Originally Posted by Mars
Ok, no problem.
I haven't personally looked into either of these substances. I don't know of any controlled studies looking into these issues. I doubt that any have been done because people with AD/HD are considered high risk for drug abuse/dependence. It would be REALLY hard to get ethics approval for research like that. For any who might read this and not know - all research involving human subjects must be authorized by ethics boards. So, to give an AD/HD sufferer an illegal drug that some consider addicting
would be a really tall order to accomplish.
Theoretically, neither substance is likely to be of much benefit. Nicotine can increase concentration, but the core problem for most AD/HD folks revolves around impulsivity (which adversely affects the performance of rote tasks). I don't think that pot reduces impulsivity much. Nor nicotine.
From what I read several years ago, there actually was a study done on AD/HD and bipolar smokers, though it wasn't a study as in, "here, you're AD/HD, light this cigarette and we'll see what happens" it was more of a, "oh, you smoke and are AD/HD or bipolar? Great! Fill this out" type thing and showed smoking seems to act, for a rather small amount of time, like an SSRI.
But, as someone who's been diagnosed as almost everything in the DSM-IV pocket manual, I can say riding a bike is much better than the med's roullette game these doctor's like to play.
Anyone know if there's any studies out there as to
why people with AD/HD are the way they are? Similar to the research on dislexic kids where they found English speakers have a problem in one part of their brain but those who speak Chinese and are dislexic don't have that problem...I don't even know where to start...all I get is "free meds, no prescription" ads anytime I try to look something up.