6 ms·

> While these drugs will make healthy people high and overexcited, it will help ADHD patients calm down and focus. It is my understanding that nootropics like

> While these drugs will make healthy people high and overexcited, it will help ADHD patients calm down and focus. It is my understanding that nootropics like Adderall are widely used outside of the ADHD-diagnosed population for their use in boosting productivity tasks in otherwise-healthy adults (see their popular use by students at colleges), and also for their high.

peteretep 7y ago
It’s strange to me to hear speed described as a nootropic, although I note that Wikipedia does list it as one. If amphetamine are a nootropic, does cocaine count?
- ses1984 7y ago
  I thought nootropics were supposed to have positive long-term physiological benefits. Amphetamine is a performance enhancer and maybe even a cognitive enhancer (evidence says otherwise) but it's definitely not nootropic.
  - peteretep 7y ago
    I’d have thought so too, but Wikipedia describes it as one, so who knows
  - mcbits 7y ago
    If a substance improves certain cognitive metrics in healthy adults, then it qualifies a nootropic, even if it has harmful side effects. Purported nootropics are often also marketed as, or alongside, purported life extension products. Maybe that creates some confusion about what nootropics are.
  - taneq 7y ago
    Nootropics are drugs that boost cognitive performance: https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/nootropic https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/nootropic
    - ses1984 7y ago
      From your link: >and possesses very few side effects and extremely low toxicity.
      - taneq 7y ago
        Only if you take the pharmacological definition. The medical definition is exactly as I said.
        ses1984 7y ago
        What a weird hair to split, pharmacology is a part of medicine. The "medical" definition is incomplete.
- ghostcluster 7y ago
  The military has used speed to boost the performance of soldiers in war for almost a century, especially when in extended combat situations to stay alert and awake beyond an ordinary sleep cycle. The Nazis famously gave pep pills to their Panzer tank crews during the 'blitzkriegs' of Poland and France, and many militaries have given it to bomber pilots on extended runs, including the US. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_and_culture_of_substituted_amphetamines#Military_use https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_and_culture_of_substit...
vonseel 7y ago
> While these drugs will make healthy people high and overexcited, it will help ADHD patients calm down and focus. And beyond that, this simply is a misconception and myth perpetuated by uneducated people. ADHD patients calm down when they take Adderall because they’ve been on it for years and have a tolerance. That’s just what happens. You don’t get the exact same euphoria that someone who takes it monthly feels. The underlying mechanism of action is the same for all humans.
- GuB-42 7y ago
  My understanding is that ADHD patients are in a constant unsatisfying "underexcited" state, so they will do anything to find exciting things to do. Amphetamines pulls them up to normal levels. Give the same substance to someone already at a normal level and he will become overexcited. Just like putting weights on a scale can balance an unbalanced scale or unbalance an balanced scale.
  - hexscrews 7y ago
    I'm in a weird position of taking both ritalin and celexa. It makes me both anxious and focused.
    - antihero 7y ago
      I had to quit Ritalin in year 11 because the anxiety was completely fucking ruining my social development, regardless of whether it was useful to get good grades. I'm unmedicated now (30) and still in some ways quite a difficult human to deal with due to erractic behaviour and unreliability and disorganisation, however, I don't think I could go back to the ritalin man.
      - kortex 7y ago
        Ritalin (methylphenidate in general) is a rough one, cause of its stupidly short half life (as short as 90min in some). On top of that, most extended release systems for it are garbage. Sure on average, the blood plasma level graph is smooth, but you look at individual profiles, and some individuals have way higher peak amplitudes. In my experience, MPH, even the ER/concerta stuff, thrashes your mental state too much to be productive. I actually had more stability dosing slivers of MPH IR every hour, but man, that's tedious, it's easy to miss, and once you drop, it's not the same, even if you get back to therapeutic range.

peteretep 7y ago

It’s strange to me to hear speed described as a nootropic, although I note that Wikipedia does list it as one. If amphetamine are a nootropic, does cocaine count?

ses1984 7y ago
I thought nootropics were supposed to have positive long-term physiological benefits. Amphetamine is a performance enhancer and maybe even a cognitive enhancer (evidence says otherwise) but it's definitely not nootropic.
- peteretep 7y ago
  I’d have thought so too, but Wikipedia describes it as one, so who knows
- mcbits 7y ago
  If a substance improves certain cognitive metrics in healthy adults, then it qualifies a nootropic, even if it has harmful side effects. Purported nootropics are often also marketed as, or alongside, purported life extension products. Maybe that creates some confusion about what nootropics are.
- taneq 7y ago
  Nootropics are drugs that boost cognitive performance: https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/nootropic https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/nootropic
  - ses1984 7y ago
    From your link: >and possesses very few side effects and extremely low toxicity.
    - taneq 7y ago
      Only if you take the pharmacological definition. The medical definition is exactly as I said.
      - ses1984 7y ago
        What a weird hair to split, pharmacology is a part of medicine. The "medical" definition is incomplete.
ghostcluster 7y ago
The military has used speed to boost the performance of soldiers in war for almost a century, especially when in extended combat situations to stay alert and awake beyond an ordinary sleep cycle. The Nazis famously gave pep pills to their Panzer tank crews during the 'blitzkriegs' of Poland and France, and many militaries have given it to bomber pilots on extended runs, including the US. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_and_culture_of_substituted_amphetamines#Military_use https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_and_culture_of_substit...

vonseel 7y ago

> While these drugs will make healthy people high and overexcited, it will help ADHD patients calm down and focus. And beyond that, this simply is a misconception and myth perpetuated by uneducated people. ADHD patients calm down when they take Adderall because they’ve been on it for years and have a tolerance. That’s just what happens. You don’t get the exact same euphoria that someone who takes it monthly feels. The underlying mechanism of action is the same for all humans.

GuB-42 7y ago
My understanding is that ADHD patients are in a constant unsatisfying "underexcited" state, so they will do anything to find exciting things to do. Amphetamines pulls them up to normal levels. Give the same substance to someone already at a normal level and he will become overexcited. Just like putting weights on a scale can balance an unbalanced scale or unbalance an balanced scale.
- hexscrews 7y ago
  I'm in a weird position of taking both ritalin and celexa. It makes me both anxious and focused.
  - antihero 7y ago
    I had to quit Ritalin in year 11 because the anxiety was completely fucking ruining my social development, regardless of whether it was useful to get good grades. I'm unmedicated now (30) and still in some ways quite a difficult human to deal with due to erractic behaviour and unreliability and disorganisation, however, I don't think I could go back to the ritalin man.
    - kortex 7y ago
      Ritalin (methylphenidate in general) is a rough one, cause of its stupidly short half life (as short as 90min in some). On top of that, most extended release systems for it are garbage. Sure on average, the blood plasma level graph is smooth, but you look at individual profiles, and some individuals have way higher peak amplitudes. In my experience, MPH, even the ER/concerta stuff, thrashes your mental state too much to be productive. I actually had more stability dosing slivers of MPH IR every hour, but man, that's tedious, it's easy to miss, and once you drop, it's not the same, even if you get back to therapeutic range.