Has anyone noticed an uptick in the number of people (adults) using amphetamines now? Maybe it's just me, but I had three people close to me, all late thirties and older, tell me they are now taking drugs for their ADHD. They've taken an on-line assessment, are convinced they have an illness, and adderall makes them so much better! This assessment tool is getting passed around and sending people to their doctors asking for a prescription. They are convinced that their positive response to the drug confirms their diagnosis, and seem to be completely unaware that almost everyone feels good taking adderall. They even see weight loss from the drug as confirmation of ADHD (apparently, having ADHD makes you overeat, and adderall fixes that, or so the on-line tools say.) This probably isn't as life-altering as opiate addictions (hopefully) but is this the new Oxy-Contin scandal?
Like many others, I came to know about about Bruce Alexander's Rat Park experiments through Johann Hari. He published an article in advance of his 'Chasing the Scream' book, which I eagerly shared with my addicted son. Hari also mentions it in his well-known TED talk.
But the lessons of the Rat Park have been challenged in ways that merit our attention https://theoutline.com/post/2205/this-38-year-old-study-is-still-spreading-bad-ideas-about-addiction. My son relapsed and died of fentanyl poisoning three years ago, and in retrospect, his isolation was less a cause of the addiction than a consequence. A Covid-19 imposed furlough from work drove in the final nail. With apologies to Hari, not everything we think we know about addiction is wrong. None of this makes me appreciate your article any less, I hasten to add.
I had not heard of this study, but the fact that rats are intensely social animals definitely leads me to focus on the isolation and cage, and NOT on some “predisposition” to substance abuse.
This scenario is effectively what the collective Western democracies required of their populations…for a respiratory virus. One hundred years of tried and tested mitigation measures were thrown out the window for some completely fanciful fairytales. Follow the Science? More like follow the superstition.
The fear factor was turned up to eleven and effectively stayed there for more than three YEARS. Hysterical over-reaction is always worse than whatever one is freaking out over. And yet, three years.
Your article makes a whole lot of sense, though I take exception with the number of deaths attributed to Covid you mention. Not buying it. It’s the biggest account fraud in history—by a mile. I’m not going to get into it, I’m sure you’ve heard of some of the discrepancies, but the COVID death count makes Enron look like paragons of accounting.
Every part of COVID was a psychological operation brought to us by the U.S. intelligence community. EVERY single part.
But the worst part is how greatly it exasperated the loneliness, disaffection and meaningless for so many people. And also helped create legions of hypochondriacs.
Yeah, Matt, the silence from
people who knew better and were in a position of prominence (and just regular people “going along to get along”) that didn’t speak up propagated and prolonged the hysteria.
We will be living with this human, NOT Covid, wrought disaster for decades. And we will have learned nothing.
In reading this article, I can completely understand why you and Matt Taibbi are friends. Excellent writing, deep knowledge, and an ethical heart that shines. So glad to have found your stack, Matt. Looking forward to more.
Excellent article with statistics to show. Thanks
Has anyone noticed an uptick in the number of people (adults) using amphetamines now? Maybe it's just me, but I had three people close to me, all late thirties and older, tell me they are now taking drugs for their ADHD. They've taken an on-line assessment, are convinced they have an illness, and adderall makes them so much better! This assessment tool is getting passed around and sending people to their doctors asking for a prescription. They are convinced that their positive response to the drug confirms their diagnosis, and seem to be completely unaware that almost everyone feels good taking adderall. They even see weight loss from the drug as confirmation of ADHD (apparently, having ADHD makes you overeat, and adderall fixes that, or so the on-line tools say.) This probably isn't as life-altering as opiate addictions (hopefully) but is this the new Oxy-Contin scandal?
Thanks, Matt.
Watch your back:
This kind of writing will get you all the wrong attention at some point.
Thank you. What about the impact of Fentanyl?
Wow, reading these statistics is overwhelming.
Like many others, I came to know about about Bruce Alexander's Rat Park experiments through Johann Hari. He published an article in advance of his 'Chasing the Scream' book, which I eagerly shared with my addicted son. Hari also mentions it in his well-known TED talk.
But the lessons of the Rat Park have been challenged in ways that merit our attention https://theoutline.com/post/2205/this-38-year-old-study-is-still-spreading-bad-ideas-about-addiction. My son relapsed and died of fentanyl poisoning three years ago, and in retrospect, his isolation was less a cause of the addiction than a consequence. A Covid-19 imposed furlough from work drove in the final nail. With apologies to Hari, not everything we think we know about addiction is wrong. None of this makes me appreciate your article any less, I hasten to add.
I had not heard of this study, but the fact that rats are intensely social animals definitely leads me to focus on the isolation and cage, and NOT on some “predisposition” to substance abuse.
This scenario is effectively what the collective Western democracies required of their populations…for a respiratory virus. One hundred years of tried and tested mitigation measures were thrown out the window for some completely fanciful fairytales. Follow the Science? More like follow the superstition.
The fear factor was turned up to eleven and effectively stayed there for more than three YEARS. Hysterical over-reaction is always worse than whatever one is freaking out over. And yet, three years.
Your article makes a whole lot of sense, though I take exception with the number of deaths attributed to Covid you mention. Not buying it. It’s the biggest account fraud in history—by a mile. I’m not going to get into it, I’m sure you’ve heard of some of the discrepancies, but the COVID death count makes Enron look like paragons of accounting.
Every part of COVID was a psychological operation brought to us by the U.S. intelligence community. EVERY single part.
But the worst part is how greatly it exasperated the loneliness, disaffection and meaningless for so many people. And also helped create legions of hypochondriacs.
Yeah, Matt, the silence from
people who knew better and were in a position of prominence (and just regular people “going along to get along”) that didn’t speak up propagated and prolonged the hysteria.
We will be living with this human, NOT Covid, wrought disaster for decades. And we will have learned nothing.
In reading this article, I can completely understand why you and Matt Taibbi are friends. Excellent writing, deep knowledge, and an ethical heart that shines. So glad to have found your stack, Matt. Looking forward to more.
Thank you for this article!!!