4 ms·

The two of you sound like you're being dismissive of mental illnesses that cause immense suffering and are accusing people of just seeking attention or performa

The two of you sound like you're being dismissive of mental illnesses that cause immense suffering and are accusing people of just seeking attention or performance enhancing drugs. That's pretty fucked up.

999900000999 5y ago
I'm not trying to be dismissive. Their are tons of people who really do need medication. Their are others who shop doctors to get the meds they want. For example, it's common for kids struggling in college to get an ADHD diagnosis so they can study for longer hours. As far as I'm concerned as long as your adult, ingest whatever you want. But I don't think being unable to study Chem for 12 hours a day is an illness. Why stop adults from doing what they want. No one stops you from rock climbing, even though that's also dangerous.
pxc 5y ago
I have ADHD and mostly agree with GP's proposal. ADHD medications don't really restore anyone to 'normal'. They're a compensatory measure ('performance enhancer') which is reserved only for some people mainly for bad reasons (the war on drugs, lack of public and accessible infrastructure for addiction treatment). They can be used to help people with certain deficits meet certain demands (typically productivity in work or school), but it's not like they counteract ADHD. They help with some aspects of the disorder (difficulty sustaining attention) and make other aspects of the disorder (difficulty being deliberate and judicious about when to switch tasks) worse. Gating them heavily behind many appointments and preventing pharmacies from providing any refills makes stimulant medications harder to access for people who have ADHD, especially during bad times when it's relatively poorly managed, which forms a vicious cycle. (ADHDers sometimes refer to the total fees associated with missed and late appointments and other such mishaps as 'the ADHD tax', and it's not unusual for that sum to exceed what an ADHD patient actually pays in copays, especially when they're first trying to get things under control.) Expanding public access both to stimulant medication and to addiction treatment could, imo, help more people live better lives (including both ADHD patients and people who don't have ADHD) and allow treatment of ADHD to focus more on people who actually have ADHD , and on all of the management aspects of living with ADHD (which are much harder and collectively at least as important as medication). (At the same time, under the policies the GP described, I would continue to consult with a psychiatrist, because adjusting psychoactive medications without professional assistance is a stupid thing to do.)

999900000999 5y ago

I'm not trying to be dismissive. Their are tons of people who really do need medication. Their are others who shop doctors to get the meds they want. For example, it's common for kids struggling in college to get an ADHD diagnosis so they can study for longer hours. As far as I'm concerned as long as your adult, ingest whatever you want. But I don't think being unable to study Chem for 12 hours a day is an illness. Why stop adults from doing what they want. No one stops you from rock climbing, even though that's also dangerous.

pxc 5y ago

I have ADHD and mostly agree with GP's proposal. ADHD medications don't really restore anyone to 'normal'. They're a compensatory measure ('performance enhancer') which is reserved only for some people mainly for bad reasons (the war on drugs, lack of public and accessible infrastructure for addiction treatment). They can be used to help people with certain deficits meet certain demands (typically productivity in work or school), but it's not like they counteract ADHD. They help with some aspects of the disorder (difficulty sustaining attention) and make other aspects of the disorder (difficulty being deliberate and judicious about when to switch tasks) worse. Gating them heavily behind many appointments and preventing pharmacies from providing any refills makes stimulant medications harder to access for people who have ADHD, especially during bad times when it's relatively poorly managed, which forms a vicious cycle. (ADHDers sometimes refer to the total fees associated with missed and late appointments and other such mishaps as 'the ADHD tax', and it's not unusual for that sum to exceed what an ADHD patient actually pays in copays, especially when they're first trying to get things under control.) Expanding public access both to stimulant medication and to addiction treatment could, imo, help more people live better lives (including both ADHD patients and people who don't have ADHD) and allow treatment of ADHD to focus more on people who actually have ADHD , and on all of the management aspects of living with ADHD (which are much harder and collectively at least as important as medication). (At the same time, under the policies the GP described, I would continue to consult with a psychiatrist, because adjusting psychoactive medications without professional assistance is a stupid thing to do.)