Edit, it seems that only a few millions have prescriptions so way less than quoted in the article: https://clincalc.com/DrugStats/Drugs/Methylphenidate
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"A mathematician," Erdös was fond of saying, "is a machine for tuning coffee into theorems." When friends urged him to slow down, he always had the same response: "There'll be plenty of time to rest in the grave."
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Erdős's friends worried about his drug use, and in 1979 Graham bet Erdős $500 that he couldn't stop taking amphetamines for a month. Erdős accepted, and went cold turkey for a complete month. Erdős's comment at the end of the month was "You've showed me I'm not an addict. But I didn't get any work done.
http://backreaction.blogspot.com/2012/08/erdos-and-amphetami...
Specifically: in the U.S., drugs are tested and approved for specific applications. That's the "label". "[U]sing an FDA-approved drug for an unapproved use [is] sometimes called an “off-label” use"
https://www.fda.gov/patients/learn-about-expanded-access-and...
Once a drug is approved, the drug may not be advertised contrary to its label. It may however be prescribed at a doctor's discretion for largely any use. That's by the FDA's own guidance:
From the FDA perspective, once the FDA approves a drug, healthcare providers generally may prescribe the drug for an unapproved use when they judge that it is medically appropriate for their patient.
(Same reference.)
"Off-label" may apply to the treated condition or to the dosing of a drug. Several examples at the link above.
Use of a prescription drug without a prescription, whether through sharing / borrowing / stealing from a prescibed user, or through grey or black market access, is nonprescribed use. For scheduled narcotics, this may be illegal, including for commonly-used painkillers such as codein (often combined with paracetamol, a/k/a Tylenol) or other opiates.
The survey cites numbers for children's prescriptions and estimates of adult off-label use. That latter would still be prescribed, but the study is claiming that the prescriptions aren't consistent with FDA certification, which would involve deviations from that certification as I've discussed above, citing FDA terms.
Your preception may be accurate. But it would require either the survey reported on here being misrepresented, or a much larger nonprescription use, which does not appear to have been the study's focus. Either way, you're proposing a possibility without specific supporting evidence.
Might you have a source for that? This is the first time I'm hearing this. I'm aware adhd is genetic but if it's recessive it needs both parents to have it for the child to have it, right?
Though perhaps there are neural pathways that can be critically altered in toddler years by damage from chemicals or trauma, etc. Not sure I’d call that nurture in the classic meaning, but rather environmental damage.
As you greatly say, I especially refer to what we call critical-periods in human development, especially early childhood but the most important underlooked one being human gestation where many modern contaminants can induce ADHD like phenotype.
however, about "breaking out of this current hyper-focus despite knowing consequences" How do you know if this is a common ADHD diagnosis? ADHDers, have issue not being distracted is the most popular diagnosis. hyperfocus is the opposite, it is being hypnotized on a task. I have no idea about the prevalence and pharmacological differences of the latter. I am not hyperactive and not that easily distractable but for sure I am completely pathologically symptomatic of hyperfocus that is cognitively pleasant but a near hypnotic state where I loose in all absoluteness, track of time, and priorities. I would bet this ADHD variant is very rare and might not be pharmacology fixed as well by stimulants. A mere but concise approximation of my condition would be, in addition to the consciousness/attention deficit of (my surroundings, time and priorities) while doing something, in addition to this, My brain reward me too much, I am stimulated, naturally high while e.g. thinking and searching about a topic. If so then rewarding my brain even more via dopamine doesn't seems like a fix theoretically?
But Hyperfocus is commonly discussed on ADHDer forums and medical literature. It’s more common symptom for “inattentive subtype”. Actually there’s one ADHD’er on Instagram who has some hilarious short videos on it.
ADHD is probably better described as not “lack of attention” but “difficulty in choosing where focus goes”. In the medical literature and American medical guidelines (DSM) there are three subtypes of adhd based on symptoms: hyperactive, inattentive, or combined. The labels aren’t quite accirate, but hyperactive is the classic “boys running around out of control” adhd. Inattentive is the “absent minded professor” type.
Sounds like you may be more of the “inattentive subtype” which is what I was officially diagnosed with at a university health center after weeks of testing, a 6 hours IQ exam, and counseling. Less experienced doctors might not know about it.
The trance you describe when hitting that hyperfocus state is probably my “biggest weakness” adhd wise; it’s also my biggest asset when I can guide it onto something useful. But yes I take Concerta largely to help me be able to break out of those states. Though it takes counseling and mental effort to take advantage of it. Lately I’ve been enjoying programming almost to the exclusion of everything else in my life. I’m trying to rebalance myself a bit. I hope you can read up on it and maybe find a counselor with experience too. Medication needs to be combined with therapy to help take full advantage of it, IMHO.
His videos are great because they’re funny, short, and surprisingly touch a lot of topics that ADHDers feel alone about.
Funny enough, I wanted to do chemical engineering and studied pharmacology briefly before I found that my ADHD would be a major hinderance to that major. You sound like an alternate universe version of me.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S266635462...
If genetics cannot explain all ADHD cases then Nurture has to play some kind of role.
Air pollution in particular seems to be really really bad for all kinds of health.
ADHD isn't established to be recessive genetic disorder (there's multiple genes associated with increased risk of ADHD, it's not simple trait), there's no reason a recessive genetic condition would necessarily have a 7% incidence, and ADHD is not the only thing Ritalin is used for.