What is Digg?168 Comments
- rambomcfly, on 04/21/2009, -1/+66I could havve used some adderall to finish that long article.
- jedisushi, on 04/21/2009, -0/+36This story was on NPR this afternoon. Very intriguing stuff in terms of imagining our science future ("stim packs" anyone?).
I thought it was interesting (in the NPR story) that they noted that generally the people who saw the most benefit possessed mediocre intellects. The smartest people generally saw little if any tangible benefit from using these drugs off-label.
There are also researchers postulating that off-label use of these drugs by people who do not have ADHD, etc. could stifle creativity at the expense of focus because you can rarely improve one area of brain function without sacrificing another (also from the NPR segment).
It's being called 'cosmetic neurology.' What a strange world we've made for ourselves... - Waaaaalt, on 04/21/2009, -0/+31Mentats?
- orientis, on 04/20/2009, -1/+32Speed is now a neuro-enhancer, eh? Guess you can put a positive spin on anything.
- Flipperbw, on 04/21/2009, -0/+25"Alex was an ingenious experimenter. His brother had received a diagnosis of A.D.H.D., and in his freshman year Alex obtained an Adderall prescription for himself by describing to a doctor symptoms that he knew were typical of the disorder."
What a guy, man oh man. I'd NEVER have thought of describing symptoms of a disease I don't have in order to get medication. - XtheXlanternX, on 04/21/2009, -1/+20Just reading the other comments, I don't know if anyone has actually used Adderall as a study aid. I'll be frank: I have. I had an old college roommate who had a prescription but didn't really take them on a regular basis (it is hard even if you have ADD to take them as much as you're supposed to because they make it really difficult to eat). Oftentimes, I would ask him for an Addy so that I could study for an exam I had the next day. I am normally a very distracted guy. I am smart enough where I don't really have to study for most thing so this has never really bothered me. I also work very well under pressure, so I pretty much always do things at the last minute. With Adderall, the world was completely different. It was so incredibly easy to just read and study for hours on end. For someone who can't even finish a paragraph on a paper without being distracted, this was so welcome to me. I remember studying for an organic chemistry exam. I got up at 8am, took an Adderall and went to a local coffee house to study. I've never had a more productive study time in my life. Normally I find homework problems and the re-reading of material we already covered in class to be incredibly dull, but while under the effects of Addy I had no problem maintaining interest. I haven't taken any "brain enhancers" since the year I lived with that guy, but I would definitely get a prescription for Adderall if I could. Unfortunately, I don't have health insurance and the pills cost like 250$ for a 2 month supply, plus whatever the doctor charged.
- maz2331, on 04/21/2009, -2/+20Sounds like a meth addict. Not all of them are trailer-trash who only sit around doing drugs. Others use them as a "boost".
Even the military issued the stuff to flight crews who needed to be awake for 40 hours at a clip. - InfinitySnatch, on 04/21/2009, -1/+19Alex sounds like a real boring guy.
- fyrewal, on 04/20/2009, -3/+20I guess before abusing any drug; whether or not I could justify it to myself, I would ask, is this worth it? I'm not passing judgement on anyone, we all make choices and have to live with them...
- Nrvana423, on 04/21/2009, -0/+15At least it's all on one page?
- MortalynFlux, on 04/21/2009, -3/+18Nothing beats endurance cardio, optimal nutrition, proper sleep, and meditation. It's the best sustained way to maintain focus and attention without losing your friends and ruining your life.
- sanman, on 04/21/2009, -5/+20ATTENTION!! ADD 5 INCHES TO YOUR CRANIAL SIZE!! JUST TRY OUR NEW ENLARGEMENT TECHNIQUE!! JUST IMAGINE ALL THOSE HOT WOMEN WHO'LL BE THRILLED TO RUN THEIR FINGERS OVER YOUR MASSIVE THROBBING SCALP!!
ORDER NOW FROM OUR ONLINE PHARMACY!! - Grolsch, on 04/21/2009, -0/+13OK I really tried to finish it....Cliff Notes anyone?
- christoast, on 04/21/2009, -2/+14Who needs reasons when you've got heroin?
- christoast, on 04/21/2009, -2/+14"Neuroenhancing" is a buzz word that somebody made up to describe drugs that have been around for a while but still wants page hits.
- ThaDRD, on 04/21/2009, -1/+13tl;na (too long; need aderall)
- purple, on 04/21/2009, -1/+12UK students are definitely using adderall. It's ignorant to say that they aren't, and even more ignorant to be judging the intellect of people attending the university of ANY country.
They have already proven themselves through admittance, they don't need to prove anything to you. - 6oo63D, on 04/21/2009, -1/+12That article itself was wordy, diffuse, long-winded, palaverous, prolix, and redundant. Though while not overly grandiloquent, it was flowery, periphrastic, pleonastically tautologous; a manifestation that the writer himself was on Adderall.
