Can everyone benefit from "study drugs"

[tackyspiral]

So I have been wondering for a while if in reality most of the population could benefit from drugs such as vyvanse or adderall (amphetamine based ADHD medications)
Obviously there are some people who cant tolerate amphetamines but can MOST people focus better and become more productive or just people who are truly ADHD..... What do you guys think?

 

[NeighborhoodThreat]

Depends on how you define "most people" I guess.

The majority of the population of the world consumes caffeine daily. I'd say that counts as a "study drug".

 

[tackyspiral]

^ i define it as the majority of the population

 

[pasha]

Amphetamines will increase cognition and attention in every single person as they facilitate norepinephrine to the hippocampus, the most important human componant in accessing and storing memory.

The debate is though, should humans (mostly students) be able to increase their intelligence and gain a possibly unfair advantage over their peers.

It goes back to Darwin, natural selection, and whether or not we should tamper with evolution.

 

[paradiseride]

Some scientists support the idea that the general population could benefit from stimulants like amphetamine, to enhance brain power, productivity, creativity etc. I dunno, some people are already very "tuned" naturally, and anxiety from a drug like that could mess with brain chemistry. Many others would benefit greatly.

 

[NeighborhoodThreat]

Yep. There is too much variation in individual reaction to study drugs like amphetamine/dexamphetamine/methylphenidate to make a blanket statement about the majority of the world benefiting from them. There are plenty of people who would benefit for sure but there are also plenty of people who would suffer serious side effects from using such drugs.

 

[LOGan1314]

No. Some people find them too euphoric/recreational (esp. at high doses) and are distracted from studying. Some get addicted. Some they don't do anything for. Some really need them (I take mine as prescribed every day and it has done wonders).

 

[Mass08]

I think they should be available to people who choose to use them. I personally use adderall to help study for finals and that is it. I don't find them recreation, just an energy and focus booster. I wish they I could buy them OTC at a CVS instead of having to find them on the streets somehow.

 

[Swimmingdancer]

Yep. There is too much variation in individual reaction to study drugs like amphetamine/dexamphetamine/methylphenidate to make a blanket statement about the majority of the world benefiting from them. There are plenty of people who would benefit for sure but there are also plenty of people who would suffer serious side effects from using such drugs.

This is exactly what I was going to say. I also think it's much healthier for most people to not use amphetamines, the side effects and risks etc often outweigh the advantages for people who aren't in a position where they can't function without them and have tried everything else. Not everyone finds them good study drugs either, if the question was specifically about using them for studying.

 

[tackyspiral]

No. Some people find them too euphoric/recreational (esp. at high doses) and are distracted from studying. Some get addicted. Some they don't do anything for. Some really need them (I take mine as prescribed every day and it has done wonders).

i am honestly unsure about myself.... i did have one psychiatrist diagnose me with adhd and prescribe them to me.... i never abused them and i felt they helped but then when i am not on them sometimes i think i actually have mild ADD and sometimes i dont

at any rate i remember kids at college used to go nuts for them (back in the day i would sell my extras,) and it seemed to help a lot of normal kids study too
its like as long as people dont have adverse reactions or abuse them they can be very beneficial to most people not just those who have ADD

 

[Effuzion]

ADD meds fuck up my studying. You learn better when you take the test and study in the same state of mind, meaning that if you study high, you should take the test high (and get high scores... (c) Redman). Since "studying" includes going to class and reading the book and stuff that can take up to a few weeks, that means you'd need to be on some kind of amphetamine for that whole time to absorb the information better than if you were sober. Obviously that leads to side effects when you're taking something every day which can outweigh the positives. I've tried it and it doesn't work for me. I'm better off with my 8 hours of sleep every night and going to class sober than trying to stay drugged up.

Now if you're the kind of dude who blows off class and just wants to read the book the night before the test, sure, take some Ritalin and cram away. Some people can get by with that. I do better when I actually go to class and take care of my body though.

 

[LOGan1314]

i am honestly unsure about myself.... i did have one psychiatrist diagnose me with adhd and prescribe them to me.... i never abused them and i felt they helped but then when i am not on them sometimes i think i actually have mild ADD and sometimes i dont

at any rate i remember kids at college used to go nuts for them (back in the day i would sell my extras,) and it seemed to help a lot of normal kids study too
its like as long as people dont have adverse reactions or abuse them they can be very beneficial to most people not just those who have ADD

Yeah, that's true. But just because they can study for hours because they are amped out of their minds doesn't mean they need to take them therapeutically every day. It sounds like you could benefit from them, especially if you were never tempted to abuse them.

 

[casualuser]

There was an interesting article in the NYT a while back that discusses this and one doctor that says stimulants could curb the effects of poor/under funded schools... found here: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/09/h...d-pills-to-help-in-school.html?pagewanted=all
While I don't necessarily agree with that, I do think that most students would see a performance boost from therapeutic levels of adhd meds though there will be plenty of people that wouldn't like the way those drugs affect them or just wouldn't be able to tolerate stimulants in general.

