This Is Why You Can't Get ADHD Treatment
Summary
TLDRThe video script details the creator's personal struggle with ADHD and the challenges of obtaining prescribed medication amid a drug shortage in the United States. It explores the reasons behind the increase in ADHD diagnoses, the dangers of untreated ADHD, and the impact of the DEA's restrictions on drug manufacturing. The creator also discusses the potential profiteering by pharmaceutical companies, the rise in black market medication sales, and the ineffective government response. The video serves as a critique of the healthcare system and a call for better treatment accessibility.
Takeaways
- 😣 The speaker was diagnosed with ADHD and faced challenges in obtaining prescribed medication due to a drug shortage.
- 🌪 The situation in the United States regarding ADHD treatment is dire, with many people resorting to the black market for medication.
- 🧠 ADHD is a hereditary disorder affecting dopamine levels in the brain, and treatment can significantly improve quality of life.
- 📈 There has been a rise in ADHD diagnoses, particularly among adults, leading to increased demand for medication.
- 🚫 The DEA's decision to limit the production of ADHD medication has exacerbated the drug shortage, affecting many who need treatment.
- 💸 Pharmaceutical companies may be profiting from the shortage, as alternative medications are more expensive and not always effective.
- 🏥 The speaker's personal experience with pharmacies and insurance companies highlights the bureaucracy and cost barriers in accessing ADHD medication.
- 🔍 The video explores the dark web as a last resort for those unable to obtain medication legally, underscoring the desperation and risks involved.
- 🚨 The script warns against the dangers of using illegal drugs, including counterfeit medications, which can have severe health consequences.
- 🤔 The video concludes without a clear solution, emphasizing the complexity of the issue and the need for better policies and treatments for ADHD.
Q & A
What challenges does the speaker face in obtaining ADHD medication?
-The speaker faces significant challenges in obtaining ADHD medication due to drug shortages, delays at pharmacies, and the high cost of name-brand alternatives. They also encounter difficulties with insurance coverage and pharmacy stock availability.
Why does the speaker believe that ADHD is often easier to identify in children than in adults?
-The speaker believes ADHD is easier to identify in children because kids have not yet developed the learned neuronal connections or baggage that adults have, making their symptoms more apparent. Additionally, a solid clinical ADHD diagnosis in adults takes into account behavior from childhood, which should have been prevalent early on.
What are the potential consequences of not treating ADHD as mentioned in the script?
-The potential consequences of not treating ADHD include a 19% higher risk of death, increased likelihood of anxiety, depression, physical ailments, substance abuse, unwanted pregnancies, motor vehicle accidents, and higher suicide and homicide risks.
How does the DEA's decision in 2022 impact the availability of ADHD medications?
-The DEA's decision to limit the amount of amphetamines that drug companies can purchase to make their medication led to a drug shortage. This shortage has made it difficult for patients to receive treatment, contributing to the increased risk of death and other negative outcomes associated with untreated ADHD.
What is the speaker's experience with alternative medications to Aderall?
-The speaker's experience with alternative medications to Aderall is fraught with difficulties. They encounter issues with insurance coverage, pharmacy stock, and the need to travel long distances to access the medication. They also mention the high cost of name-brand alternatives and the lack of generic availability.
Why does the speaker think the increase in ADHD diagnoses is not due to an actual increase in the disorder?
-The speaker thinks the increase in ADHD diagnoses is not due to an actual increase in the disorder because it's believed that our understanding of the frontal lobe of the brain and executive functions has improved, leading to better identification rather than an increase in the prevalence of the disorder.
What role does the DEA play in the current ADHD medication shortage according to the script?
-According to the script, the DEA plays a significant role in the ADHD medication shortage by limiting the amount of amphetamines that drug companies can purchase, which has led to a reduction in the production of ADHD medications and subsequent difficulties for patients in obtaining their prescribed treatments.
How does the speaker describe the process of trying to obtain ADHD medication?
-The speaker describes the process of trying to obtain ADHD medication as a 'deep rabbit hole' involving numerous phone calls to pharmacies, dealing with insurance issues, and even considering alternative and potentially dangerous options like the black market due to the challenges they faced.
What is the speaker's opinion on the correlation between drug shortages and the increase in black market drug sales?
