amphetamine abuse

Dec. 29, Neely Myers, professor of anthropology at SMU and adjunct associate professor of psychiatry at UT Southwestern, for an op-ed about how abusing ADHD drugs could lead to psychotic episodes. Published in the San Antonia Express-News under the heading Young people are abusing ADHD drugs with dangerous consequences: https://tinyurl.com/2s3trcy9

A few years ago, a student in my college-level medical anthropology class at SMU Dallas wrote a paper about how students at her Title 1 high school who could not afford a psychiatrist to prescribe “study drugs” were at a disadvantage.

When did access to performance-boosting prescriptions become a sign of privilege?

A lot of young people use and misuse Adderall to meet cultural expectations of achievement and productivity, and to have fun. At the same time, the misuse of prescription drugs has been on the rise, especially for people who are young, white, male and socially active.

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