As an adult who has used both marijuana and Ritalin I can tell you first hand that Ritalin is a much stronger mood adjuster than marijuana.
About 10 years ago I worked for a pharmacy, delivering medications to board and care homes. On Fridays we had to do 'punch outs', which consisted of punching pills out of bubble packs which were unused and returned from board and care homes.
During my 3 years at the pharmacy I got my hands on plenty of prescription pills, and I tried them all at least once. Most of them did nothing for me, but Ritalin was the exception.
Ritalin gave me super powers. I was suddenly an artist. I was a writer, a philosophizer, a fucking genius. The first time I took Ritalin, I ended up taking a DVD of some Disney movie and drawing the entire front cover. It came out perfect. I even went to the extent of coloring my masterpiece. I was like Michaelangelo.
Then I wrote this 20 page 'essay' on my friends. I documented their personalities, habits and (in my mind) their mentalities. While I was writing I was so sure that it was the greatest piece of 'literature' ever written, I kept picturing in my mind someone discovering the true work of art and begging me to let them publish it. I was like J.D. Salinger.
That night I carved the sickest pumpkin for Halloween. I used one of those crappy templates that you stick to the front of the pumpkin. I took so much care in making sure every cut was perfect, I was sure the head of the Federal Pumpkin Carving Commission was going to honor my pumpkin in their Hall of Fame.
At dinner time I just sat looking at my food thinking, 'wow,this ear of corn was on some farm in the midwest and now it sits here on my plate, amazing!' I looked at all the food and thought about the process by which each piece of food came to me. But I didn't eat a bite. On Ritalin eating is IMPOSSIBLE. In fact, that night I had plans to go to the Offspring concert at which I knew I would be getting hammered. So before I left I tried to eat some bread so I would have something in my stomach to prevent me from puking. But not a chance. I was completely unable to swallow even a single bite. I went to the concert, got hammered, didn't puke and thought, 'man, the Offspring are such a talented band, their music is so intriguing.' I had such a fine tuned ear for music, I was like Mozart.
When it was time to sleep, I was having none of it. On Ritalin sleeping is IMPOSSIBLE. So I stayed up all night and came up with all kinds of ideas to make millions. I had business ideas galore. I meticulously planned out how these businesses would function, what the niche was and how I could capitalize on it. I was a profit turning guru. I was like Donald Trump.
Eventually morning came and the Ritalin was wearing off. Now this is the hard part. It is IMPOSSIBLE to not want to put someone's head through a wall when coming down from Ritalin. I was sooo irritated by any and everyone who talked to me. My girlfriend at the time got on my nerves so bad that day I thought I might have to dump the bitch. Don't give me that 'Good morning honey' bullshit, are you trying to piss me off?
I took Ritalin at the rate of 10 mg per hour for about 8 hours for a total of 80 mg. For about two months straight. Every day I found some new talent, some profound philosophy, some understanding of the meaning of everything. And every night I stayed awake plotting my financial domination of the world. Every morning I was ready to kill someone, until of course I got my Ritalin fix.
Eventually I ran out of Ritalin and had to go back to being a regular know nothing jackass. I craved the shit out of that stuff for about a week and then eventually kicked it. But knowing the effects of this miracle drug makes me want it even to this day. I often find myself looking at a half completed website I've made, having trouble deciding on what to put where...knowing in my head that if I had some Ritalin, the ideas would start flooding and Google would be knocking down my door begging me to help them in their design/writing/implementation departments. Or of course I could be delusional on all aspects of my perceived memory, since I was, after all, high on amphetamines at the time. I was like Marion Barry.
The quality controller.
ReplyDeleteOK from the sound of it I guess that with hindsight you don't think your art, insights and entrpreneurial ideas were very good - or are you in fact a multiple start-up millionaire.
However it raises 2 questions.
What did other people make of your output?
Did you have enough concentration to be able to follow up and complete a project?
BTW thanks for such a lucid and honest description.
Please post your essay and your cover art. Was the work really as good as you thought it was?
ReplyDeleteYour individual experience, with >one< dose of Ritalin, an overdose, and in someone who, in all likelihood, doesn't require medication, make for a miniscule point of reference.
ReplyDeleteI have been taking ritalin twice a day for several years, and I've never had delusions of grandeur along the lines you describe. And whenever I catch myself feeling a little hyper, I just skip a dose or two. Another point of reference, like yours, but over a much longer period of time.
As far as Ritalin being stronger than weed, anything is stronger than anything else, if you take a lot of the first and a little of the second. So what?
i took ritalin from 3rd grade through at least 10th or 11th grade.. it made me completely "out of it" socially.. i didn't think things were funny. i had to fake laugh just so people didn't think i was a complete asshole. i had trouble eating as well. i am a musician, but it didn't make me feel that i was better at the guitar. have you ever seen half baked? where jon stewart thinks "everything is cooler... on weed." that's how you sound about ritalin, but i'll tell you and anyone else that it isn't as inspiring as you make it sound. i hated taking it with a passion because i didn't feel like myself. however.. later in my schooling they finally changed me to another medication, aderall (sp?). it gave me a boost so i could concentrate better, but didn't have the negative side effects (like loss of appetite).. ritalin is the devil and a.d.h.d. is completely over diagnosed. either that, or it isn't really a disorder.
