[N]o other class of medications in virtually all of medicine inspires more baseless fears, intentional disinformation, and wild beliefs as do the stimulants used to treat ADHD.
Interestingly, these fears are almost entirely an American phenomenon that hardly exists elsewhere in the world.
[H]aving ADHD lowers a person’s estimated life expectancy by 12.7 years.
From other articles on the site:
-
ADHD medication use lowers risk of death by 19%, risk of overdose by 50%, and it reduces hospitalizations
-
[T]he risk of substance abuse decreases substantially when [ADHD] patients are treated with stimulant medication
deleted by creator
Meth and similar stimulants were used at high rates up through WWII. Germany, the US, Japan, and presumably many other countries relied on them heavily for their soldiers.
Pervitin!
There’s an interesting and easy read on amphetamines used in Nazi Germany titled Blitzed by Norman Ohler. You know where to find the ebook but TankieTube has the full audiobook here
Fun fact: doctors in the US still occasionally prescribe methamphetamine for ADHD. It goes by the trademark name Desoxyn.
deleted by creator
I think methamphetamine is less neurotoxic than amphetamine at the equivalent dosage, although that’s only what I heard - never looked into it to say that I know this for a fact.
Did you know that Ohler has a new book out called Tripped about psychedelics? It’s also up on TankieTube as an audiobook here although I haven’t read it yet but based on Blitzed I’d assume it’s pretty good.
deleted by creator
If you do give it a listen I’d love to hear your thoughts on it
deleted by creator
Excellent summary so far. Is it meeting your expectations?
deleted by creator
Awww yis! We got a book review/infodump in the pipeline!!
Iirc blitzed says meth was very common among the German populace before the war.
deleted by creator
Amphetamines are easier to synthesize than coffee is to brew? Really?
I suppose you mean once you have the precursors?
deleted by creator
deleted by creator
deleted by creator
Amphetamines are easier to synthesize than coffee is to grow I think is what they mean
deleted by creator
If you’re talking about my bio, it’s just a reference to Bo Burnham’s Inside. But because it came out in 2021 I changed the number lol
deleted by creator
I think a lot of people’s fears come down to some combination of these silly reasons:
- Drugs bad
- Drug name is similar to methamphetamine and meth is bad
- I know someone who abused stimulants and it didn’t go well for them, so that’s what’s going to happen to you too, even if you just take them as prescribed
- ADHD is fake and you’re just taking drugs because you’re lazy
- ADHD is real, but if you can’t overcome it through sheer effort of will, you’re lazy. And a drug addict. And that’s bad
- ADHD is fake; it was invented by big pharma to peddle addictive drugs. So you’re being taken advantage of and you should stop taking your medication
Sadly, the last sentiment is somewhat common among leftists, such as the Hampton Institute.
I’m beginning to worry I may be one of those ADHD adults who needs a dosage higher than than the conservative limit set by the FDA. If that’s the case then I’m fucked.
Maybe I should ask about combining it with a non-stimulant drug.
I keep my tolerance low by only taking meds 3–5 days a week. If not for tolerance I would take it every day.
Same here with the 3-5 times a week.
Wow this is crazy to me. I always believed I was just going to die sooner because I needed stimulants just to hold my job down.
The FAA prohibits pilots from using ADHD medication for 90 days before getting or exercising the privileges of a pilot’s license.
fuck america, god damn lol, even just having a diagnosis fucks you over, then if you treat it using the good and effective available treatments that’s an outright ban?
It’s proven to lower the risk of auto accidents!
I am pretty sure the air force still offers it to pilots that ask.
Not upon request, but under certain circumstances, yes. They are used for fatigue, not ADHD. Generally, for crews of dual-piloted aircraft on irregular missions longer than 12 hours.
because sometimes people take them and feel “high” and one of the pillars of global capitalism is the puritanical “suffering is virtuous” ideology that targets drugs that have any positive emotional effect.
It’s why we so heavily target opiates*, cannabinoids, and amphetamines.
* yeah even if opiates aren’t as safe as other drugs they’re important for pain management and their stigma, not their safety, is what drives their repression.
I’d like to know more about these lobbying groups from the 1970s they mentioned.
I suspect that the Scientologists were a large part of this push. Obviously they are vehemently anti-psychiatry and they certainly jumped on the anti-ADHD bandwagon with great gusto but I’m not sure whether or not they were lobbying but I feel like they were a large part of the cultural zeitgeist that claimed that ADHD meds were turning the children into drugged-out zombies.
Lower life expectancy? Not like I can afford retirement anyway.
I personally stopped taking mine because I felt my emotions where too flat.
Otherwise I think meds are fantastic for anyone with ADHD and have recommended people to look into them.