- wreckosaurus, on 04/21/2009, -5/+16A friend gave me a drug for attention deficit disorder, because he's afflicted, but I'm not. So what happened to me is I suddenly had an extra-long attention span. People would tell me a story, and it would end, and I'd get all mad. "Come on, man, there has to be more to that story."
- Rain12913, on 04/21/2009, -0/+10Ahh...that's the stuff.
- lacreme, on 04/21/2009, -2/+12Are you ***** serious
- stack3r, on 04/21/2009, -1/+11Well, you cant really compare the drugs.
Methamphetamine does not have the same effects as amphetamine, Dexamphetamine etc.
Meth actually makes most people lazy and the effect of the addiction is so strong that once someone has a hit, all they what to do is hit more. Meth is a very useless and evil drug with terrible side effects compared to the other stimulants. - murrdpirate, on 04/21/2009, -1/+10Obviously you've never tried adderall.
- matthekc, on 04/21/2009, -1/+9Hmm, wordy arguments in place of a couple of sentences, Article as long as a book, author sounded like he supported Provigil, and no talk of the medical ramification of long term sleep deprivation.
I honestly would not be surprised to learn this guy wrote the article while on Provigil - inactive, on 04/21/2009, -0/+8me neither. dem harvard students r brillyant
- inactive, on 04/21/2009, -0/+8There was me, that is Alex, and my three droogs, that is Pete, Georgie, and Dim, and we sat in the Korova Milkbar trying to make up our rassoodocks what to do with the evening. The Korova milkbar sold milk-plus, milk plus vellocet or synthemesc or drencrom, which is what we were drinking. This would sharpen you up and make you ready for a bit of the old ultra-violence.
- stack3r, on 04/21/2009, -0/+8Actually, speed is an excellent enhancer when not abused. Bad things happen when you use it 24/7 and dont sleep for 5 days, then crash for 3, then wake up and do it again while not eating. Do that for months on end and then see paranoia and other mental issue arise.
Its not like you take speed one day and the next your in a gutter with 20 needles hanging out of you. - selfevasive, on 04/21/2009, -1/+8To those complaining about the length, many New Yorker articles tend to be this long. Last week's piece on solitary confinement was just as long.
Anyways, the ethics of 'neuroenhancing' and 'cosmetic neurology' is an interesting subject. Will it become accepted the way cosmetic surgery has? - weeFred, on 04/21/2009, -0/+7I think the author was on adderall, long read, but worth it.
- wreckosaurus, on 04/21/2009, -0/+7you obviously have ADD, I'm going to write you a script for adderall
- Grolsch, on 04/21/2009, -0/+6Doing stuff is overrated. Like Hitler. He did a lot. But don't we all wish he woulda just stayed home and gotten stoned?
- inactive, on 04/21/2009, -0/+6I haven't used any "neroenhancers" and I agree that cardio, good nutrition, proper sleep and meditation work very well in maintaining focus, but your assertion that using drugs like Adderall will cause you to lose your friends and ruin your life is pretty ludicrous.
Neuroenhancers are not like cocaine and other narcotics in that their is no high involved. The reason people take neuroenhancers is to stimulate focus and productivity. And save for a few instances, like when my former roommate stayed up for 12 hours straight watching movies instead of writing his 3 final papers, they do boost productivity.
The short term side effects of using neuroenhancers are mainly loss of appetite, changes in sleep patterns/insomnia, weight loss, and changes in mood/emotion. The long term effects haven't been successfully studied yet because all these ADHD drugs are relatively new, but I'm sure there are some, as there are with all drugs. None that would ruin lives and cost you friendships though. - psykiv, on 04/21/2009, -1/+7Agreed. I think I need some adderral just to finish reading that article!
- waydee, on 04/21/2009, -0/+5It seems worryingly easy to get hold of stimulant drugs on prescription in the US. I know in the UK that the first line treatment for ADHD etc. is methylphenidate (Ritalin), rarely a patient will be prescribed dexamphetamine (Dexedrine) if they fail to respond to the methylphenidate/suffer adverse reactions from it. An even bigger difference is the fact that very few adults are prescribed these drugs, infact - and I work in pharmacy - ADHD isn't widely diagnosed or treated at all in people over the age of 16.
I read a lot about Adderal being prescribed and used by older people in the US which just doesn't happen here, students using stimulants and other drugs is an issue on the rise but the current drug of choice seems to be modafinil (Modapro, Provigil) which is primarily used in the treatment of narcolepsy and not a traditional stimulant. If they're going to use black market drugs good ol' amphetamine is the most likely and newer, 'legal' stimulants like 4-methylmethcathinone, MDPV etc. are rising in popularity because of their low price, high potency and easy availability. Ritalin is used occasionally but it's not widely used amongst/available to university aged people.
