Adult ADD?

[Deleted]

According to this article, more adults have ADD or ADHD then they realize:


lifestyle.ca.msn.com/health-fitness/health/hearst-article.aspx?cp-documentid=22502446

Quote:

Just what is adult ADD?

It's a malfunction of parts of the brain, including the portion that controls the "executive functions": the ability to organize, to remember what you were asked to do and to finish a task. If the person is also fidgety, then we say that she has attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

hmm..I wonder if I don' have it then? But how would that explain my very lazy, laid back side?

[Deleted]

Sounds more like IAD to me -- internet addiction disorder.

[Deleted]

I used to think that maybe I had Adult ADD and chalked it up to just getting bored real easily.

[Deleted]

It does doesn't it Kerouac?

casimira, I agree, I do get bored very easily.

[bjd]

Every time I see the words "disorder" or "syndrome" I think pharmaceutical companies are trying to market more drugs for every conceivable problem.

[existentialcrisis]

Hmmm... I was told ADHD was just the current term for ADD, though I perviously had the understanding that ADHD was the figidity version. I had a room mate with bad ADHD... man... she was useless. I think she used it as an excuse for her careless behavior.

To some extent I think ADHD is a psychological disorder that can be treated psychologically. On the other hand, I developed a taste for ritalin when I was in university. I have a terrible time concentrating - takes me FOREVER to read a book. So I would say screw it and go out and drink. But if I took ritalin I could read and aborb for hours. I would never have been able to get diagnosed because my marks were too high, and since I was using it recreationally (if you want to put it that way).

So... do I think I really had/have it? Nope. I think it's typical of our society to solve everything with pills and for companies to make money off of pills.

Watched a Simpsons episode the other day where an informercial provided an alternative to ADHD medication. Three figidity boys sitting in school chairs yapping and yelling were approached by an instructor who proceeded to slap each of them and yell "Shut up and study". Perhaps our parenting/schooling is too soft and kids just need a good slap. Personally, though, I can shut up and study but it doesn't mean I'm absorbing anything.

[Deleted]

Ritalin is speed in another form, is it not? No wonder you could concentrate better.

[existentialcrisis]

I don't think ritalin is speed in another form. But it is definitely a stimulant. "Poor man's coke". It doesn't have many of the adverse affects of methamphetamine ... and strangely enough, I don't think people even know how it works or what the long term effects are. They seem to be switching a lot of people from ritalin and dexadrine to Adderall.

Or I could just do my research:

Ritalin = Methylphenidate - "possesses structural similarities to amphetamine, and though it is less potent, its pharmacological effects are even more closely related to those of cocaine ... The means by which methylphenidate affects people diagnosed with ADHD are not well understood. "

Note: Amphetamine does not equal methamphetamine (which is "speed")

Dexadrine = Dextroamphetamine - "a psychostimulant drug ... can be referred to or described as ... "amphetamine-like", or having "amphetaminergic" effects. Enantiomerically pure dextroamphetamine is more potent than racemic amphetamine and has stimulant properties similar to racemic methamphetamine, though less potent and neurotoxic."

Adderall "is a brand-name psychostimulant medication composed of amphetamine and dextroamphetamine, which is thought to work by increasing the amount of dopamine and norepinephrine in the brain".

Hmmm... if Adderall is just Dexadrine and amphetamine, I wonder why they are saying it doesn't have as much of a crash...?