Nice little piece over at pickledpolitics regarding the new trend of self medication, (promoting better patient choice?) especially with regards to Ritalin, the trade name for methylphenidate, used to control children with the behavioural problem Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. Ritalin is similar to amphetamines and thus has been abused by adults to enhance their productivity, especially among students.
More to follow on this when I remember a word I am looking for. This is what revision does to your brain...
*** Update *** 12 June 2006, 21:05pm
I finally found the word. Brought up by a colleague when discussing Paediatrics, she referred to Epicureanism, the philosophical practice: (from Wikipedia)
"Epicurus believed that the greatest good was to seek modest pleasures in order to attain a state of tranquility and freedom from fear (ataraxia) as well as absence of bodily pain (aponia) through knowledge of the workings of the world and the limits of our desires."
This is a concept commonly seen in Psychiatry, where Schizophrenic patients may turn to drink or drugs to escape the strange sensations they encounter. We originally discussed it in reference to adolescents with Cystic Fibrosis becoming non-compliant with their medications, exploring alternatives.
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I heard a paper a few months ago from Francesca Pollock. Apart from being artist Jackson Pollock's niece, she is a practicing psychoanalyst of the New Lacanian School in Paris. She reported that 2 million prescriptions were written for Ritalin in the US in 2005. Worrying figure.
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