenting facts in support of an argument. Merely…

"In fact, science is not about debate. It's about presenting facts in support of an argument. Merely arguing is pointless."

What science "is" is a subjective opinion, and there are many different claims what science really is. In my opinion debate is important to science. In addition, 'presenting facts in support of an argument' is debating in my opinion.

Re: Adderall Addiction: The Last All-Nighter

#187

Post by arghnoname »

lsc wrote: post #162
JohnBooty wrote: post #82

The comments to this article mainly focus on the medical benefits and side effects of Adderall. I don't want a larger truth to get lost here... While I've been prescribed Adderall for part of my adult life, and feel Adderall has benefited me, I'd like to say that there's far more to successful ADHD treatment than medication: - Proper environment - Getting enough exercise - Getting enough sleep - Support and understan…

what I find interesting is that when I use the ADD medication, I'm far more likely to go to bed and get up at a semi-reasonable time. Unsurprisingly, (as it's a stimulant) it also makes it far more likely that I'll work out. But yeah. Frictionless organization. and don't hesitate to hire things out. I mean, think about what you want to do yourself and what you want to hire out, but don't think about it from a cultura…

The hardest jobs I've had in my life are the ones that are generally least respected by our society.

I tried really hard to do well, but I would tend to get fired in a few months. I was terrible at them.

I do really well as a professional developer though, something that took me a while to get used to. It's funny how these things work. Like you I have ways of coping with my weaknesses, and those 'easy' jobs didn't provide much allowance for doing it. It definitely affects my politics, because I consider myself very fortunate that a career exists for me where I can leverage technology and intellect to do things quickly enough that I can 'waste time' freely. Not everyone is so fortunate.

Re: Adderall Addiction: The Last All-Nighter

#188

Post by adrianbye »

cwzwarich wrote: post #106
myko wrote: post #91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What does this have to do with the OP and ADHD?

Many critics of institutional psychiatry hold that the construct of mental illness is often used to medicalize nonpathological behavior that doesn't meet social norms, putting a scientific stamp of approval on judgements regarding human behavior, morals, and ethics. Given the uncertain pathophysiology of ADHD, the degree to which symptoms resemble moral judgements, the dramatic increase in diagnosis following advocac…

very well said

Re: Adderall Addiction: The Last All-Nighter

#189

Post by hcarvalhoalves »

georgemcbay wrote: post #115
hcarvalhoalves wrote: post #104

The amount of comments here claiming being diagnosed with ADD and taking pills for it made my head explode. ADD can't be a real condition if suddenly everybody is diagnosed with it, can it? Because if it is, we have an epidemy going on.

"ADD can't be a real condition if suddenly everybody is diagnosed with it, can it?" Sure it can be a real condition, one that is superficially easier to treat by giving everyone meds rather than admit that the modern "American" society we've created is full of all manner of unnatural stressors that we haven't evolved to deal with.

Yeah, that's what I'm talking about. The amount of people being prescribed meds made me scared. I'm from Brazil, and I almost never hear about ADD, let alone about Adderal.

Re: Adderall Addiction: The Last All-Nighter

#190

Post by dworrad »

scott_s wrote: post #184
espeed wrote: post #127

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You're absolutely right. John Ratey ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Ratey ), the professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School who wrote Driven to Distration , recently published a book called Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain ( http://www.amazon.com/Spark-Revolutionary-Science-Exercise-B... ). Spark details how high-intensity cardio (like sprints or interval training) put your br…

Nitpick: "high intensity cardio" is kind of an oxymoron. "Cardio" is used to mean training which mainly uses the aerobic system. That is, longer term, lower intensity, training that you can sustain over a long period of time because you are going at a pace that your body can turn carbohydrates into all the energy you need. Sprinting is anaerobic training, as is most strength training. It's high intensity, you can't s…

It won't increase your aerobic capacity... It will raise your lactate threshold. The only way to increase your aerobic capacity is to spend a large amount of time exercising at an aerobic heart rate.
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