5 ms·

1 in 5 us adults take Ritalin? That seems incredibly high? And 1 in 11 children? This also seems super high. Edit, it seems that only a few millions have pr

1 in 5 us adults take Ritalin? That seems incredibly high? And 1 in 11 children? This also seems super high. Edit, it seems that only a few millions have prescriptions so way less than quoted in the article: https://clincalc.com/DrugStats/Drugs/Methylphenidate https://clincalc.com/DrugStats/Drugs/Methylphenidate

fao_ 5y ago
"Takes Ritalin" and "Has a prescription for Ritalin" are two different things. A friend at Uni in the US said they had to get a locked box for their ADHD meds because otherwise they would just have been stolen -- and that was at a relatively prestigious University.
- rco8786 5y ago
  My assumption is that usage would be higher at more prestigious universities
  - deleted 5y ago
    [deleted]
  - amelius 5y ago
    There's this joke about mathematicians turning coffee into proofs, but it might as well be about Ritalin.
    - pizza 5y ago
      Erdös first did mathematics at the age of three, but for the last twenty-five years of his life, since the death of this mother, he put in nineteen-hour days, keeping himself fortified with 10 to 20 milligrams of Benzedrine or Ritalin, strong espresso, and caffeine tablets. ___ "A mathematician," Erdös was fond of saying, "is a machine for tuning coffee into theorems." When friends urged him to slow down, he always had the same response: "There'll be plenty of time to rest in the grave." ___ Erdős's friends worried about his drug use, and in 1979 Graham bet Erdős $500 that he couldn't stop taking amphetamines for a month. Erdős accepted, and went cold turkey for a complete month. Erdős's comment at the end of the month was "You've showed me I'm not an addict. But I didn't get any work done. http://backreaction.blogspot.com/2012/08/erdos-and-amphetamines-check.html http://backreaction.blogspot.com/2012/08/erdos-and-amphetami...
      - user_7832 5y ago
        If I'm not mistaken he said that the bet had set mathematics back by a month.
- chiph 5y ago
  It's been illegally used as a study aid for at least 2 decades. I had a coworker in the early 2000's say they took it at college and they "were so into Art History" for the 4 hours before the tests.
- tayo42 5y ago
  I had a friend talk me into snorting some during college to prep for a test lol. I was kind of focused on the book, then i went smoked some weed and the high was odd. Never felt the need to use it again. I drink coffee now if I have something I know I need to be focused on and want to get done in a day and be productive.
fredgrott 5y ago
Yes, it does seem high as ADHD is a recessive genetic disorder, i.e. 7% should be what the data shows.
- user_7832 5y ago
  > as ADHD is a recessive genetic disorder, i.e. 7% should be what the data shows Might you have a source for that? This is the first time I'm hearing this. I'm aware adhd is genetic but if it's recessive it needs both parents to have it for the child to have it, right?
  - SemanticStrengh 5y ago
    ADHD is many things and nurture can be sufficent independently of genetics although I wonder the prevalence.
    - elcritch 5y ago
      I’d be highly skeptical of that. ADHD isn’t “oops I forgot my keys again lol” (that happens sure), but ADHD is the literally being physically incapable of “breaking out of this current hyper-focus despite knowing consequences”. It depends on adhd subtype for the details but generally is a pervasive affect across multiple neural pathways. Though perhaps there are neural pathways that can be critically altered in toddler years by damage from chemicals or trauma, etc. Not sure I’d call that nurture in the classic meaning, but rather environmental damage.
      - SemanticStrengh 5y ago
        Great answer but nurture really denote your whole environment, and chronic stressors or even chronic sleep deprivation can induce to various and durable extents ADHD-like phenotypes. It impacts many things including epigenetics. As you greatly say, I especially refer to what we call critical-periods in human development, especially early childhood but the most important underlooked one being human gestation where many modern contaminants can induce ADHD like phenotype. however, about "breaking out of this current hyper-focus despite knowing consequences" How do you know if this is a common ADHD diagnosis? ADHDers, have issue not being distracted is the most popular diagnosis. hyperfocus is the opposite, it is being hypnotized on a task. I have no idea about the prevalence and pharmacological differences of the latter. I am not hyperactive and not that easily distractable but for sure I am completely pathologically symptomatic of hyperfocus that is cognitively pleasant but a near hypnotic state where I loose in all absoluteness, track of time, and priorities. I would bet this ADHD variant is very rare and might not be pharmacology fixed as well by stimulants. A mere but concise approximation of my condition would be, in addition to the consciousness/attention deficit of (my surroundings, time and priorities) while doing something, in addition to this, My brain reward me too much, I am stimulated, naturally high while e.g. thinking and searching about a topic. If so then rewarding my brain even more via dopamine doesn't seems like a fix theoretically?
pizza 5y ago
The article says "use the drugs off-label", which to me sounds like a euphemism for not prescribed.
- therealcamino 5y ago
  "Off-label" is the practice of doctors prescribing an already-approved drug, but for a different purpose than it was approved for. It is legal in the US.
  - dredmorbius 5y ago
    Correct. Specifically: in the U.S., drugs are tested and approved for specific applications. That's the "label". "[U]sing an FDA-approved drug for an unapproved use [is] sometimes called an “off-label” use" https://www.fda.gov/patients/learn-about-expanded-access-and-other-treatment-options/understanding-unapproved-use-approved-drugs-label https://www.fda.gov/patients/learn-about-expanded-access-and... Once a drug is approved, the drug may not be advertised contrary to its label. It may however be prescribed at a doctor's discretion for largely any use. That's by the FDA's own guidance: From the FDA perspective, once the FDA approves a drug, healthcare providers generally may prescribe the drug for an unapproved use when they judge that it is medically appropriate for their patient. (Same reference.) "Off-label" may apply to the treated condition or to the dosing of a drug. Several examples at the link above. Use of a prescription drug without a prescription, whether through sharing / borrowing / stealing from a prescibed user, or through grey or black market access, is nonprescribed use. For scheduled narcotics, this may be illegal, including for commonly-used painkillers such as codein (often combined with paracetamol, a/k/a Tylenol) or other opiates.
    - pizza 5y ago
      I agree with all this, but if that survey is reasonably accurate (and it's a big if, sure) but the true number of prescriptions is significantly less, it stands to reason that that suggests widespread nonprescribed use
      - 5y ago