Vyvanse did that shit to me and it’s one of the reasons I switched to a different med, every other one has made me feel livelier instead.
Capitalism really do be making it hard to be on the right frequency doesn’t it
It always feels like this sort of quandary is utterly defined by its existence in a world order that lets people who don’t perfectly fit their groove starve. Like I can’t even picture what the ideal substance relationship would be without capitalism to define why I would take them. I’m picturing someone with ADHD who, without anything to directly coerce them into doing labor, might just have ADHD and live in a way that is comfortable for them, bouncing between tasks and finding their own groove.
This is not at all to say these drugs are dubious, just that whenever I consider this question I wind up feeling especially asphyxiated by the current status quo.
(If I’m completely off the mark someone tell me, this topic is something I used to grapple with a lot before I personally decided against going on antidepressants in high school, and I sometimes wonder if I made a mistake)
Some ADHDers can probably live like that. Some, like myself, have pretty bad understimulation, but I guess I have yet to see if stimulants make me feel ok.
I hope it doesn’t sound like I’m implying that people shouldn’t take meds, that’s not how I feel at all. I just can’t help but wonder how much of stimulant use (meds of all kinds really) is to help cope with capitalist reality vs to help manage disorders. In a way, it’s an arbitrary distinction, since this is the reality we live in, but it just makes the status quo feel all the more opaque to me, like I can’t even see what lies beyond.
I totally agree. I tend to argue on your side, I am simply compelled to disagree with people.
all i know is adderall made me insanely fucking horny and really really good at Heroes of Newerth and League of Legends. It did not make me study or go to class
It still does all those things tho, it did but it still does
To be fair though my adhd assessment was basically going to a GP and saying “hey doctor, i can’t read so good no more, it’s hard to focus on the page” and he said “yup sounds like the adhd, here’s your amphetamines my good sir”
i was 19
To be fair though my adhd assessment was basically going to a GP and saying “hey doctor, i can’t read so good no more, it’s hard to focus on the page” and he said “yup sounds like the adhd, here’s your amphetamines my good sir”
Which makes it wild that im afraid of getting a legitimate script again, I lost my insurance for 6 years and idk how to ask for drugs without looking like im seeking drugs. I guess i have a medical record? Idk
Ok sure, but they just feel bad.
I prefer the feeling to not being able to get out of bed tho
You and MouthyHooker are totally right. I feel bad for shooting my mouth off on a topic where folks are being much more meaningful with their comments. I had been prescribed a lot of meds that made me feel shitty when the stuff I bought off the street and dosed myself was actually very helpful in getting through school and starting/managing my career. (I know this is not a good idea.)
If I were making a better comment I’d say that Concerta was a weird drug that made me super suicidal, but that might have been a weird side effect/rare case.
I wouldn’t feel too bad about it. I know psychiatry is a lot worse for some people than for others. I’m sorry you had such a rough go of it. I was just trying trying to point out it wasn’t universal in case any third party was on the fence about trying meds.
Bodies/brains are different but Adderall XR is like a miracle drug for me. I have very few side effects, it makes my life easier, and it also helps with emotional regulation.
I am glad it works for you. My comment was dumb. I had bad experiences with Concerta and focalin, but the adderall I’ve bought on the street has been super helpful in my career (even the weird pressed stuff) and I probably should have just gotten a prescription and taken it regularly instead of sporadically.
I don’t think your comment was dumb at all. I have friends with ADHD who can’t take stimulants because it makes them feel like shit. Everyone’s brain and body is different so we all react differently to medications.
I am also diabetic and one of the drugs I take (Metformin) gives some people horrible GI side effects to the point that it’s intolerable and they can’t take it. But it doesn’t seem to bother my GI system at all 🤷🏼♀️
ADHD lowers a person’s estimated life expectancy
You WHAT?!
I added the “having” to the beginning of the sentence.
So having ADHD under capitalism lowers your life expectancy, not like a biological consequence? I wasn’t sure what you meant
Like being trans doesn’t kill kids, being trans under capitalism kills kids
The bush-created DEA
I tried a dexamphetamine a few times and although I went into robot mode and unstacked and restacked a giant shed in about 3 minutes, I felt a big crash at the end.
It just felt unnatural to me I guess.
If you truly are add/adhd try other medications. It’s like waking up on the right side of the bed when you find it. Quite astonishing tbh.
Emotional blunting is common on stimuland ADHD meds, but not on non-stimulant ADHD meds like Strattera, guanfacine, or Qelbree. I prefer Strattera and have been on it for 8 years
Mechanism being understood doesn’t matter if it contradicts hegemonic ideology (many such cases).
