7 ms·

This article is so potentially harmful, even if it's more nuanced than the hyperbolic "ADHD Doesn't Exist" title would suggest. The reality is that -- whatever

This article is so potentially harmful, even if it's more nuanced than the hyperbolic "ADHD Doesn't Exist" title would suggest. The reality is that -- whatever the underlying cause -- a lot of people struggle with attention span issues, and that these issues cause a lot of pain and unfulfilled potential. Even if ADHD medications are overprescribed Band-Aids, people benefit from them. We should try and find better diagnoses and treatments, but it makes no sense to blast people by telling them their condition "doesn't exist." If I have one complaint about the way we treat ADHD it's a lack of education for patients. The medication is only one part of the solution and in my personal experience it's nowhere near the biggest piece. Diet, environment, sleep, and exercise are just as crucial... but these are things I figured out on my own, not anything my doctors mentioned. Firstly, addiction to stimulant medication is not rare; it is common. The drugs’ addictive qualities are obvious. We only need to observe the many patients who are forced to periodically increase their dosage if they want to concentrate. This true but disingenuous at best because it omits perspective in a way that borders on maliciousness. Adderall causes only a very mild dependence according to all studies I've ever read. The FDA and my personal experiences agree. I've discontinued my Adderall on a number of occasions (by responsibly tapering it down to 0mg over several days) and it was no problem. To compare it to something most of us are familiar with: I found Adderall much easier to discontinue than caffeine, a thing I've never been able to quit. (I've never smoked, so I can't compare with nicotine) And to all those who say ADHD is a matter of "willpower..." Maybe. For some. I always told myself that too. I was born in 1976 so I went through school here in the USA right before they started diagnosing ADHD left and right and I was labeled a procrastinator instead. I never even really heard of ADHD until I was out of school. After four years in college, which were a mix of promise and opportunities torpedoed by procrastination, I worked 10, 12, 14-hour days to finish work that I was more than talented enough to finish in 5 or 6 hours. My happiness suffered, health suffered, and relationships died. Then I finally admitted that maybe it was a little more than a willpower issue. If it a matter of lacking willpower, why was I at the damn office trying to work long after everybody else had left? Whatever the hell my problem was, it wasn't work ethic. So I sought treatment... at the age of 32. And while medication was only an imperfect yet valuable part of the solution, my life has been on track again for a number of years.

djyaz1200 13y ago
I agree the article is potentially harmful. The paradox is that people who DO NOT have ADHD easily get hooked on meds but people who DO have ADHD hate taking meds. Saying ADHD doesn't exist is cruel and shows how badly it's misunderstood. The newer drugs that have countermeasures that prevent snorting/abusing should change the debate. Older meds that can be easily abused should be taken off the market. Then let's see who wants to abuse them? Anyone with any proximity to ADHD kids knows getting them to take their meds is a chore, they enjoy just being themselves and perhaps the bigger questions is WHY DO WE HAVE TO MEDICATE PEOPLE TO MAKE ENGAGE IN AN EDUCATION SYSTEM THAT SUCKS?! EH? I'm proud I don't sit still and do what I'm told, I don't think that's an illnes... so in that sense they are right ADHD doesn't exist! (steps down from soapbox, exit stage right) :)
- JimboOmega 13y ago
  I think you're wrong there - ADHD is generally associated with a higher risk of abusing drugs than for people without the condition. (And myriad other conditions, including getting in car accidents). And as someone with ADHD I never hated taking the medication. It was, like for the OP, a great experience that let me do a lot of things I didn't think I was capable of doing. I do hate taking too much of the medication, granted. Accidentally doubling my dose is always something that I really regret.
  - stan_rogers 13y ago
    There's a little hole in your argument. You've lumped "meds" in with "drugs". And sure, they fit into the broader category. But let us, for the sake of argument, say that "meds" is a term generally used for substances that effectively treat a problem/condition, while "drugs" (at least as it seems to be used here) is a much more general term. People will self-medicate when they can, and they will use anything that reduces the symptoms they perceive as problematic even when those substances have detrimental effects elsewhere in their lives. Taking into account only correlation, there are abnormally high numbers of people with chronic depression or dysthymia among alcoholics and those addicted to other CNS depressants (like barbiturates), of people with bipolar disorder among cocaine addicts, and of schizophrenics among people who even the most pro-weed activists would say use an, um, immoderate amount of hallucinogens. So it is unsurprising that people who have something like ADHD (for want of a better label) may find relief for the symptoms they feel in some substance that at least gives them the perception that the problem is ameliorated (whether or not it actually helps functioning). And since the problem reduction is imperfect or short-lived, there is apt to be a bit of overuse or compensation for diminishing returns (rather like the "sunk cost" phenomenon). There is nothing to suggest that medications that actually work tend to be abused among that population (accidental missing or doubling notwithstanding - I do that with my Parkinson's meds occasionally, and it ain't fun when I do). As a long-time recovered addict, I have no trouble saying this: the biggest problems with medications that you actually need is that they only do what they're supposed to do. (Post-surgery morphine was a complete bust, and it went away before I could rely on it for anything but high-level pain.)

