१९ जानेवारी, २०१८

"A.D.H.D. prescription rates increased... by 700 percent among women aged 25 to 29, and by 560 percent among women aged 30 to 34."

The NYT reports (on the period between 2003 and 2015).
Between 3 percent and 6 percent of adult women in various age groups got these prescriptions in 2015, the researchers found, compared with 1 percent or less in 2003. The rate rose among women ages 20 to 24, for example, to 5.5 percent in 2015 from 1 percent in 2003....

Recent changes in diagnostic guidelines have extended the criteria to adults who have experienced inattentiveness and restlessness since childhood.... But many also acknowledge that these drugs have wide appeal as performance-enhancers: among students as study aids, and among adults seeking an edge in their work.

२५ टिप्पण्या:

Yancey Ward म्हणाले...

And the hilarious thing is that they probably don't help in performance.

Gahrie म्हणाले...

How does that compare to the prescription rates of school age boys.

Freeman Hunt म्हणाले...

In a world where human existence is increasingly dominated by paperwork, tedium, systemization, and easy distraction, more and more people will need these prescriptions to cope.

traditionalguy म्हणाले...

More Despicable drug pushers selling Rx meth. There needs to be a strict death penalty for bio-warfare waged against Americans under the hoax of safe and effective approvals bought for mass bribes paid to Congress Criminals.

Not that there is anything wrong with that.

madAsHell म्हणाले...

I was raising kids when I was 30. I certainly wasn't looking for something to help me focus.

Francisco D म्हणाले...

AD/HD meds are used inappropriately by college students to cram for exams. They definitely help performance.

They are used inappropriately by the power drinking crowd (like cocaine in the 1980's) because the stimulant counteracts the depressant qualities of alcohol and allows you to drink much more.

They are used by MDs for depressed patients as an adjunctive therapy to enhance their moods and energize behavior.

Only the last application is legal, but insurers are starting to crack down on that.

My referrals for objective AD/HD testing have quadrupled over the past two years. MDs and insurers are starting to get worried.

mockturtle म्हणाले...

"Better living through chemistry".

Ann Althouse म्हणाले...

I can't imagine wanting to take a drug that would limit my access to knowing what I want to do to make it easier to go through with things I don't want to do.

Is it just a coincidence that the next post is about the Bill Cosby case?

Ann Althouse म्हणाले...

The post after the next one is about how we don't have full access to our own minds to know what our real beliefs are.

Virgil Hilts म्हणाले...

The dirty little secret of some of these drugs is that they can make almost anyone sharper.
https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2015/08/the-rise-of-work-doping/402373/
A significant percentage of folks on wall street (bankers), in medicine, in law and in a lot of high tech jobs use them if not regularly then when they need some help around crunch time (when you have to work 12 or 14 hour days).
Should we push them on 8 year old kids? No. But I had a doctor friend tell me that she had seen 40 year old men on their knees crying out of happiness after first trying Ritalin because it utterly transformed their lives for the better.
We should not make the same mistake as we are doing with painkillers. Just because there is significant abuse does not mean we should punish the non-abusers to whom the drugs are really helpful if not miracles.

I Have Misplaced My Pants म्हणाले...

Read Slate Star Codex (a practicing psychiatrist and brilliant) on this for a much deeper analysis. Google for it as I'm on mobile and links are too fussy.

Christy म्हणाले...

Huh? Over a decade ago an almost 60 y.o. friend was on the meds. Of course there may have been other issues, she was afraid to drive highways because she was sure her car was invisible.

Barry Dauphin म्हणाले...

Appetite suppression?

Birkel म्हणाले...

I'm just going to say that a world in which this is true, is a world with a lot of unacknowledged problems.

Is feminism working?
Second look at rhhardin's analysis?

Henry म्हणाले...

One thing that happened between 2003 and 2015 is that people grew up.

I can verify, from personal experience with my son, that some kids really really really need medication to maintain even a modicum of executive function.

mccullough म्हणाले...

A lot of these folks are already high performers. Like Bonds and Arod dong steroids. Let’s see how much greater we can get.

Sydney म्हणाले...

Young women also like to use them for weight loss/maintenance. The other thing is that, the children who were treated for ADHD willy-nilly are now growing up and feel they need to continue them. They never learned to cope without them.

Sydney म्हणाले...

Oh, I see others beat me to my comments. Sorry for the repetition.

Francisco D म्हणाले...

Barry,

You can legally get a prescription for phentermine as an appetite suppressant.

Sydney म्हणाले...

Francisco D said: You can legally get a prescription for phentermine as an appetite suppressant..
Depends on the state. In Ohio they have strict limitations on stimulants for appetite suppression. You can only prescribe them for a short period of time or face penalties. A prescription for ADHD meds, however, has no limitations.

Francisco D म्हणाले...

Sydney,

That is interesting to know. Both meds can be cardio-toxic with long term use.


It makes sense that insurance companies are stepping in because AD/HD meds are often prescribed off (FDA approved usage) label.

n.n म्हणाले...

Women have lost their focus with the progress of sex conflation, and gender confusion. Apparently, violating sex and gender integrity is a first-order forcing of catastrophic anthropogenic cognitive dissonance. I imagine resuming and normalizing the progressive rite of abortion (i.e. denying lives deemed unworthy) did not mitigate the risk.

n.n म्हणाले...

prescription rates of school age boys

In a socially progressive environment, all other things being equal, it should be similar. Perhaps the boys have found a means to escape from the toxic environment that has caused a cognitive divergence for girls. Then again, the virtual world has diverse, hidden traps. They need to return to nature and natural norms.

Bad Lieutenant म्हणाले...

My referrals for objective AD/HD testing have quadrupled over the past two years. MDs and insurers are starting to get worried.

1/19/18, 11:01 AM


Well, amphetamine salts are cheaper than dirt. If the AMA didn't want to wet its beak and I could buy a fistful of dexedrine at the cigar store, all you fine people needn't be bothered, Okies' teeth wouldn't fall out, there wouldn't be rackets and shows like Breaking Bad. Well, mostly win-win. Normal guys will cut back when they feel symptoms of excess: tempers, palpitations, difficulty getting hard...

But no. Everything has to be such a big deal anymore!

n.n म्हणाले...

Sex difference.