I was recently diagnosed with an adult form of ADHD. (hence my lack of posting) Now I’m a little skeptical of what it actually entials. I know there is some defficiency of the brain to produce some sort of hormone (i think its dopamine). I have always had difficulty with maintaining attention but is that such a bad thing? I’m fairly certain its a social construction, but i still wish to achieve. Can we control all of our actions? My life experience thus far has lead me to a no answer. How much do you think prescribed medications actually rely on placebo? Your thoughts?
Well, the amphetamine that they are giving you is anything but a placebo.
It was one of my favourite recreational drugs, back in the day. Ahhhhhh, those were the days.
But now that I’m a responsible grown up, I don’t do that sort of thing anymore. Just turning my liver to stone with beer.
That’s not the point. Anyway, whether ADHD is real is debatable. I’ve heard that, if it is real, that it should only affect <.01% of the population, but it is certainly diagnosed well over that amount.
Basically, if you give a person with ADHD amphetamine, they will be calmer and more focused.
If you give a neurotypical person amphetamine, they will be calmer and more focused.
So why not pump the population full of it? If you can’t stay awake during a boring lecture, pop some amp. Getting distracted at a boring job and your productivity is suffering, pop some amp. If they start to feel alienated because of this, why, there are SSRI’s for that!
Since our whole thought process is, at the most basic level, just a bunch of chemicals and electrical impulses, it is pretty easy to optimize it towards whatever goal you could have in mind. That is, once you’ve figured out which chemicals do what and at what concentrations.
The best way to see if you will be “helped” by medication for ADHD is to do a blind trial with your doctor and pharmacist. Have the doctor and pharmacist set up dosettes which contain placebos and real medication.
Then, take it for a month, carefully record any differences that you notice in yourself each day (or have your partner do it). At the end of the month compare your findings about what you noticed in yourself with a record of which drug you actually took. That should give you some indication of whether or not medications will be beneficial to you.
ADHD is a label slapped on rebels by society because they refuse to conform to all the shit parents, teachers and society is dumping on them.
Remember, society wants us all to be unthinking conformist robots toeing the line and being good little citizens dancing to the mad tune set by the world.
As a Christian, I don’t dance
Jesus said:- “The world wants you to dance to its tune" (Matt 11:16/17)
"Jesus saved you from the empty way of life handed you by your forefathers” (1 Peter 1:18 )
EASY RIDER by Mick
A lot of people mistakenly think christianity is all about being squeaky-clean and boring,but the truth is very different because Jesus wants REBELS!
Remember when the waitress asked Marlon Brando the leader of a motorsickle gang in the film “The Wild One”:- “What are you rebelling against Johnny?”
His reply was a classic:- “Waddya got?”
So it is with Jesus, i’ll ride in his gang any time!
Jesus said:- “The world wants you to dance to its tune,but don’t dance” (Matt 11:16/17)
Jesus said:- “The world hates you because you’re not of the world” (John 15:19)
“Don’t conform to the pattern of this world” (Rom 12:2)
“A friend of the world is the enemy of God” (James 4:4)
“Become a fool by the worlds standards,in order to become wise” (1 Cor 3:18/19)
“People heap abuse on you for not joining their ways” (1 Pet 4:4)
“We’re not looking for praise from men” (1 Thess 2:4-6)
“You were dead when you followed the ways of the world” (Eph 2:1/2)
“Jesus saved you from the empty way of life handed you by your forefathers” (1 Pet 1:18 )
I have been diagnosed with ADHD, and I know I have trouble paying attention. I think its real, but I think that its diagnosed in many cases where it is non-existent.
Think of having ADHD as a plus, you are more inclined creatively, imaginatively, and philosophically, at least in my opinion.
And you get those cool pills that everybody seems to want!
I could hardly ever get any enjoyment from taking adderall though, I think its overhyped. People act like its fun, but really it just makes you do everything a little bit faster and makes you stay up longer.
Good for partying I suppose, I always found it sucked my personality away though.
BTW its not a placebo you fools, its for real, its not easy to refill these prescriptions trust me.
Its got something in it called dextroamphetamine (adderall that is), its very similar to speed.
So what mate? If somethings crap why should you want to pay any attention to it anyway?
I was expelled from one school for not paying attention, I hated useless algebra, arithmetic and most other stuff, so I used to just daydream through lessons or stay home…
Yeah im on the Concerta. Did you have to change your drinking habbits?
And no its not a placebo but like all medications it comes with the placebo effect. My doctor said that the effect is about 10 to 15 percent in the first 2 weeks meaning 10 to 15 percent of feeling concentrated is actually my mind thinking “Wow its easier to concentrate”
You hit the nail on the head there, mate.
All these “disorders” the doctors come up with is based purely on the fact that they cannot conform to a system of robotic-like behaviour. In the old Soviet Union they used to send political dissidents to mental institutions because they thought they were genuinely mentally ill for not accepting the Communist dogma. Today in the West it’s no different, it is just that they have a way more subtle and acceptable process to force people to conform.
Ok I can understand your conspiracy theory but its not like the pill is making me Do my taxes properly or consume more goods or be more patriotic and willing to go to war for the motherland. At the worst im gonna lose my appetite a bit. Like i just want to be able to read Nietzsche better lol
We cannot control all of our actions. Think of Schopenhauer and Nietzsche’s philosophies, they knew all too well we were at the mercy of forces beyond our control. It’s just that the society into which we are thrown expects us to conform to the robotic-like behaviour of the mob. Be a good consumer, be a good productive worker, don’t complain about the political system too much, just have a slight whinge and then have your say at the ballot box, be nice to your neighbour, etc. etc.
The social engineers have done a marvelllous job at controlling our minds and actions.
It is just about making productive members of society. It isn’t done from a standpoint of guilt or shame, it is done with the desire to help.
Doctors don’t laugh maniacally behind closed doors after they give some one a perscription for amphetamines. They don’t gloat on how they are taking over the world. They are merely treating a condition as the feel is best.
If you have difficulty paying attention, why wouldn’t you want to be able to pay attention? Paying attention and productivity are things valued (and rightly so) by society.
I just feel it is correcting a problem that shouldn’t be there in the first place. The American diet is disgusting, and MTV culture tends to be very good at maximizing bursts of attention for a very short period of time.
No wonder ADHD is so commonly diagnosed. Who isn’t a little scatterbrained at times?
Well I agree that I shouldn’t have to pay attention to anything if I don’t want to.
But I was using the fact that I have an uncommon inability to stay focused to support the validity of ADHD as an actual diagnosable condition.
There was a wild hippy type named John living alone in the wilderness dressed in rough camelskins and eating wild honey and stuff. No doubt he took serious hassle from people trying to tell him to come back into town, take a bath, cut his hair, get a steady job, settle down with a nice woman and raise a family…
But he ignored them all and just did his own thing as always.
His cousin Jesus said about him - "No greater man than him has ever been born… "
Here he is -
