6 ms·

So glad that as I was growing up, my ADHD tendencies were seen more as just an individual issue I'd have to learn to control myself rather than a physiological

So glad that as I was growing up, my ADHD tendencies were seen more as just an individual issue I'd have to learn to control myself rather than a physiological condition in need of medication. Granted, in my street-wise years I've found stimulants and I get along really, really well, but there's a nagging feeling that I simply don't want to be on amphetamines daily. It might turn my writing into delusional drivel like Ayn Rand, a noted speed addict for decades.

harveywi 10y ago
> It might turn my writing into delusional drivel like Ayn Rand, a noted speed addict for decades. Or maybe your writing would start to look like the work of genius Paul Erdős, a noted speed addict for decades.
- lfowles 10y ago
  Or maybe you'll finally get around to writing in the first place :)
- 6stringmerc 10y ago
  Math versus fiction are two different beasts.
eridius 10y ago
People with ADHD react to amphetamines differently than people without it (at the correct dosages at least; I've never read anything about what happens to people with ADHD that take more than the correct dosage).
- yelnatz 10y ago
  How do they act differently?
  - lilyball 10y ago
    For people with ADHD, amphetamines basically erases the symptoms of ADHD and decreases hyperactivity, so it doesn't really act like an upper at all (although it does still increase alertness).
    - misja111 10y ago
      Why on earth was this down voted? ADHD is caused by a low dopamine level or uptake. This can lead to concentration problems and impulsive behavior, and those symptoms can make people look restless and overactive. Amphetamine stimulates dopamine production, and that cancels out the effect of ADHD. If given in a low enough dosis to someone with ADHD, it takes the restlessness away, so it has the effect of a downer instead of an upper.
- llamataboot 10y ago
  I'd love to see some sort of double-blind study that bears this out, as I have serious doubts as to its veracity as ADHD is a huge spectrum of ambiguous symptoms. No doubt there are some people that have a lot harder time focusing than others, and there's no doubt stimulants help you focus, so in that case someone that has a harder time focusing might find them more beneficial, but the oft-repeated canard that stimulants "relax" you if you have true ADHD seems like more myth than proven theory to me. Stimulants are useful. I would say upwards of 25% of people I know use/abuse some sort of stimulant on an irregular or regular basis. Everything from adderall to speed paste from the dark net, to the people I know that enjoy a good 3 day long meth binge every few months (yes, there are highly successful and responsible meth users). Stimulants are also dangerous. They all have varying degrees of what people in the drug community call "more-ishness" -- the urge to redose. Because who the hell wants to come down when being up is so up? Some way more than others (Hi there, meth again!) They certainly tax your system -- I'm sure even the stuent popping two or three adderall to pull an allnighter has felt the next day blah of shitty brain chemicals (pro tip: sleep, eat a lot, exercise, and have sex). As far as long term effects of taking amphetamines every day, especially starting from childhood...well, we're running a population wide experiment on that now In any case, to reiterate, I believe some people have a lot more trouble than others staying focused. This can help or hinder them, depending on what they are trying to do. No doubt some people find daily amphetamines super indispensable to leading a productive life. But pretending there is some bright line between "normal people" and "people with ADHD" wherein on one side of that line amphetamine use is abuse and other the other side its just a medicine that acts totally differently obscures the murky and muddy truth. And especially keeps us from having a rational discussion about harm reduction, safe stimulant use, etc etc. And we're just getting started. New stimulants roll onto the streets from pharm labs in China and India nearly every money as research chemicals. Flourinated versions of methamphetamine and methylphenidate, etc etc etc. Some have rather unfortunate dose response curves between stimulation and psychosis for street drugs (see also: flakka) as not too many people carry their milligram scale on them. In any case, we can keep pretending that stimulants are just good medicine for a vaguely nebulous diagnosis and poison for everyone else, or we can have rational discussions about what stimulants give with one hand, and what they take away with another. Because they do both. Meanwhile, just out of sight, I assure you there's a lot more people crushing up half an adderall in their bedroom right now that you think.
- ta_339393 10y ago
  This is false and a common myth. If this was true then we would have the perfect test for ADHD, just give someone some stimulants and see how they react.
  - eridius 10y ago
    Speaking as someone who's wrestled with ADHD all my life, as has my spouse, this is definitely not false. And your claimed test makes no sense; if you haven't exhibited symptoms of ADHD, how can those symptoms be erased?
    - ta_339393 10y ago
      Perhaps I misunderstood your comment, you said that people with ADHD react differently and I was assuming you meant they do not respond in the same manor as someone else who just took a stimulant. Often you hear this saying that people with ADHD feel relaxed when they take a stimulant and don't feel any increased energy or mood lift, which of course is false. That's what I was referring to.
      - eridius 10y ago
        People who are already energetic may not notice increased energy at therapeutic doses, though I certainly noticed. I don't think anybody feels relaxed, but it does quiet the hyperactive impulses and behaviors, which can easily be mistaken for being relaxed.
  - forloop 10y ago
    It's a myth that it's a myth. "Correspondence (letter to the editor): Paradoxical Reaction in ADHD": https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3163785/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3163785/
sevensor 10y ago
> Ayn Rand, a noted speed addict for decade Didn't know this. Googled it: http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/culturebox/features/2013/daily_rituals/auden_sartre_graham_greene_ayn_rand_they_loved_amphetamines.html http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/culturebox/features/2013/...
vzcx 10y ago
Rand, eh? I would've name-dropped Philip K. Dick, noted speed addict for decades, and whose delusional drivel is actually really, really great science fiction.

