Word: ritalin
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...hours in the day. In lieu of that, many Harvard undergrads have found a way to be more productive with the 24 hours they have: As a recent piece in the New Yorker reports, the use of “neuroenhancing” study drugs such as Adderall and Ritalin at places like Harvard is pervasive. Though the New Yorker piece is largely anecdotal and does not necessarily indicate a meaningful rise in the use of study drugs at Harvard, it calls attention to the greater implications of the use of such drugs. We disapprove of the use of study...
...reason to condemn the use of neuroenhancing drugs is the simple illegality that is often attendant to their use. Students who obtain a prescription from a doctor for a legitimate reason should be allowed to use Adderall and Ritalin. There are certainly some students who have extreme trouble focusing and have a medical reason to use these drugs. The way that many students obtain study drugs, however, is by buying them from students with prescriptions. We disapprove of students who obtain—and use—such drugs illicitly, just as we criticize of any other misuse of prescription...
...idea that stimulants like caffeine (or Ritalin or even something stronger like cocaine) can help you sit still and pay attention seems counterintuitive at first. But that surprising fact lies at the heart of Rapport's work: stimulants augment your working, or short-term, memory, where information is stored temporarily and used to carry out deliberate tasks like, say, solving a challenging math problem. ADHD kids have a hard time with working memory because they lack adequate cortical arousal, and Rapport believes that their squirms and fidgets help stimulate that arousal...
When I asked Rapport whether there's a cure other than breaking down instructions, his answer was a bit depressing: no. ADHD is incurable. Drugs like Ritalin are a common answer for controlling the condition, which affects about 3% to 5% of children, but Rapport notes that they have proven to be only a limited solution. In the short term, they can facilitate a child's ability to read - undoubtedly a crucial benefit - but Rapport says longitudinal studies have failed to show that Ritalin or other psychostimulants have consistent long-term behavioral effects. (Even if they did, another question would...
Winnie-the-Pooh, the sequel: Tigger on Ritalin, Eeyore on Prozac, Pooh gets gastric-bypass surgery...