-The speaker believes that when the government makes prescribed medications more difficult to obtain, it inadvertently makes illegal drugs easier to obtain, punishing innocent civilians who need legitimate treatment while rewarding drug cartels with increased demand.
What alternatives to traditional ADHD medications does the speaker discuss in the script?
-The speaker discusses alternatives such as non-stimulant drugs like buproprion and stratera, as well as therapies like neurofeedback. They also mention the use of supplements and the potential risks of obtaining medication through the dark web.
Outlines
💊 ADHD Diagnosis and Medication Challenges
The speaker was diagnosed with ADHD earlier in the year and faced difficulties in obtaining prescribed medication due to a drug shortage. They describe the challenges and the public's misconceptions about ADHD, highlighting the disorder's heritability and the role of dopamine. The speaker's personal experience with treatment and the benefits of medication are shared, emphasizing the importance of effective treatment. The paragraph also discusses the broader implications of ADHD, including its prevalence and the potential dangers of untreated ADHD, such as increased risk of accidents and mental health issues.
🚑 The Dangers of Untreated ADHD and Barriers to Treatment
This paragraph delves into the serious consequences of leaving ADHD untreated, citing studies that show increased risks of substance abuse, unwanted pregnancies, vehicle accidents, and even higher risks of suicide and homicide. The speaker criticizes the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) for limiting the production of ADHD medication, leading to a shortage and forcing patients to seek alternatives. The paragraph discusses the rise in black market sales of ADHD drugs and the speaker's personal struggles with obtaining medication, including the high costs and lack of availability.
💸 Exploiting the ADHD Medication Shortage
The speaker explores the business side of the medication shortage, suggesting that drug companies may be exploiting the situation for profit. They describe their frustrating journey trying to obtain a new prescription, encountering delays, high costs, and insurance issues. The paragraph also touches on the marketing tactics of pharmaceutical companies and the lack of transparency regarding drug shortages. The speaker sarcastically attends an investor Q&A as a shareholder to highlight the contrast between the company's profits and the struggles of patients.
🌐 The Dark Web and Alternatives to ADHD Medication
In this paragraph, the speaker discusses the desperate measures some individuals are taking to obtain ADHD medication, including turning to the dark web. They also mention the rise of scams and ineffective alternatives being marketed to those struggling to find medication. The paragraph ends with a discussion of legitimate but less immediate treatment options for ADHD, such as non-stimulant drugs and neurofeedback therapy, and a call to action for viewers to support the creation of informative content like this video.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡ADHD
💡Drug Shortage
💡Executive Function
💡Dopamine
💡Telehealth
💡Black Market
💡Generic Medications
💡Insurance Coverage
💡Neurofeedback Therapy
💡Counterfeit Medication
Highlights
The speaker was diagnosed with ADHD and faced challenges in obtaining prescribed medication due to a drug shortage.
The video discusses the stigma and misconceptions surrounding ADHD and the difficulties in accessing treatment in the United States.
ADHD is often easier to identify in children due to their less complex behavior compared to adults.
The hereditary nature of ADHD is supported by studies showing up to 90% of cases may be inherited.
The speaker shares personal experience with prescription stimulants and how they helped improve focus and calmness.
Statistics show treated ADHD patients have a 19% lower risk of death compared to those untreated.
Untreated ADHD is linked to higher risks of anxiety, depression, substance abuse, and motor vehicle accidents.
The DEA's decision to limit amphetamines has led to a shortage, affecting many who rely on these medications.
The speaker explores the financial gains of drug companies amidst the drug shortage, raising questions about their motivations.
The video details the speaker's frustrating journey trying to refill a prescription and the high costs involved.
Alternative medications and therapies for ADHD are discussed, including non-stimulant drugs and neurofeedback therapy.
The dark web is presented as a last resort for some to obtain ADHD medication, highlighting the severity of the shortage.
The video concludes with a call to action for better policies and a more compassionate approach to ADHD treatment.
The speaker emphasizes the importance of legal and safe access to medication, warning against the risks of black market drugs.
The video is sponsored by viewers, and the speaker invites support for continued creation of educational content.
