Office Messes (Attention Deficit Disorder & ADHD, long read)

NY Times ^ | July 18, 2004 | LISA BELKIN

[Miss Molly]

webstersII wrote:
People that are scatterbrained and disorganized but stimulants make them even more so do not have A.D.H.D.

Not quite true, they may also be taking too much of it. there is no such thing as a standard dose, some people need 5 mg of ritalin every 4 hours, others need 15 mg every 3 hours.

Ritalin raises the level of free dopamine. In people with ADHD, the dopamine transporters bind too much dopamine and/or bind it too tightly. Therefore, the level of free dopamine in their frontal lobe, which is needed to filter out irrelevant stimuli (both external: sights, sounds, smells; and internal: involuntary associations and random thoughts), is too low. Ritalin binds more tightly to the dopamine transporter than dopamine itself, so the right dose of ritalin will free just enough dopamine to raise the level to normal. Take more than that particular corrective dose, and you will experience a 'speed effect', a surplus of free dopamine, just like any non-ADHD person.

[najida]

I am on Wellbutrin/Paxil for mine.

For me, I spent most of my adult life feeling like a total dork (I lost things, got teased because I wouldn't hear people when they talked directly to me, couldn't remember important appointments, my charting would be full of transposed letters and words).

The meds (plus the message boards and lots of structure) have been a godsend.

[azhenfud]

Sorry I skimmed the article - my attention span isn't long enough to read that much at one time....;-)

[krb]

The people who really have this problem will see that stimulants actually calm them down instead of rev them up like the rest of the population.

I can totally believe that. I take adderal which is supposed to be a powerful stimulant...but I can take a nap after I take it!