harveywi 10y ago

> It might turn my writing into delusional drivel like Ayn Rand, a noted speed addict for decades. Or maybe your writing would start to look like the work of genius Paul Erdős, a noted speed addict for decades.

lfowles 10y ago
Or maybe you'll finally get around to writing in the first place :)
6stringmerc 10y ago
Math versus fiction are two different beasts.

eridius 10y ago

People with ADHD react to amphetamines differently than people without it (at the correct dosages at least; I've never read anything about what happens to people with ADHD that take more than the correct dosage).

yelnatz 10y ago
How do they act differently?
- lilyball 10y ago
  For people with ADHD, amphetamines basically erases the symptoms of ADHD and decreases hyperactivity, so it doesn't really act like an upper at all (although it does still increase alertness).
  - misja111 10y ago
    Why on earth was this down voted? ADHD is caused by a low dopamine level or uptake. This can lead to concentration problems and impulsive behavior, and those symptoms can make people look restless and overactive. Amphetamine stimulates dopamine production, and that cancels out the effect of ADHD. If given in a low enough dosis to someone with ADHD, it takes the restlessness away, so it has the effect of a downer instead of an upper.
llamataboot 10y ago
I'd love to see some sort of double-blind study that bears this out, as I have serious doubts as to its veracity as ADHD is a huge spectrum of ambiguous symptoms. No doubt there are some people that have a lot harder time focusing than others, and there's no doubt stimulants help you focus, so in that case someone that has a harder time focusing might find them more beneficial, but the oft-repeated canard that stimulants "relax" you if you have true ADHD seems like more myth than proven theory to me. Stimulants are useful. I would say upwards of 25% of people I know use/abuse some sort of stimulant on an irregular or regular basis. Everything from adderall to speed paste from the dark net, to the people I know that enjoy a good 3 day long meth binge every few months (yes, there are highly successful and responsible meth users). Stimulants are also dangerous. They all have varying degrees of what people in the drug community call "more-ishness" -- the urge to redose. Because who the hell wants to come down when being up is so up? Some way more than others (Hi there, meth again!) They certainly tax your system -- I'm sure even the stuent popping two or three adderall to pull an allnighter has felt the next day blah of shitty brain chemicals (pro tip: sleep, eat a lot, exercise, and have sex). As far as long term effects of taking amphetamines every day, especially starting from childhood...well, we're running a population wide experiment on that now In any case, to reiterate, I believe some people have a lot more trouble than others staying focused. This can help or hinder them, depending on what they are trying to do. No doubt some people find daily amphetamines super indispensable to leading a productive life. But pretending there is some bright line between "normal people" and "people with ADHD" wherein on one side of that line amphetamine use is abuse and other the other side its just a medicine that acts totally differently obscures the murky and muddy truth. And especially keeps us from having a rational discussion about harm reduction, safe stimulant use, etc etc. And we're just getting started. New stimulants roll onto the streets from pharm labs in China and India nearly every money as research chemicals. Flourinated versions of methamphetamine and methylphenidate, etc etc etc. Some have rather unfortunate dose response curves between stimulation and psychosis for street drugs (see also: flakka) as not too many people carry their milligram scale on them. In any case, we can keep pretending that stimulants are just good medicine for a vaguely nebulous diagnosis and poison for everyone else, or we can have rational discussions about what stimulants give with one hand, and what they take away with another. Because they do both. Meanwhile, just out of sight, I assure you there's a lot more people crushing up half an adderall in their bedroom right now that you think.
ta_339393 10y ago
This is false and a common myth. If this was true then we would have the perfect test for ADHD, just give someone some stimulants and see how they react.
- eridius 10y ago
  Speaking as someone who's wrestled with ADHD all my life, as has my spouse, this is definitely not false. And your claimed test makes no sense; if you haven't exhibited symptoms of ADHD, how can those symptoms be erased?
  - ta_339393 10y ago
    Perhaps I misunderstood your comment, you said that people with ADHD react differently and I was assuming you meant they do not respond in the same manor as someone else who just took a stimulant. Often you hear this saying that people with ADHD feel relaxed when they take a stimulant and don't feel any increased energy or mood lift, which of course is false. That's what I was referring to.
    - eridius 10y ago
      People who are already energetic may not notice increased energy at therapeutic doses, though I certainly noticed. I don't think anybody feels relaxed, but it does quiet the hyperactive impulses and behaviors, which can easily be mistaken for being relaxed.
- forloop 10y ago
  It's a myth that it's a myth. "Correspondence (letter to the editor): Paradoxical Reaction in ADHD": https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3163785/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3163785/

sevensor 10y ago

> Ayn Rand, a noted speed addict for decade Didn't know this. Googled it: http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/culturebox/features/2013/daily_rituals/auden_sartre_graham_greene_ayn_rand_they_loved_amphetamines.html http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/culturebox/features/2013/...

vzcx 10y ago

Rand, eh? I would've name-dropped Philip K. Dick, noted speed addict for decades, and whose delusional drivel is actually really, really great science fiction.