When we talk about normal activities like studying and working, i think so. The ability to concentrate and motivating yourself is something you have to develop yourself. Ritalin is not the wonderdrug you take and become a perfect student.
If there is something like that, the perfect drug without side effects, i don't think you can prevent people from taking it. Even for caffeine you develop a tolerance very fast.
The ability to concentrate and motivating yourself is something you have to develop yourself.
I once thought this too.
Everyone has issues with concentration and motivation. Most people deal with it through "self-discipline". This is great for them.
The problem is that people who haven't experienced clinical levels of cognitive issues in themselves or with others close to them often find it very appealing to evaluate others within this same framework of "self-discipline" that worked well for themselves.
Ritalin is not the wonderdrug you take and become a perfect student.
Someone who I know personally literally went from having many D's and F's in high school to being valedictorian in college after being treated for ADHD with methylphenidate (Ritalin). For a certain (small) percentage of the population on the far end of a certain spectrum it does indeed make a huge difference.
That is the reason a lot of people i know are taking Ritalin, without a diagnosis. These incredible improvements show all of them, it is out of question that the short term improvements are impressive.
If you have read the original article, the question is if this can be sustained over a long period. When the person you know get's into his first job and he is totally dependent on Ritalin what happens when the effect wears off?
A good friend of mine started with it at grade 8, about 4 years after that the problems were slowly coming back. He blamed different things for it, but he never the medication. I mean it worked so well in the beginning. I wonder why there are so few long term studies, that is exactly the behavior that is significant.
When the body is somewhat dependent on methylphenidate to produce enough dopamine, the situation is worse than before. I mean we still don't fully understand what affects the production of dopamine. That is exactly the reason why you have to know how these things influence you over decades.
Even at a coarse level there are hundreds of identified structures in the brain and hundreds of identified neurotransmitters like dopamine. Each neurotransmitter may act to produce different effects for each part of the brain.
No one will ever "fully understand" dopamine.
Almost all medications will have some side effects that patients and doctors have to balance against benefits. Good psych doctors know that everyone is an individual and even for the same individual treatments sometimes need to change.
I think your "dopamine dependency" concerns are greatly overblown.
If there is something like that, the perfect drug without side effects, i don't think you can prevent people from taking it. Even for caffeine you develop a tolerance very fast.