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Are You Abusing ADHD Meds?
Adderall, Ritalin & Modafinil — remedy or vice?
Is this the intended application for such stimulants? What concerns are raised should this become more common? Could it lead to unexpected inequities?
Today, I wanted to talk about the prescription, or some would argue, the overprescription of attention-defecit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) pharmacueticals like Adderall, Ritalin and Modafinil. It’s no secret that many folks use these drugs to simply improve their focus, similar to quaffing coffee or Red Bull. Colour me a hypocrite; I come to you a jittering, fiendishly over-caffeinated inebriate.
There is no denying these pills can be tremendous for those who struggle with ADHD. But I wanted to look into some of the unexpected ethical questions raised in the mass-prescription of them.
Per the title, I am speaking rather broadly respecting virtually all ADHD treatments; most popularly recommended by physicians, however, remain Adderal and Ritalin.
How do they work?
This is going to be a vast oversimplification, but without providing some elaborate, diffuse answer, they mainly target neurotransmitters like dopamine and norepinephrine…
