| ▲ | itishappy 3 hours ago | |
Oh, I still feel a bit high. Particularly when I start taking them after a hiatus. Or up the dose. Anyway, here's what Huxley's had to say: > ... I have talked to pharmacologists about this matter, and a number of them say that it’s probably quite possible that it may be possible to, by pharmacological means, which will do no harm to the organism as a whole, to increase the span of attention, to increase the powers of concentration, perhaps to cut down on the necessity for sleep, and the various other things which may lead to a very considerable increase in general mental efficiency. No high mentioned. Remarkably accurate to my experience. | ||
| ▲ | alterom an hour ago | parent [-] | |
Interesting if that it works for you that way. "Upping the dose" of Adderall makes me sleepy. In fact, I take a little before going to bed if I'm feeling restless. Midnight coffee is a thing for me. I don't have a problem with attention span (ADHD isn't about short attention spans, after all), and stimulants do nothing for that. Power of concentration? That's where ADHD people excel when that hyperfocus locks in. That's the default, unmedicated. The problem is the lack of control over where that concentration goes. As you can see, I've been concentrating well enough on writing long enough comments in this thread to exceed the attention span of some of the commentors who respond to them (including, sadly, the author of the article we're discussing, who, while being kind enough to join this discussion, has nevertheless glossed over the points I've made that others haven't missed). What I should have been concentrating on is sorting out the stuff in the garage from our recent camping trip. This is what Adderall helps with. It's starting to kick in, so I'll go and do the adulting things it makes far less painful to start doing . Wouldn't call it an increase in mental efficiency by any measure, but insofar as my spouse is concerned, it gets me off the couch; and insofar as the to-do list is concerned, I'm more productive in ticking off the boxes. But the items on that list are far from requiring leaps in mental effort. It's things like folding the laundry, or unpacking suitcases, paying bills, making calls to insurance, mopping the floor, doing the oil change, and so on. In short, Adderall doesn't work like Mentats from Fallout 1/2¹. But it greatly increases the number of action points I have for Doing Things, while I feel... normal. That is the much more common experience, and the reason it's prescribed for ADHD. ____ | ||