robkengar
This isn't a documentary in the sense that filmmakers tried to (as unbiasedly as possible) investigate Adderal use in modern day America. It's a shock-piece that focuses on the abuse of Adderal by college students, Wall Street overachievers, etc.-a serious problem worthy of investigation but not at all grounds to condemn Adderall completely. Any substance that activates the pleasure centers of the brain has the potential for being abused. Look at painkillers! What a blessing that people recovering from major surgeries can have their suffering lessened greatly-but yeah some people abuse them. As someone who's been taking Adderal for 3 years now, I can say the amounts of Adderal some of these people were taking were huge. I'm a 265 lb, 45 year old male with an ADHD diagnosis and I take one 20 mg extended release a day. The skinny Wall Street trader said he sometimes took 120 mg of Adderal over the course of a day. The college student artist-kid was put on 50 mg--when he was only 3 years old! The film has a lot of voiceovers describing taking Adderal as this incredible, hypersonic, mindblowing rush-well, yeah if you take a s***load of it, that's exactly how it'll be. If you take a prescribed amount you'll feel more focused and productive until it wears off.This film also ignores the fact that ADHD doesn't occur in a vacuum. The feelings of not being able to focus and the resulting negative feelings associated with feeling different or stupider than your peers often leads to depression, anxiety, low self esteem, etc. And it leads to the creation of inadequate coping mechanisms like overeating, drug and alcohol abuse, risky sexual behavior etc.
joe_wedding
This documentary was repetitive, lacked a clear message and misses the mark. It did a disservice to those who truly suffer from ADD/ADHD and to those who now are addicts from being improperly diagnosed and wrongly treated. I actually fell asleep.
scarlettmansfield
While the film raises many interesting points, it seems to jump around a lot from those who use it recreationally to excel in their work or studies, to those who have legitimate uses for it. Also, I found it didn't actually do anything to dispel the positive aspects of adderall or discourage those wanting to take it recreationally but it does deter those who want to use it for its actual purpose (ADHD). They just kept seeming to bang on about how great it is to really help you study further and in the wrong hands may encourage more students to try getting hold of the drug.Overall, interesting aspects within it - such as the history of these drugs - but lacked a coherent structure and bounced all over the place.