Transcripts
earlier this year I was diagnosed with
ADHD and I already knew that there was a
drug shortage problem and that it would
be a little bit challenging but what I
experienced in seeking treatment was and
is objectively up like if I were
just telling you what I'm about to tell
you in this video without showing you
the evidence you would probably think
that I was a drug addict or a crazy
person off of his meds if you live
outside of the United States just about
everything happening in this video is
going to seem like a dystopian science
fiction film but worse yet a lot of my
viewers in the United States will feel
validated by this video because this is
a dumpster fire that is all too familiar
to them today we're going to go down a
deep rabbit hole about what ADHD is why
so many people are being diagnosed with
it the incredibly stupid reasons why
it's so difficult to obtain your
prescribed medications we're going to
put on our investor pants and listen to
a Drug Company CEO brag about how great
their year has been as a result of the
drug shortage and I'm going to take you
on a little shopping trip so we could
see how hundreds of thousands of people
are now buying ADHD drugs on the black
market as a result let's
go if you were to just observe my
professional output as a musician a
researcher a content creator a business
co-founder you would not think that I
had a problem with concentrating or
completing tasks which is what most
people imagine when they think about
ADHD and that's why I resisted
participating in a test or diagnosis for
over a decade despite multiple
therapists and doctors insisting that I
do but if you called me today just to
ask me how I was doing or say hi or if
you looked at my work desktop or if you
rescheduled dinner with me to an hour
later you'd notice by my behavior that
things weren't quite ideal to a lot of
people I would seem pretty intense High
Strung and maybe even unreasonable but
in reality I'm just busy and I'm
mentally unable to improvise with sudden
changes and I just didn't realize how
debilitating that actually was until I
received effective treatment I took a
prescription stimulant and felt calmer
when I normally needed to withdraw from
everything and everyone to stay focused
I now felt like I just flowed and
coexisted with others this is why ADHD
is so much easier to identify in
children than it is in adults kids are
pretty simple they don't have the
Learned neuronal connections or baggage
that we have as adults and even as an
adult a solid clinical ADHD diagnosis
takes into account your behavior in
grades from when you were a child in
most cases those ADHD symptoms should
have been prevalent very early on as it
is believed that as many as 90% of
people with ADHD inherited the disorder
from their parents what is the deal with
so many children have an ADHD in autism
these
days there's actually not thought to
have been an increase in ADHD symptoms
in the population it's just that in the
last 30 years we started understanding a
whole lot more about the frontal lobe of
the brain and things like the
neurological roles of executive function
in fact I just found a couple different
studies that strongly suggest a lower
prevalence of both ADHD and autism
diagnosis in lower income areas which
kind of reinforces the link between
prevalence and Healthcare quality there
are still a lot of people out there that
think that ADHD is not a real disorder
and if you believe that let me put that
belief to rest right now it is proven to
be predominantly hereditary it can be
observed and even predicted with MRI
imaging of the brain and ultimately it's
a disorder that is caused by a shortage
of dopamine in the brain which makes a
person more hungry for dopamine or their
Reward Center more powerful Aderall
simply increases levels of dopamine
serotonin and norepinephrine in your
brain and it makes your brain hold on to
the dopamine a little bit longer and if
a person without ADHD were to take my
prescription they might feel over
stimulated or possibly even euphoric
meanwhile I just feel normal calm and
collected and that's what really
surprised me and ultimately sold me on
my diagnosis I expected ader all to make
me feel cracked out but it made me
realize that I feel cracked out by
default when I'm not taking it and I'm
not alone here over 8.2 million people
in America have ADHD or about 5% of the
population and many of them most of them
are having trouble receiving treatment
right now and we're about to dive into
that but first we need to understand how
incredibly dangerous not being treated
is let's start with the most direct and
horrifying statistic that you're going
to hear in this video in a study
published earlier this year it was found
that people receiving treatment for ADHD
in the form of medication had a 19%
lower risk of death than those who are
not being treated and this is a really
legit study tracking hundreds of
thousands of people in each group over a
period of 2 years here's some more not
at all fun facts adults with ADHD who
are not treated as children suffer from
anxiety depression and physical ailments
30% more than adults without ADHD du
adolescents with ADHD who are left
untreated are twice as likely to abuse
