Ritalin
So will Ritalin play an essential part in building a neuroenhanced society? Or will greater acceptance of neurodiversity render it irrelevant - Matthew Smith
image by: Michael Greger
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With and Without My Ritalin
It comes on as a heat. A warmth starts in my chest and gradually spreads into my neck and arms. For me, ADHD is not a static condition. It comes in squalls. My life is lived between the poles of who I really am and who the Ritalin turns me into. The presence or absence of the medication affects every single experience I have. A simple trip to Ikea can either be a productive use of a Saturday or an overwhelming gauntlet of tedium and frustration, depending on whether or not I have prescription amphetamines in my bloodstream.
As I head up the escalator into a sea of blue and yellow with no drugs in my system, the heat has already begun to build. My eyes flash around the room. I chomp…
Resources
ADHD: The High Price Of A Quick, Quick Fix
At long last, the scientific research community is rethinking a 20-year old study about the benefits of medicating ADHD with stimulants like Ritalin.
Raising the Ritalin Generation
I REMEMBER the moment my son’s teacher told us, “Just a little medication could really turn things around for Will.” We stared at her as if she were speaking Greek. “Are you talking about Ritalin?” my husband asked.
Ritalin-type drugs best to treat ADHD in children, shows study
Methylphenidate drugs safest and most effective while adults do better on amphetamines.
Simone Biles refused to be shamed for her ADHD medication after hackers leaked her private records
According to NBC News, the records showed Biles tested positive for “methylphenidate,” more commonly known as Ritalin, in August. She disclosed to the governing body that she was taking the medication for attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), which she’s had since she was a child, and was approved under WADA’s therapeutic use exemptions.
Is Methylphenidate Anything Like Cocaine?
Methylphenidate is the active ingredient in two major drugs used to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD): Ritalin and Concerta. Ritalin is the immediate-release form of methylphenidate, whereas Concerta is the extended-release form of the drug.
Misplaced Blame On Childhood Ritalin For Later Substance Abuse
The latest look finds that young adults who took stimulants as kids were no more likely to have substance abuse problems later than those who had ADHD but didn't take stimulant drugs. It's the broadest and deepest analysis yet, but it still leaves many questions unanswered.
Ritalin 'Doesn't Turn ADHD Children Into Robots'
This is the take-home message of the report: Children with ADHD viewed their medications as useful tools to help them with their behaviors, not as controlling drugs that hijacked their minds.
Ritalin at 75: what does the future hold?
Seventy-five years ago, a new stimulant drug with the generic name of methylphenidate was born in the Swiss lab of chemical company Ciba. Like many drugs, its therapeutic purpose was unclear. But these were the days a scientist could take a drug home and test it on their spouse, which is exactly what Ciba scientist Leandro Panizzon did. Panizzon’s wife, Rita, reported that the drug gave her tennis game a real fillip. And so Panizzon named the drug Ritaline in his wife’s honour.
Ritalin enhances your ability to do tasks by making you more motivated
People tend to think that Ritalin and Adderall help them to focus. And they do, in some sense. But what this study shows is that they do so, in part, by increasing your cognitive motivation. Your perceived benefits of performing a demanding task are elevated, while the perceived costs are reduced. This effect is separate from any changes in actual ability.
Ritalin Gone Wrong
TO date, no study has found any long-term benefit of attention-deficit medication on academic performance, peer relationships or behavior problems, the very things we would most want to improve.
Ritalin rising? Let’s be smarter about ‘smart drugs’
In the meantime we should beware of inadvertently contributing to the US-led enthusiasm about so called “smart drugs”. Prescription stimulants may well be drugs but they don’t make you “smarter”.
Study Unlocks Brain Mystery of Ritalin
Now, researchers at the Brookhaven National Laboratory in Upton and the State University of New York at Stony Brook report that the medication appears to work by increasing levels of the brain chemical dopamine.
Study: Ritalin Doesn't Help Academic Performance
A large, long study found that children had worse academic outcomes after being treated with one particular stimulant.
The Age Of Ritalin
For years Ritalin has been a godsend for children who were so hot-wired they were simply unreachable, and unteachable. In severe cases, the benefits of Ritalin (and the family of related drugs) on these children's ability to function and learn and cope are so direct that advocates say withholding the pills is a form of neglect.
The Ritalin Generation
Two epidemics dominate the news today: the Zika virus and the rampant use of opiate drugs. To these, New York Times reporter Alan Schwarz adds another: the long-simmering plague of rambunctious American children who have been diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and prescribed the drugs that treat it.
What If Einstein Had Taken Ritalin? ADHD's Impact on Creativity
The question is whether the Ritalin Revolution will sap tomorrow's work force of some of its potential genius. What will be the repercussions in corporations, comedy clubs, and research labs?
With and Without My Ritalin
It took me much of my life, about 24 years in fact, to come to grips with my disability. ADHD sits in an unusual place in the medical spectrum. It is psychosomatic like depression but manifests itself like a physical handicap. Left unmedicated, I can’t keep up in normal life, but I certainly don’t belong with the special kids.
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