fao_ 5y ago

"Takes Ritalin" and "Has a prescription for Ritalin" are two different things. A friend at Uni in the US said they had to get a locked box for their ADHD meds because otherwise they would just have been stolen -- and that was at a relatively prestigious University.

rco8786 5y ago
My assumption is that usage would be higher at more prestigious universities
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
- amelius 5y ago
  There's this joke about mathematicians turning coffee into proofs, but it might as well be about Ritalin.
  - pizza 5y ago
    Erdös first did mathematics at the age of three, but for the last twenty-five years of his life, since the death of this mother, he put in nineteen-hour days, keeping himself fortified with 10 to 20 milligrams of Benzedrine or Ritalin, strong espresso, and caffeine tablets. ___ "A mathematician," Erdös was fond of saying, "is a machine for tuning coffee into theorems." When friends urged him to slow down, he always had the same response: "There'll be plenty of time to rest in the grave." ___ Erdős's friends worried about his drug use, and in 1979 Graham bet Erdős $500 that he couldn't stop taking amphetamines for a month. Erdős accepted, and went cold turkey for a complete month. Erdős's comment at the end of the month was "You've showed me I'm not an addict. But I didn't get any work done. http://backreaction.blogspot.com/2012/08/erdos-and-amphetamines-check.html http://backreaction.blogspot.com/2012/08/erdos-and-amphetami...
    - user_7832 5y ago
      If I'm not mistaken he said that the bet had set mathematics back by a month.
chiph 5y ago
It's been illegally used as a study aid for at least 2 decades. I had a coworker in the early 2000's say they took it at college and they "were so into Art History" for the 4 hours before the tests.
tayo42 5y ago
I had a friend talk me into snorting some during college to prep for a test lol. I was kind of focused on the book, then i went smoked some weed and the high was odd. Never felt the need to use it again. I drink coffee now if I have something I know I need to be focused on and want to get done in a day and be productive.