alcohol marijuana cocaine and
unprescribed drugs such as stimulants
than adolescents who are adequately
treated and prescribe those stimulants
young adults with ADHD who are not
receiving medication as treatment are
nine times more likely to have or cause
an unwanted pregnancy young drivers with
untreated ADHD have three times more
motor vehicle CR crashes than average
and are statistically at a higher risk
of destroying their vehicle than an
adult who is legally drunk then when you
mix in a dozen or so studies strongly
suggesting higher suicide and homicide
risk it gets pretty easy to say that
having untreated ADHD is incredibly
dangerous and that's on top of studies
showing that untreated ADHD results in
poor job performance poor school
performance higher divorce rates and so
on so why the is it so hard to get
treatment right
now so as mentioned earlier ADHD
diagnoses have been rising steadily in
the last few decades and this is the
case in Europe as well as North America
and interestingly enough this rise is
mostly in adults in contrast the
relative amount of children taking
stimulants has actually not changed all
that much in the last 20 years but in
2022 the DEA as in the same group that
collaborates with and empowers Mexican
drug cartels decided that there was a
massive amount of ADHD stimulant abuse
that originated during the pandemic when
they had allowed Controlled Substances
to be prescribed via tele health and
there's actually no evidence to support
this like at all when it came to sketchy
online doctors prescribing stimulants
without a proper diagnosis that never
accounted for more than 1% of stimulant
prescription now of course college
students taking Aderall recreationally
to help them stay awake and study is
still a problem but it doesn't take a
genius to come to the conclusion that
maybe making some changes to reduce the
need to abuse stimulants will be more
effective than taking the treatment away
from a completely unrelated group of
people the DEA being chronically
allergic to facts decided to limit the
amount of amphetamines that drug
companies in America can buy to make
their medication or drugs now it should
be pointed out that in America Americans
cannot and never could legally buy
controlled stimulants like Aderall that
were manufactured outside of the USA so
while Canada and other countries have
had some supply chain related shortages
we are in our own shitty Walled Garden
here in the States now if you want to
buy your drugs illegally on the black
market the production importation and
prominence of prescription stimulants is
way way up right now and we'll get into
that in a little
bit all right so everything that I told
you in this video so far is not new
information everybody was getting
treatment then the DEA started being
and now drug companies can't
Supply pharmacies and now patients are
not getting treatment and that leads to
an increased risk of death that's pretty
up right but there's more to this
that I've sused out I need to be
completely transparent and point out
that due to the stuff I'm about to talk
about being difficult to prove
substantially by nature or by Design I'm
not going to be formally throwing around
accusations of corruption or extortion
even though that is precisely what I
personally think is happening come on in
November of 2023 the DEA administrator
released a statement saying and I quote
our data showed that in 2022
manufacturers did not produce the full
amount that these limits permitted them
to make resulting in a shortfall of 1
billion doses that could have been
produced that were not made or shipped
and the data in 2023 has shown a similar
Trend drug companies are required to let
the FDA know if they are experiencing a
supply shortage but they're not required
to give a reason to why they're
experiencing the shortage as far as I
could find none of the 17 stimulant
manufacturers experiencing a shortage
have provided those details it has just
been assumed that the shortages were due
to the DEA quotas but why wouldn't they
be why would a drug company want to have
a shortage of such a desperately needed
medication that they were selling okay
so like a lot of people with ADHD I was
prescribed Aderall XR which stands for
extended release and wow it really
helped me a 30-day Supply was $31
without insurance not too bad uh-oh now
like every time I get this prescription
filled there's a delay for a few days
but this one won't be ready for over a
month so I'd better try some morees I
was just wondering if you had
any I need to speak to a
pharmacist okay the pharmacy which would
you like say refill a prescription speak
to
pharmacist sorry so what happens is I
call and I stay on hold of this music
with nobody answering and then they just
pick up the phone and drop it down
because they're tired of hearing it ring
I guess this is the drug that my doctor
chose to prescribe me and it works great
unfortunately no Pharmacy that I talk to
will have any generic supply of that
drug for over a month and if I want any
I'm going to have to get the name brand
which costs 15 times more I talk to my
doctor who switches me to a slightly
different type of stimulant called it
zenis it zenis isn't exactly cloaking
