Aderall Or Nothing: Anatomy of the Great Amphetamine Drought

What did people do before Adderall then, simply not function? It's only been around for around 30 years.

My child is not ADHD, but was diagnosed as such by the school system (long story) and as a result I did quite a bit of research and talked to parents of kids and to adults who had the affliction.

Without drugs there are coping skills but how they work depends on how bad your case is. For instance, a co-worker who has a mild case, has a hard time communicating because he jumps around on topics and gets buried in sub-clauses. His coping skill is to put a finger down on the desk each time he shifts topics to remind himself to go back and complete the original topic.

As to how severe cases dealt with it without drugs, they'd often have a hard time getting good grades or staying employed despite high intelligence, feel ostracized and unappreciated, diagnosed as "discipline problems" and find themselves clients of the justice system. For those who really need the drugs, they really need the drugs.

There are a few careers (art, music, broadcasting) where ADHD isn't a deficit and may actually be an advantage. But it's not a safe bet.

If you need an example that may be easier to understand, for people who really need antidepressants (which are somewhat overprescribed also, in my opinion) really NEED them, because without the drugs, clinically depressed people really can not function. (Even *with* the drugs they may never be normal, but may at least be able to hold down a job.)

Source: http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdotScience/~3/FxEcTkYgKlU/aderall-or-nothing-anatomy-of-the-great-amphetamine-drought

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