It's not hard to see that there's an overwhelmingly negative narrative surrounding attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and psychostimulants — drugs that can boost the activity of the body's central nervous — in the United States.
Here's the story we're often told: The U.S. overdiagnoses ADHD and overprescribes these stimulant medications. This phenomenon, which some researchers say is a symptom of hypercompetitive capitalism, will lead to a second “opioid crisis,” where we take drugs to tune in rather than out.
The 2018 Netflix documentary Take Your Pills exemplifies this narrative. The film includes interviews with several subjects, some of whom are college students who take Adderall — one used the drug to “sew up” her life, while another had been taking it since childhood. Other featured subjects are more (conventionally) successful adults: a Silicon Valley techie who calls Adderall “jet fuel”; a Goldman Sachs banker who lied his way into getting a prescription, and Eben Britton; a former NFL player who became addicted to Adderall and would take it before every game.