djyaz1200 13y ago

I agree the article is potentially harmful. The paradox is that people who DO NOT have ADHD easily get hooked on meds but people who DO have ADHD hate taking meds. Saying ADHD doesn't exist is cruel and shows how badly it's misunderstood. The newer drugs that have countermeasures that prevent snorting/abusing should change the debate. Older meds that can be easily abused should be taken off the market. Then let's see who wants to abuse them? Anyone with any proximity to ADHD kids knows getting them to take their meds is a chore, they enjoy just being themselves and perhaps the bigger questions is WHY DO WE HAVE TO MEDICATE PEOPLE TO MAKE ENGAGE IN AN EDUCATION SYSTEM THAT SUCKS?! EH? I'm proud I don't sit still and do what I'm told, I don't think that's an illnes... so in that sense they are right ADHD doesn't exist! (steps down from soapbox, exit stage right) :)

JimboOmega 13y ago
I think you're wrong there - ADHD is generally associated with a higher risk of abusing drugs than for people without the condition. (And myriad other conditions, including getting in car accidents). And as someone with ADHD I never hated taking the medication. It was, like for the OP, a great experience that let me do a lot of things I didn't think I was capable of doing. I do hate taking too much of the medication, granted. Accidentally doubling my dose is always something that I really regret.
- stan_rogers 13y ago
  There's a little hole in your argument. You've lumped "meds" in with "drugs". And sure, they fit into the broader category. But let us, for the sake of argument, say that "meds" is a term generally used for substances that effectively treat a problem/condition, while "drugs" (at least as it seems to be used here) is a much more general term. People will self-medicate when they can, and they will use anything that reduces the symptoms they perceive as problematic even when those substances have detrimental effects elsewhere in their lives. Taking into account only correlation, there are abnormally high numbers of people with chronic depression or dysthymia among alcoholics and those addicted to other CNS depressants (like barbiturates), of people with bipolar disorder among cocaine addicts, and of schizophrenics among people who even the most pro-weed activists would say use an, um, immoderate amount of hallucinogens. So it is unsurprising that people who have something like ADHD (for want of a better label) may find relief for the symptoms they feel in some substance that at least gives them the perception that the problem is ameliorated (whether or not it actually helps functioning). And since the problem reduction is imperfect or short-lived, there is apt to be a bit of overuse or compensation for diminishing returns (rather like the "sunk cost" phenomenon). There is nothing to suggest that medications that actually work tend to be abused among that population (accidental missing or doubling notwithstanding - I do that with my Parkinson's meds occasionally, and it ain't fun when I do). As a long-time recovered addict, I have no trouble saying this: the biggest problems with medications that you actually need is that they only do what they're supposed to do. (Post-surgery morphine was a complete bust, and it went away before I could rely on it for anything but high-level pain.)