R.L. Kramer

As the primary decision makers of ourselves, it’s important that we exist in the gray area of this and that which is black and white. You will find many publications that advocate the use of Adderall for ADHD. Of course, the DSM–the instruction manual for how to operate for mental illnesses through contemporary pharmacological chemistry, does. That is a powerful resource to consider, but for the sake of finding out which shade of gray you occupy, it’s also relevant that I present to you the counterpoint to this.

I am not a chemist. I am not a Doctor, nor am I a mental health professional in any capacity. My perspective is valuable because I have taken hundreds of Adderall pills and yes, I have twice been diagnosed ADD. If you are interested in my story, I am publishing it in the following months. Sign up for my email list to hear about my book.

Many people argue they need Adderall to function. For many years, I was in this group. Because I had used Adderall as a mental prosthetic to help me focus, motivate, and follow through. I had collaborated with amphetamine to design a life for myself where I could not function without its assistance. I’m told I don’t understand this. I argue I do.

I did not want to stop taking it, and when I finally stopped. I was thrown into the pit. I got out. It was not easy or fun.

Adderall is an amphetamine. Online, in general Adderall discourse, you will find people calling Adderall “meth.” This is a poor comparison, because, well, it’s not. It’s meth’s cousin in a chemical sense, the same way water’s cousin is hydrogen peroxide. This argument ends with Adderall not being meth. But Adderall is 100%–amphetamine. If the pharmacy gives you generic, the bottle says “Amphetamine.” This isn’t an exaggeration. It is the active ingredient. If you take Adderall, you take amphetamines.

To better understand how something exists, we should look at its history. Amphetamines do not exist in nature. We must synthesize it. For a more in-depth history of the Amphetamine, I recommend Nicolas Rasmussen’s book, “On Speed: From Benzedrine to Adderall” It is where most of this information I about to share with you came from.

In the 1840s Lazar Eladanu discovered the amphetamine molecule, labeled it “useless” and continues to make huge strides in human understanding of chemistry. He built processes that are used to turn crude oil into gasoline and started the company that is today known as Thyssenkrupp.
People in the united states were suffering from asthma in the late twenties. Ephedrine was sold to asthmatics to open the bronchial opening. A drug manufacturer caught wind of this economic opportunity and invited chemist Gordon Alles to create a synthetic competitor, with a molecular structure that could be available for patent.

This will be the first time in history one of these companies will hire a university chemist to create a specific substance for a specific purpose.

Gordon synthesizes the amphetamine, and to test it, he injects himself with 50 milligrams. Kudos to the old school chemists. Committed to their work and willing to take it for the team.
In his typed report, he used the words “very shaky” three times. He notes, “Throat still dry, still very shaky, tendency to close jaw tightly and grind rear teeth.” “Seem exceptionally aware of sound perceptions.”

It didn’t cure asthma, but when they gave it to the asthmatics to test it, they noticed it had potential.

In 1938, the amphetamine was sold as an inhaler and sold over the counter as a remedy for a cold. The over-the-counter inhaler had a 100mg dose in it. It was a piece of paper soaked in some kind of solvent that allowed it to be inhaled. People snapped them open and consumed the whole thing sometimes. Despite the drugs’ legitimate applications in medicine, it has always been abused.
Psychiatry is practically legitimized as a practice with the prescription of amphetamines for patients who were suffering from depression.
Amphetamine was the first anti-depressant.
It was prescribed to mother’s postpartum.
They gave it to people who wanted to lose weight
Psychoanalysts used it to get patients to talk more during sessions.
They advertised it to relieve mental and emotional stress.
College students have and continue to use them to get an upper hand in academia.

There is an extensive list of well-known writers, artists, athletes, politicians and other figures of culture and success who have used amphetamine recreationally or Adderall to treat ADHD. Their gifts to humanity have the drug to thank. It’s a complicated situation.

In 1958, psychiatrist Phillip Connell conducted a study with a group of over 40 patients that psychosis from these substances takes a long time to develop. This became known as amphetamine induced psychosis. Each patient in his study suffering from paranoid delusions or psychosis had appeared to have made full recoveries from their brief schizophrenia.
In the sixties, amphetamines started to be given also the children with what was called “hyperkinesis” but we know it today as Attention Deficit Disorder.

By 1962, mostly half of the prescriptions were for weight loss and the others for mental distress. Into the sixties, it was referred to not as an antidepressant, but as a “psychostimulant,” to reflect its various effects other than treating depression. During the sixties, giving amphetamines to “hyperkinetic” kids was niche, but not completely uncommon. It was an emerging market for the amphetamine.

The medicine was nothing but effects, whichever weren’t the effects a patient wasn’t after became “side effects” For example, using the medication for cognition, weight loss becomes a side effect. Using the amphetamine for weight loss, restlessness and euphoria become side effects.
In a recovery environment, doctors noted that speed addicts (Speed is amphetamine by the way) like to fix radios and televisions. Patients lost the ability to carry out complex action sequences, finding themselves satisfied with activities like stringing beads together and handling mindless housework. They had unnecessary perseverance and followed through with unproductive actions. At high does, hallucinated paranoia and violence could sometimes present itself.

By 1970, there was an epidemic of speed use in the united states. The controlled substance act passed in 1970, which divided drugs into five categories or “schedules” In a congressional testimony, amphetamine was proven addictive as well as ineffective for weight loss and depression. Leaving the only problem for amphetamine to solve, keeping narcoleptics awake and children with a new hyperactive condition. Diagnosis of this new disorder was preparing to surge. As the seventies came in, cocaine replaces amphetamines as the popular recreational stimulant. At this time, there were approximately150,000 children medicated for hyperactive disorder, some believed for the convenience of teachers. Ten years later, that number had nearly tripled and been diagnosed under the title of Attention deficit disorder, (not always requiring hyperactive behavior)
As the disorder of ADD emerged, many ideas were cropped up about what was causing it. Some believed the environmental factors, be in processed foods, dyes and other chemicals in foods, detergents, etc. Some believed it to be the attention being primed by television, videogames and modern advertisements. Another more cynical assessment was that parents and caregivers had grown to desire the luxury of having their child diagnosed with a disorder, relieving them of the responsibility for developing their child’s behavior.

Another factor in this new and emerging market for amphetamines was that psychiatrists would end up relying not these diagnoses for their business. Not all diagnoses lead to amphetamines. Some go to methylphenidate, commonly known as Ritalin.

And here, amphetamine has remained for distribution as Adderall. And it’s prescribed for children and adults alike.

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