From Robert Hettinga:
: However, I *do* know that when I take ritalin, I can do boring stuff much : easier. I'm a very grouchy bastard, but the boring stuff gets done. And, a : very large percentage of people with the DSM-V "diagnosis" of ADHD (H, for : "hyperactive", is Tim's lost initial there, probably a Freudian slip ;-)), : also focus better with ritalin or dexedrine in their bloodstreams, at least : in clinical trials. I also know that when you run PET scans : of people who have ADD (I'm not as hyperactive as I was as a kid...) their : brains look markedly different from those of "normal" people when they try to : concentrate on something too long. .................................................................................... I notice that when I'm intoxicated with various fermented substances, I'm much less inhibited about everything and more amenable to doing things I would otherwise examine with critical judgement. <g> Many people come to depend on these props for their motivation and find they can't function without them. That's the problem, and it's recognizeable in regards to alcohol and recreational drugs, but apparently not so identifiable with the sanctioned, prescribed ones. They temporarily boost the system and the person can function, minus a few little negative, annoying, possibly dangerous, complications. But they don't strengthen the person's system, they don't have noticeably beneficial effects on the person's physical system (they way food does, for instance). Sometimes I've pondered just what the difference is between any kind of drug or any kind of food or other 'natural' chemical that we take into our bodies (such as water or oxygen), which we normally use to function. These things circulate through us and we incorporate some of them and exude/excrete/eliminate the others. If we don't get oxygen quickly, or water very soon, or food eventually, our strength wanes and we die (and it's also possible to "OD" on water). With stuff like cocaine or heart medicine, a person suffers extremely and/or dies just the same An important difference I can identify is the effects upon our strength and ability from the use of any chemical we consume. Anything which leaves us weak: Bad. Strength, self-reliance, efficacy: Good. But the most important difference is the quality of one's conscious state: the more, the better - greater clarity over one's circumstance, greater control possible over one own functions and things around one, a better sense of being "oneself", under one's own direction (authority). The less of this, the more is lost (as in 'loser'). You have to "be" there, to get it. .. Blanc