Health Tip

Should college students use Provigil, Adderall, or Ritalin to help them succeed?

 
For those of you that haven’t made it past the shouts and murmurs section of this week’s new Yorker, I highly recommend the article by Margaret Talbot entitled Brain Gain, accessible here at: http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2009/04/27/090427fa_fact_talbot.  This article covers in great detail the emerging trend of using prescription medications designed to treat ADHD and related conditions, such as Provigil, Adderall, and Ritalin, for the purposes of improving your concentration, ability to learn, and work output.  It turns out that these medications, when given to people without ADHD, ADD, or narcolepsy, they notice a significant improvement in their concentration and ability to complete their work.  The author interviewed a series of college students, professional poker players, and white collar workers who had all made the decision to use these medications in order to gain an additional competitive edge over their classmates, opponents, or co-workers.  While I personally consider this to be a very disturbing trend, we’d be interested in your opinion about the use of these medications for neural enhancement.