It’s a weird time in the world of drugs. These days, CBD is a common wellness ingredient, cannabis is slowly becoming legal in the United States, and soon you might even be able to fill your prescriptions on Amazon. Despite all this, here’s something disconcerting: A.D.H.D. prescriptions among women have majorly increased.
According to a study by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which was reported by the New York Times, from 2003 to 2015, prescriptions (formerly used to treat children and adolescents who were having difficulty focusing in school) went up a whopping 700 percent in women ages 25 to 29 and 560 percent among women 30 to 34.
During the 15-year window, researchers followed four million women between the ages of 15 and 44 (all of whom had private insurance and drug coverage). What they found was that medications the likes of Adderall, Vyvanse, and Ritalin were used by three to six percent of adult women when the study finished compared to a mere one percent (or less) when it first started.
“If adult symptoms are being reported by patients, it shouldn’t necessarily be immediately classified as A.D.H.D.”
“If adult symptoms are being reported by patients, it shouldn’t necessarily be immediately classified as A.D.H.D.,” notes Margaret Sibley, lead author of the study and associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral health at Florida International University. “A more careful evaluation often finds that there’s something else causing the problems, like depression, or drug use—which is what we found.”
Thankfully, there are natural alternatives to Adderall that’ll let you reap the benefits—minus the controversial side effects.
Nootropics are other brain-boosting supplements you can turn to. Here’s what happened when one editor tried nootropics for a week.
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