fredgrott 5y ago

Yes, it does seem high as ADHD is a recessive genetic disorder, i.e. 7% should be what the data shows.

user_7832 5y ago
> as ADHD is a recessive genetic disorder, i.e. 7% should be what the data shows Might you have a source for that? This is the first time I'm hearing this. I'm aware adhd is genetic but if it's recessive it needs both parents to have it for the child to have it, right?
- SemanticStrengh 5y ago
  ADHD is many things and nurture can be sufficent independently of genetics although I wonder the prevalence.
  - elcritch 5y ago
    I’d be highly skeptical of that. ADHD isn’t “oops I forgot my keys again lol” (that happens sure), but ADHD is the literally being physically incapable of “breaking out of this current hyper-focus despite knowing consequences”. It depends on adhd subtype for the details but generally is a pervasive affect across multiple neural pathways. Though perhaps there are neural pathways that can be critically altered in toddler years by damage from chemicals or trauma, etc. Not sure I’d call that nurture in the classic meaning, but rather environmental damage.
    - SemanticStrengh 5y ago
      Great answer but nurture really denote your whole environment, and chronic stressors or even chronic sleep deprivation can induce to various and durable extents ADHD-like phenotypes. It impacts many things including epigenetics. As you greatly say, I especially refer to what we call critical-periods in human development, especially early childhood but the most important underlooked one being human gestation where many modern contaminants can induce ADHD like phenotype. however, about "breaking out of this current hyper-focus despite knowing consequences" How do you know if this is a common ADHD diagnosis? ADHDers, have issue not being distracted is the most popular diagnosis. hyperfocus is the opposite, it is being hypnotized on a task. I have no idea about the prevalence and pharmacological differences of the latter. I am not hyperactive and not that easily distractable but for sure I am completely pathologically symptomatic of hyperfocus that is cognitively pleasant but a near hypnotic state where I loose in all absoluteness, track of time, and priorities. I would bet this ADHD variant is very rare and might not be pharmacology fixed as well by stimulants. A mere but concise approximation of my condition would be, in addition to the consciousness/attention deficit of (my surroundings, time and priorities) while doing something, in addition to this, My brain reward me too much, I am stimulated, naturally high while e.g. thinking and searching about a topic. If so then rewarding my brain even more via dopamine doesn't seems like a fix theoretically?

pizza 5y ago

The article says "use the drugs off-label", which to me sounds like a euphemism for not prescribed.

therealcamino 5y ago
"Off-label" is the practice of doctors prescribing an already-approved drug, but for a different purpose than it was approved for. It is legal in the US.
- dredmorbius 5y ago
  Correct. Specifically: in the U.S., drugs are tested and approved for specific applications. That's the "label". "[U]sing an FDA-approved drug for an unapproved use [is] sometimes called an “off-label” use" https://www.fda.gov/patients/learn-about-expanded-access-and-other-treatment-options/understanding-unapproved-use-approved-drugs-label https://www.fda.gov/patients/learn-about-expanded-access-and... Once a drug is approved, the drug may not be advertised contrary to its label. It may however be prescribed at a doctor's discretion for largely any use. That's by the FDA's own guidance: From the FDA perspective, once the FDA approves a drug, healthcare providers generally may prescribe the drug for an unapproved use when they judge that it is medically appropriate for their patient. (Same reference.) "Off-label" may apply to the treated condition or to the dosing of a drug. Several examples at the link above. Use of a prescription drug without a prescription, whether through sharing / borrowing / stealing from a prescibed user, or through grey or black market access, is nonprescribed use. For scheduled narcotics, this may be illegal, including for commonly-used painkillers such as codein (often combined with paracetamol, a/k/a Tylenol) or other opiates.
  - pizza 5y ago
    I agree with all this, but if that survey is reasonably accurate (and it's a big if, sure) but the true number of prescriptions is significantly less, it stands to reason that that suggests widespread nonprescribed use
    - 5y ago