This is the ninth in a series of blogs looking at the prescription medication known as Adderall. For those of you unfamiliar with this stimulant, I encourage you to start at the beginning of the series.
One thing I can assure you, that after reading this series you will look at your use, or the use of others in a different light. As reported in www.nytimes.com.
One of the many sad stories surrounding Adderall addiction is Richard Fee. An intelligent and articulate young man lying to doctor after doctor, physicians issuing hasty diagnoses, and psychiatrists continuing to prescribe medication — even increasing dosages — despite evidence of his growing addiction and psychiatric breakdown.
While it is true that very few people who misuse stimulants devolve into psychotic or suicidal addicts, Fee’s is a textbook case for ways that A.D.H.D. practices can fail patients, particularly young adults.
It is especially frightening because young adults are by far the fastest-growing segment of people taking A.D.H.D medications. Nearly 14 million monthly prescriptions for the condition were written for Americans ages 20 to 39 in 2011, two and a half times the 5.6 million just four years before.
In future blogs we will look at our textbook case, examining just how Richard Fee went from being on top of the world to a miserable drug addict. We will ponder the notion if drug classes could have prevented what happened to Fee and is happening to many others around the country right now.