Posted by med_empowered on October 11, 2005, at 4:25:36
In reply to Methylphenidate (Ritalin) use???, posted by Paulbwell on October 11, 2005, at 0:19:04
With the whole "addiction" thing...there seems to be an "addiction" scare in medicine today, and its pretty stupid. For a long time, particularly in the US, barbiturates and amphetamines could be easily obtained without a prescription; in fact, lots of places had amphetamines over the counter until the mid-to-late 50s. Yes, there were some addicts here and there, but it wasn't a **huge** problem. The real issue is dependence: if you were to suddenly be deprived of your Ritalin, would you go into withdrawl? Well..yeah. And it could be really, really rough. But...that's true of most psychiatric meds, even the "benign" SSRIs. Addiction isn't the same as dependence; addiction is dependence coupled with certain behaviors (increasing intake, breaking laws, theft, antisocial behavior, complete focus on drug consumption)...its basically dependence, with a strong psychosocial component in which high-risk level drug use becomes the central focus of an individual's life. Its called a "disease" these days, but that really oversimplifies the matter; there are lots of social and psychological factors to take into account, so its not a "disease" in the same sense that cancer or alzheimer's are diseases. Does this make sense? But, yes...withdrawal from ritalin can be very rough. In the US, ritalin is a schedule II substance, meaning no refills (new script for every fill), no phone ins, and lots of scrutiny. There are some who want it moved into schedule III (which would mean potentially problematic, but not too bad...refills allowed, etc. etc.). Its first-line when dealing with ADD/ADHD or treatment-resistant depression, so the overall consensus seems to be that its not quite as hardcore as, say, dexedrine, adderall, or desoxyn. Good luck!
poster:med_empowered
thread:565551
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20051010/msgs/565576.html