Comments on: Adderall: Panacea or Delusion?

By: Hayley

Hayley — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 07:23:05 +0000

1. ADHD is a debilitating disorder. Anyone who takes medication from those that need it needs a reality check. Check your morals. I have ADHD, and I suffer. This disorder is not a joke. I understand that it can give you a positive affect, but every time you take adderall your adding to the problem that people with the disorder face every time they need more meds. Adderall is a restricted medication for the reason that it is sold illegally, to people who are not prescribed. Do you know how frustrating it is to have to get a new prescription written monthly for a medication you will need to take for the rest of your life in order to function at the ability of your peers? Sounds dramatic, but it really is the most annoying thing seeing that adhd patients have trouble remembering to re-order their monthly prescription. If you sell or purchase Adderall, you are the cause of the problem, and you disgust me.
Also, nicely asking for a prescription will not get you one. You have to have hours of cognitive testing, and those results have to be confirmed with another outside psychiatrist. Where do you get your facts from?

By: Max

Max — Mon, 04 Apr 2011 18:23:39 +0000

Dear Robert Vine,
Your point of view is completely bias. Your tunnel vision has allowed you to justify your point of view while ignorantly neglecting the minority who either do not have access to neurological enhancers such as Adderall and to those who will face serious neurological damage if they were to take these drugs. I myself have epilepsy and am prescribed multiple neurological drugs, which I am forced to take twice daily. If I were to take a drug such as Adderall I would be at risk of seizure, stroke, etc. I face serious side effects every day of my life: extreme drowsiness, memory loss, auras and word loss, to just name a few. Every day of my college career I have been forced to approach my school work differently than the “average” college student. Did you ever considered people such as myself when writing this blog post? In my opinion, you subjected this issue to be one strictly of opinion. This is an issue far greater than people who are “for or against” taking Adderall.

In my eyes Adderall is a form of cheating. People like myself already come to class at a disadvantage and when ignorant people such as yourself, who do not suffer any neurological problem, take drugs such as Adderall you have an even wider advantage.

By: David

David — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 15:36:35 +0000

This looks a bit virus-y.

By: DS

DS — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 16:53:10 +0000

“A student without access to neuroenhancing drugs is comparable to a student without a computer.”

Are you kidding me?

I understand that you are comparing Adderall to an advantage like a laptop, but they couldn’t be any more different. Adderall is a MEDICINE for people with ADD. It’s not something that can be purchased in a store. It requires a prescription. Anyone can buy a computer- it doesn’t affect the way your brain works.

Adderall is for people with a medical problem – it shouldn’t be used by people as a crutch to think better.

By: ADM

ADM — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 21:42:01 +0000

Very interesting articles. I think this is a huge problem on campus. But I think it’s important for “Consider” to distinguish between “providing an open forum for discussion” and giving a 5 step guide for using adderall.

It sends the wrong message to have 2 viewpoints on the issue and then place a “how to” manual supporting only one of those viewpoints on the back page of your magazine. If people are willing to take prescription drugs to get ahead, they have to be willing to accept the consequences. Those consequences might include not actually getting your work done.

I feel that by placing this “Five simple steps for a successful day on Adderall” blurb in your magazine, the magazine is promoting the use of the drug to get ahead, not leaving it up to the authors of the viewpoints to convince their readers. More thought should have been put into including this guide in the publication, because it takes away from the objectivity of the magazine.

By: AMT

AMT — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 19:53:25 +0000

Nice, I totally agree!

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 18:29:19 +0000

Those who abuse adderall are just cheating themselves in the long run. It’s not that difficult to buckle down, study hard, and achieve good grades. In a way, I pity those without actual ADHD who have to take amphetamine in order to be productive. What a joke…

Learn some self-discipline please. No, I don’t think that adderall use is immoral. No, I’m not bitter; I probably get better grades than most who use amphetamine to study. I just think it’s sad that people do such things in order to “get ahead”. If you truly enjoy what you’re learning, then it no longer feels like work, and concentration is easily attained. What the overabundance of amphetamine abuse tells me is that a lot of people don’t actually like what they are studying and that’s why I pity those who use the drug.

By: MGT

MGT — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 07:25:17 +0000

-Note none of this post is applicable to those who are correctly prescribed Adderall
For me, I feel a sense of pride in not using Adderall although many of my friends who dont need it do use it. My ability to focus and compete with those who do use it and do just as well provides a certain sense of self-satisfaction.
I feel bad for people who feel they just aren’t good enough without it. Discipline and determination are skills that once you begin to learn, they will help you your entire life. Adderall wont always be there, its just a quick fix to problems that if you ignore now will only arise later.
There’s absolutely no substitute or anything stronger than self-reliance. Sure, everything is relative and, yeah bills need to be paid at the end of the day, but in the end you only have yourself and who you’ve become.

By: AK

AK — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 15:10:16 +0000

for those looking for more:

http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2009/04/27/090427fa_fact_talbot?currentPage=all

http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1869435,00.html?iid=digg_share

By: YL

YL — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 05:19:39 +0000

Taking prescription-strength Adderall is extremely unlikely to lead to addiction unless the user feels a psychological dependency to it, which being “psychological,” is entirely in the user’s head. Adderall is prescribed to thousands of pre-pubescent kids in the U.S. every year and none of them cite an addiction to the drug after taking it for a number of years on a daily basis.

Also, using the analogy that professional athletes are tested for performance-enhancing drugs to justify the claim that students should be tested for Adderall or similar drugs is absolutely ridiculous. The use of PED’s such as steroids leads to serious health problems, completely incomparable to the health risks posed to college students by casually taking drugs such as Adderall. To say that students should be tested for using “performance-enhancing” drugs is like saying they should be only allowed to take a given number of AP or IB classes in high school, since those classes give enrolled students a “competitive advantage” as well, and economically advantaged students certainly have more access to them.

You can say that using Adderall improperly is immoral, but morality doesn’t pay the bills, or in this case, get students A’s on tests and papers. And at the end of the day, that’s all that matters, and there is no way to stop students from using it.