The situation seems to extend to other drugs such as anxiolytics, in the UK drugs like clonazepam (Klonopin, Rivotril) and alprazolam (Xanax) are very, very rarely used in the treatment of panic disorder, generalised anxiety disorder etc. because of the problems associated with benzodiazepene dependence and withdrawal while they seem quite widely prescribed in the US for those diagnoses. As someone who takes anxiolytic medication I've discussed this with my doctor and she said a benzodiazepene would only be prescribed as an absolute last resort, after all other treatment options had been exhausted and never prescribed long term.
It's the same situation with painkillers too, I've talked with Americans who are prescribed oxycodone (Oxycontin, Oxynorm, Percocet), hydromorphone (Palladone, Dilaudid), hydrocodone (Vicodin, others) for symptoms that doctors here wouldn't dream of treating with such strong, opioid painkillers. The majority of strong opioids here are reserved for post operative pain, chronic disabling pain, cancer related pain and palliative care - you're not going to get an Oxycodone script for a bad back. - inactive, on 04/21/2009, -2/+7It's literally cheating to get ahead. Athletes do it, now mental athletes are doing it.
- 6oo63D, on 04/21/2009, -1/+6oh, you forgot to mention "and a cup of coffee."
- rawnnie, on 04/21/2009, -0/+5Maybe he wrote it while on Adderall.
- christoast, on 04/21/2009, -0/+5Stalin was an atheist. Therefore atheists are evil?
See where that logic gets you. Nowhere. - Stieffers, on 04/21/2009, -0/+5What people don't realize is that there is a low after Adderall's high. It may not be directly related to the drug, but because you don't eat, and tend to completely forget about drinking water, you end up in a dehydrated, weak, and tired state after the drug wears off. It's like those mornings where all you do is drink coffee; no breakfast. When the caffeine wears off, that feeling of weakness comes over you.
- welfinator, on 04/21/2009, -0/+5i only read it till the end because i was on adderall too
- stack3r, on 04/21/2009, -0/+5Abuse any drug, including nicotine and alcohol, there will be negative side effects.
- luckless, on 04/21/2009, -1/+6Where do they sell this thing you call "proper sleep" on campus?
- ThatsNotPudding, on 04/21/2009, -1/+5Enjoy your brain cancer & schizophrenia, smart guy!
- Mutiny32, on 04/21/2009, -0/+4What really gets to me is the people who use these drugs who don't need them. It makes it harder for those who actually have issues with concentration, mental awareness, and other disorders to get proper treatment. I happen to be one of those people who slipped through the cracks until I was 22. It really makes me resentful of those who parents who think the reason their little snowflakes aren't doing well in school is because they have ADHD. I really wish people would just take a step back and face reality; your kids just aren't as smart as some other ones. My parents were always told by teachers that I was a daydreamer and would always just stare out the windows. Maybe that should have been a signal to them that maybe I had some attention disorder when I would always come out in 98-99th percentile on all standardized tests but never turned in homework. But they were more concerned with the kid that was always super hyperactive and never did his homework. It was excusable though, he had "ADD." I was just a lazy kid and was punished for it because I didn't run around like a tard causing trouble.
- stuma9000, on 04/21/2009, -0/+4That's been my experience. Focus at the expense of creativity.
- oneoverzero, on 04/21/2009, -1/+5After a few months of taking it daily, the not being able to eat thing goes away.
- shodanx, on 04/21/2009, -0/+3amphetamines are pretty great, I use them on a as needed basis, about 10 times in the past 3 years, it got me out of bad situation were I was too tired or not alert enough and really had to be at my best
used resposibly it's great, but the potential for abuse is enormous, you have to exercise very high discipline when using that, or else you'll suffer the very unpleasant consequences - marioleme, on 04/21/2009, -2/+5exactly as i Thought
- cephelotron, on 04/21/2009, -0/+3It is by will alone that I set my mind in motion. It is by the juice of Sapho that the thoughts acquire speed, the lips acquire stains, the stains become a warning. It is by will alone that I set my mind in motion.
- ajde, on 04/21/2009, -0/+3When I was 13 (I'm 22 now) my mom, the postergirl for Western medicine, decided that I had ADD and put me on Adderall. I've always been a creative type, and the weirdest part about taking it was that I lost all ability to draw, write, anything creative. It was almost like losing a sense, like not being able to taste food. I stopped taking it and never tried it again until once later in college, at which point my classmate and I ended up organizing his studio, talking about how totally awesome the new Gorillaz cd was and chainsmoking on the balcony instead of doing our study group.
-
Show 51 - 100 of 172 discussions
© Digg Inc. 2009
— Content created and posted by Digg users is