ReplyDeleteYou write as though your experience was universal. Obviously Ritalin is not for you, it seems to have put you in a true manic state. I took it and had a mild reduction in my ADD, but no particularly bad side affects (and so much better than the previous medicine). And in my case coming off it was easy. The drugs helped for awhile and I was able to talk therapy and other work to deal with the original symptoms and now don't take any meds. Neither your experience nor mine are the universal case.
ReplyDeleteI was mistakenly given ritalin and adderal for around 5 years as an adult for what was supposed to be adult ADD, but what was in fact (at least after I grew out of my childhood ADD) adult OCD. When given to an even minorly OCD adult, the symptoms you describe happen. I will admit it was wonderful, this drug that allowed me to be the artist I so desperately wanted to be, allowed me to create, even in hindsight, beautiful works.
ReplyDeleteI just want to point out one important piece that was neglected in both the article and the comments: Ritalin - like most drugs - have a VERY different effect on people with an actual condition than not. Most antidepressants for instance, take Welbutrin SR, have no effect on me, and yes, I am "clinically depressed" but when most "non-depressed" people take it, it gives them a crazy high and sense of euphoria. I had heard this about Ritalin, and tried it on this basis, and for me, it had NO effect. Does this mean I don't have ADD? Probably...
ReplyDeleteThe most fun I've had though is that I'm mild bi-polar, but not severely. Those who have truly manic cycles/conditions are often given Lithium and/or Thorzine. If you are NOT manic, these drugs will make you feel VERRRRRRRY good, albeit in a comatose way, but that's the closest I've been to having an experience to the author's.
Yeah Ritalin is nice like that... After a few days you really do want to take a little nap though...
ReplyDeleteAs an adult diagnosed with ADHD I thought Ritalin was going to be the solution I (and my parents) have been waiting for all my life. The diagnosis alone was comfort because it finally made sense of so many things in my life. So, within a day or so I go to the doctor, slap a 20 on the counter at the pharmacy and get me some generic Ritalin.
ReplyDeleteWhat I found was that it did amazing things to me. I can't say I had delusions of grandeur like the original posting but I certainly felt like I was capable of accomplishing a hell of a lot more than I ever would otherwise. My productivity shot through the roof. Tasks no longer seemed daunting. I was a machine! All good things come at a price however...
Gone was: my personality, my sense of humor, my generally relaxed, easy-going state of being. It made me aggitated, highly irritable and very serious and stone faced. I was getting into fights with my wife which went something like Her: "Youre very aggressive every since you started taking Ritalin" Me: (yelling) "WHAT!!?? Thats bullshit!! ARGHHHHH!!!"
Basically I decided that ADHD, while not common, doesn't mean its some kind of deformity that needs medicating (in all but the most serious cases). Not all humans are creared equal.. its basically a brain type in my eyes. Ive embraced the way its given me unique powers that other people do not have and learned to be creative and non-toxic in dealing with it.
As for the answer to the post heading.. no...Marijuana makes me completley useless.
Response to Questions
ReplyDeleteMy doctor told me I had ADHD so he prescribed Stratera, a similar drug. Best high I've ever had. I, too, thought I was a genius.
ReplyDeleteI'm a equities trader for a living. I lost $10,000 trading that while while thinking I was a trading god.
Those drugs are dangerous. I feel sorry for the kids that are hooked on it.
It cannot be kept a secret for much longer: the human brain is very complicated and we understand only the tiniest part of how and why it does what it does.
ReplyDeleteComing to any kind of general conclusion ("here's what Ritalin does") on the basis of individual experience (i.e. not adding "to me") is, implicitly, asserting that everyone else's brain is just like yours.
In extreme (but not uncommon) cases, this illusion of central position leads to posting rants on the Interblag about how we're overmedicating our kids because this one kid I know responded badly to Ritalin.
Can Ritalin cause hypomania? Yep! Will it cause hypomania in you? Very probably not.
But hey, if it does, you can blog about it and get a lot of attention.
I have some of the symptoms of ADHD and took Ritalin for a while. I didn't OD like you did, which makes a difference, obviously, but the correct dose did a pretty good job of leaving me calmer and more focused and aware of what was going on around me.
ReplyDeleteSo YMMV but drug abuse says more about the abuser than anything to with the drug.
Remember that woman who wrote the book about Valium? Big seller, got it pretty much off the market, and when she needed more money she went and got addicted to something else and wrote a book about that. Nobody fell for that one and I guess she went out and had to get a real job.
Two or more sides to every story, dude.
As an adult with treatment resistant depression, I was skeptical when my psychiatrist recommended Ritalin. Happily I can report it has offered some relief. I take 10 mg first thing in the morning and the drug does relieve some of the fatigue and helps lift the "fog." However, I must say that if I don't take it on a given day I feel extremely irritable and angry. Must be a withdrawal effect; I know the half life of the drug is very short. So, could be another drug to try for those who have had no luck with antidepressants.
ReplyDeleteInteresting story, I know for friends where you came from, they also use ritalin and also buy viagra and also smoke some pot and they also prefer the green stuff instead of ritalin, they just tell that if nature provide it, why go against nature.
ReplyDelete