In a way, the documentary in itself, portrays the perfect picture of how fast-paced and erratic the world may seem at times. Its full of colours and clips, and seems to be a little bit all over the place. I found this documentrary to be lacking a certain focus and depth. Maybe the documentary needed some Adderall itself.

When introducing ADHD meds, and people who have "ADHD" or ADHD, without ever giving any proper introduction as to how these medications can be tremendously helpful to those who truly needs them, is one of the greatest flaws of this documentary. I think the storyline would have benefitted from a clearer focus, on wheather they wanted to follow personal stories or the social issues leading to the abuse of perscription drugs in the US. Issues regarding the diagnose critera and the competetiveness of today is raised, but not really delwed into.

Rather than watching a 1,5 hour documentary, I'd read a short summary of its contents to save time.

"The US have a massive problem when it comes to perscription drugs. The diagnose criteriea for ADHD are unclear, and needs to be further developed, in order to avoid people being medicated without needing medications. (The documentary doesn't mention the financial situation, and how perscription drugs and drug companies sponsoring doctors might be one of the reasons as to why they would want to give medications rather than non-medicated rehabilitation options).. A lot of people in the documentary talk of how they are happy to not be needing Adderall when their life-situation changed (eg. finishing university), and said that the drug felt amazing when they took it. Some people didn't like the effects."

At first I wasn't sure how I felt about this documentary. It was informative and intriguing, and it had me asking questions I'd never thought about before. And I love that.

At the same time, it was very limited in scope and had a general negativity toward stimulants as a treatment for ADHD, which I think can contribute to adding to the stigma that's already there. It's important to remember that there is a lot more to this issue and discussion than what can be fit into a 1.5 hr film and that stimulant medication helps a lot of people with ADHD.

This documentary tries very hard not to mention benefits and dismisses any benefit using information from a single study that found students had no measurable improvement in academic performance while using stimulants, despite many other studies showing data that proves the opposite. This documentary is biased, which is very obvious from the beginning, but I don't think that means it doesn't have value.

I had a sour taste in my mouth right after watching it and I'm glad I waited to write this comment because my own bias was impacting how willing I was to accept new and conflicting information. It's been a week since I've seen this film and I keep thinking about it.

When I was first diagnosed with ADHD I didn't want stimulant medication. I struggled on Concerta and Ritalin and Adderall. They all made me feel awful and the negative side effects were too much for the benefits to be worth it. But I was finally put on a low dose of Vyvanse and it's made a big difference in my ability to function within my family, be responsible for and complete my work on time, and finish tasks that are crucial for me to be more independent.

And as much as this medication has helped me, I also wholeheartedly agree that it has created a lot of problems for a lot of people. Between addiction, dealing drugs, side effects, social pressure, and irresponsible prescribing, stimulants have potential to cause a lot of harm. I can't ignore that.

Learning more about the history of stimulant use in the United States (and elsewhere) was eye-opening. Positive and negative experiences can exist at the same time. This can be a life-changing class of medication in the best and worst ways at the same time.

As regulation gets more strict I do worry about losing access to a medication that has made such a big impact in my life. Despite being disabled, stimulants have helped me get by and contribute in a society that I might not have without it.

But the one thing that keeps haunting my thoughts is the question of why it's necessary in the first place. Why we push our workforce so hard they feel there is no option but to take stimulants. Why we demand that people with ADHD perform the same way as those without ADHD. Why it's impossible to truly compete without being on a drug. Why universities are so difficult and tough on students that stimulants are the only way for some people to make it.

Beyond application for ADHD, this medication is being abused as an escape and a performance enhancer to help people meet unrealistic expectations. This documentary asks the question "why do we need these unrealistic expectations to begin with?" and for that reason I highly value the time I spent watching and learning from this film.