Salon.com > Adderall

Channing Tatum decries meds: “I understand why kids kill themselves”

Tue, 04 Jun 2013 16:34:00 +0000

Channing Tatum is promoting his new action thriller, "White House Down," about a coup at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. How to differentiate the film from this year's similarly themed "Olympus Has Fallen"? Why not give an interview about why learning disability medication is like crystal meth?

Tatum describes his experience with meds in Vanity Fair. He tells the magazine:

I truly believe some people need medication. I did not. I did better at school when I was on it, but it made me a zombie. You become obsessive. Dexedrine, Adderall. It’s like any other drug. It’s like coke, or crystal meth. The more you do, the less it works. For a time, it would work well. Then it worked less and my pain was more. I would go through wild bouts of depression, horrible comedowns. I understand why kids kill themselves. I absolutely do. You feel terrible. You feel soul-less. I’d never do it to my child.

It's a timely decision: Tatum's wife, Jenna Dewan-Tatum, just gave birth to the couple's first child.

Our kids are on too many drugs — and the drug companies win

Tue, 02 Apr 2013 14:30:00 +0000

It's your worst fears confirmed, American parents. Our kids are on a lot of drugs. But the scary part is that we're the ones who put them on them.

As stunning new data from the Center for Disease Control this week reveals, 6.4 million children between the ages 4 through 17 has received a diagnosis of ADHD. That's nearly 11 percent of all school aged children, and one in five boys. A full two-thirds of them are on prescription medication. And if you think that sounds like a lot, just wait. The American Psychiatric Association is currently gearing up to broaden the definition of the condition, which will qualify even more kids for diagnosis. And with it, prepare for considerably more kids on meds. CDC director Dr. Thomas R. Frieden noted this week that "Unfortunately, [prescription] misuse appears to be growing at an alarming rate."

Getting prescription meds right

Mon, 18 Feb 2013 16:00:00 +0000

The media seems to have three modes of action when it comes to psychoactive drugs: intense promotion of advances and benefits; general disregard; and full-on panic about negative effects, including potential for misuse and addiction. During both the benefits and the risks periods, many myths and misinformation are disseminated. But between these bouts of euphoria and panic, there is little coverage at all, especially of addiction. This up/down/off pattern does a disservice not only to people suffering from addiction, but to those with other diseases as well.

Right now, we seem to be moving from a period characterized mainly by disinterest into one of attention and fear. Though we’ve never returned to the peak freak-out of the late ‘80s and early ‘90s—in 1989, a Gallup poll found that Americans viewed drugs as the number one problem threatening the nation, eclipsing even the economy during a recession—we have seen brief but blinding spotlights on Oxycontin, methamphetamine and now prescription drugs more generally.

Big Pharma’s newest invention: Adult ADHD

Mon, 01 Oct 2012 15:54:00 +0000

There is good news and bad news about attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) -- that is, if you’re a drug company. The bad news is the kid market has peaked out with 4.5 million U.S. children now carrying the label. The good news is adult ADHD is an emerging market. In fact, adult ADHD, with symptoms similar to pediatric ADHD such as impulsivity, distractibility and difficulty paying attention, following instructions and meeting deadlines, is the next big thing.

"Immature adult market continues to offer greatest commercial potential," read a 2008 press release to the pharmaceutical industry from the market research agency Datamonitor: "Estimated to be twice the size of the pediatric ADHD population, the highly prevalent, yet largely untapped, adult ADHD population continues to represent an attractive niche to target."