With that being said what it comes down to are ethics and health concerns. The first being a question of do we allow a group of people to have an advantage in the classroom that wouldn't be available to those that couldn't tolerate stimulants? In addition those that take such meds to overcome a preexisting deficiency would once more be behind the curb because while they could possibly increase their own doses in an attempt to compensate it would inevitably lead to a much higher frequency of the negative effects of such drugs. Over all it could also be the beginning of a very slippery ethical slope where society is then pushing the individual to make economic and academic success a "by any means necessary" rule that is not only encouraged but intrinsically needed to compete. The health concerns aspect seems rather obvious. There are already many studies that show the possibility of long term negative side effects from extended stimulant therapy especially in children i.e. the although yet unconfirmed theory that it can stunt growth in adolescents. I'd also be inclined to believe that wide public use of stimulant medications could turn into a pandemic of addiction similar if not worse than the current opiate problem. In summation while I think a large proportion of the population could see a boost in mental capabilities from stimulant use the negatives that would go with it would far outweigh any potential benefit.

 

[tackyspiral]

There was an interesting article in the NYT a while back that discusses this and one doctor that says stimulants could curb the effects of poor/under funded schools... found here: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/09/h...d-pills-to-help-in-school.html?pagewanted=all
While I don't necessarily agree with that, I do think that most students would see a performance boost from therapeutic levels of adhd meds though there will be plenty of people that wouldn't like the way those drugs affect them or just wouldn't be able to tolerate stimulants in general.

With that being said what it comes down to are ethics and health concerns. The first being a question of do we allow a group of people to have an advantage in the classroom that wouldn't be available to those that couldn't tolerate stimulants? In addition those that take such meds to overcome a preexisting deficiency would once more be behind the curb because while they could possibly increase their own doses in an attempt to compensate it would inevitably lead to a much higher frequency of the negative effects of such drugs. Over all it could also be the beginning of a very slippery ethical slope where society is then pushing the individual to make economic and academic success a "by any means necessary" rule that is not only encouraged but intrinsically needed to compete. The health concerns aspect seems rather obvious. There are already many studies that show the possibility of long term negative side effects from extended stimulant therapy especially in children i.e. the although yet unconfirmed theory that it can stunt growth in adolescents. I'd also be inclined to believe that wide public use of stimulant medications could turn into a pandemic of addiction similar if not worse than the current opiate problem. In summation while I think a large proportion of the population could see a boost in mental capabilities from stimulant use the negatives that would go with it would far outweigh any potential benefit.

very very well said... these were my thoughts just put together in a much better way... I like the question about stimulants giving special advantages/disadvantages to certain groups of people

 

[onetwo]

It is a stimulant which gives you more energy and greater focus. Unless you're allergic, I really don't see why not, unless you find the feeling of amphetamines particularly uncomfortable.

 

[bronson]

The debate is though, should humans (mostly students) be able to increase their intelligence and gain a possibly unfair advantage over their peers.

I'd just like to note that while an increase in productivity is seen in most individuals, there is no actually increase in mental acquity, though the person while under the influence often percieves one.

So simply, no, I don't think most people would benefit from this, only those who have pre exisiting issues with focus, however that would best be classified or diagnoced. </$0.02>

 

[morphonorconic]

At first a seemingly plain question. But the more I thought about it...

Unless a person cannot tolerate amphetamine for whatever physiological reason, who couldn't benefit in regards to productivity/work/school etc, when taking amphetamine? I finally had to face college algebra this past semester, and I have extreme difficulty with algebra and mathematics in general. I hate it. A few times when I took adderall during the semester, I enjoyed class and I enjoyed doing my hours of homework, which was otherwise agonizing and stressful. Amphetamine is an amazing drug.

Addiction and abuse are factors of course, but the question for me is this: Where is the balance between improved focus and actual cognitive function? Between productivity and memory creation and information storage? Essentially, does the apparent improvement in ability translate into actual improvement in the end product? Or does the drug deceive the user, negatively affecting the necessary processes involved in the carrying out of their tasks/duties, while creating the false sense of increased mental capability due to quicker thinking, increased energy and motivation?

 

[RobotRipping]

this was brought up in another discussion but the bigger problem is for society is that the people in control want all the little sheep to be innovative, creative and most of all productive and better yet passive for social control purposes. Nothing better to boost the lower class than with amps and boost the economy while their health goes to shit, side effects add up and in general people start to lose more of their humanity and become more like robots.

Personally, i never used amps to study or anything, usually i get too stimmed to do anything really except read wikipedia for hours straight and masturbate furiously. As a generally anxious person i find benzos help me focus better than amphetamines do. Sure a combo of both would be even better but that's one habit i'd like to avoid. I use kratom and ephedrine to focus in class, mostly because the class itself is so boring, not that i need to focus, if it were interesting then i'd be fine. So i agree with the others who say that amphetamines aren't for everyone and only a certain portion of the population would benefit from them. There are many cases where the lower class/working class citizens use stimulants for productivity and to escape the drudgery of work (khat, kratom, cannabis are some examples)