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from the better-living-through-chemistry dept.
The NYT reports that drugs like Adderall were once only prescribed to help children with attention deficit disorders focus on their school work but then college students found those drugs could increase their ability to study. Now a growing number of workers use them to help compete. What will happen as these drugs are more widely used in the workplace? According to Anjan Chatterjee, the use of neurotechnologies to enhance healthy people’s brain function could easily become widespread. "If anything, we worship workplace productivity by any means. Americans work longer hours and take fewer vacations than most others in the developed world. Why not add drugs to energize, focus and limit that annoying waste of time — sleep?" Julian Savulescu says that what defines human beings is their extraordinary cognitive power and their ability to enhance that power through reading, writing, computing and now smart drugs. "Eighty-five percent of Americans use caffeine. Nicotine and sugar are also cognitive enhancers," says Savulescu.
But cognitive neurologist Martha Farah, says that regular use on the job is an invitation to dependence. "I also worry about the effect of drug-fueled productivity on people other than the users," says Farah. "It is not hard to imagine a supervisor telling employees that this is the standard they should aspire to in their work, however they manage to do it (hint, hint). The eventual result will be a ratcheting up of “normal” productivity, where everyone uses (and the early adopters’ advantage is only fleeting)."
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday April 21 2015, @10:36PM
With Adderall being prescription-only, what magic incantation is needed to convince a doctor to prescribe these to you? I would love to get my hands on some, but don't see how.
(Score: 2) by GungnirSniper on Tuesday April 21 2015, @10:50PM
You read what symptoms it treats, elaborate on how those negatively affect you, and mention you saw an add for the medicine or know a friend who has great luck with it. Like most humans, doctors are manipulable, especially psychiatrists who have only 15 minutes to see you.
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(Score: 2) by Non Sequor on Tuesday April 21 2015, @10:53PM
Vyvanse should be easier to get and is less likely to interrupt your sleep and is less abusable. If you took ADD meds as a kid, that's an icebreaker. The symptoms that you present to warrant the medication are things like having difficulty resuming a task after an interruption, difficulty focusing in meetings, and trouble with organization.
Be warned, side effects include mummy's curse. Your eyes, lips, mouth and sinuses will likely be as dry as a desert for months and even once you get used to it it doesn't fully go away.
Write your congressman. Tell him he sucks.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday April 22 2015, @12:30AM
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday April 22 2015, @02:38AM
Less abusable my ass. That shit is fun, way better than adderal or dexedrine. I'd even rate it more fun than meth. Just because you can't shoot it or snort it doesn't mean its less abusable.
(Score: 4, Interesting) by nyder on Tuesday April 21 2015, @11:30PM
For me to be prescribe Adderall, all it took was telling the shrink at the methadone clinic (I was on methadone because I was a heroin junkie), that I was dyslexic and had ADHD. Which I do have. Granted I wasn't looking for drugs, but imagine my surprise when I, at a clinic for drug abuse, am prescribed Adderall to help with my drug abuse.
It honestly confused me. I do not take the adderall anymore because I do not like the side effects. Which side effects do I not like? Speed, Cocaine, Meth, they all make me really fucking horny. So while the adderall does help me focus, I tend to focus on porn. And while there is nothing wrong with porn, I do not need to browse porn more then 5 mins at a time, if you know what I'm saying. Spending hours on it, well, I have better things to do.
So anyways, Adderall is for people with ADHD, which means you can't focus well at all, so if you think you can convince a doctor that you have ADHD, go for it. Did I mention that if you are an adult with untreated ADHD, there is a great chance you can get declared disabled by a judge also and collect disability for it also.
Or better yet, just get on tor, hit the darkweb and buy some. this will probably be quicker and easier for ya.
(Score: 3, Funny) by Rivenaleem on Wednesday April 22 2015, @09:09AM
If you were surprised to be prescribed a drug at a drug addiction clinic, I can only imagine how surprised you must now that it seems to have worked. You go from Heroin to Methadone to Adderall to ... nothing? Seems like you were successfully weaned of drugs by going through them in steps.
Of course you could be back on Heroin now, I don't know...