their opportunism when it comes to
marketing to people who can't get
Aderall when you go to their website a
popup literally shoves a dosage
comparison chart in your face it is more
expensive but at you the manufacturer
has this coupon that works with everyone
literally everyone even if you don't
have insurance if you have Commercial
Insurance you'll pay a co-pay of $50 or
as low as $0 for your A2 medications
even if your insurance doesn't cover the
medication trying to get it at
Kaiser no okay cuz this what it's saying
you should use in this case it's not
doing it which means it could be an
issue on their end I don't know how how
urgent it is that you get this turns out
that my insurance will not cover it if I
buy it at Kroger and it turns out that
Kroger won't accept the coupon so I call
my doctor and I get it moved to CVS so
my insurance will cover it and CVS needs
a few days to order it weing it for you
and also wouldn't pay for wait I'm sorry
what the insurance wouldn't pay for it
turns out my insurance won't work for
this particular drug at CVS and requires
me to get it transferred to a pharmacy
inside a hospital owned and run by my
insurance which doesn't carry the drug
at all or have any available prescribers
for mental health so we have to waste
even more of my doctor's time and get it
transferred to the manufacturer's
recommended Pharmacy which is a tiny
building in a small town about 45
minutes away that um yeah what do you
know the CBD Pharmacy doesn't have its
inocent stock and the person I spoke to
wasn't aware of this discount program or
any affiliation with the manufacturer do
you accept uh the RX connect
coupon we don't we haven't heard of that
that you put in an our system it usually
give you like the numbers that we can
load into the
system yeah I mean I'm not the
manufacturer I'm sorry our medications
work won't break the bank and aren't a
hassle to get yeah in fact every single
Pharmacy that I visited told me to
contact the manufacturer at UB biofarma
and can you believe it the drug
manufacturer doesn't answer their phone
but I did notice that they had a big Q&A
live stream coming up but unfortunately
it appeared to only be for investors so
I called my financial advisor and we
manag to scr up some Capital to buy
myself some equity in the company and it
was the best
$249 I have ever spent and I am so
excited to meet the CEO as a new part
owner of this business venture we have
together ultimately we made the critical
decision starting a couple years ago
that we are going to wind down any
operation that we don't believe can
drive near-term shareholder value and
ultimately what that has netted US is an
opportunity to become exquisitly focused
over the last 12 12 months specifically
looking at the prescription business
most notably attention deficit
hyperactivity disorder ADHD we've had
tremendous Revenue growth and
specifically looking at the RX segment
now it would be hyperbolic and maybe a
little bit of a stretch for me to say
that at you Pharmaceuticals is
intentionally taking advantage of the
drug shortage and we're taking advantage
still to this day of the fact that
Aderall conserta Ridin these products
have been intermittently in and out of
supply for various reasons okay but it's
not like they're somehow connected to a
generic adderall manufacturer other than
the private settlement agreement that
they entered into with the world's
largest generic addall manufacturer
every single path that I navigate down
in this maze always leads me to having
to pay a bill like this at the pharmacy
counter and this is not ederal by the
way it may not even work for me so then
I could try this one or this one it's
not exactly difficult to understand why
drug manufacturers might not be tripping
over themselves to make generics widely
available again it is a business after
all and just because patients are 19%
more likely to die as a result of our
little drug shortage doesn't mean that
y'all have the right to take it out on
us
shareholders you smell that it's
opportunity Ino medfinder is an ethical
startup with the mission of giving
everyone access to the medication that
they need unless they can't afford to
pay $50 to hire somebody to call a bunch
ofes every single time that they a
prescription that needs filling then
they could go themselves and even
newer one is needle you can pay just $1
per Pharmacy called or you could buy 50
Pharmacy call credits for a $35 monthly
subscription as in subscribe to a
online service that only exists
to find medication that your tax dollars
pay to make scarce I hope everybody
Burns to death in a fire I found
out about needle because they Market
themselves by responding to people
complaining about their struggle in
finding ADHD meds on X and Reddit and
Tik to oh and if you're on Tik Tok you
can definitely expect to find a bunch of
telling you that whatever
supplement their multi-level marketing
scheme sells works as a replacement to
your ADHD medication bad news guys the
Aderall shortage there's no end in sight
this is exactly why I switched
to something else I decided to take a
step into 2050 and go with something new
and it works the cognitive function off
the charts is Alpha GPC actually an
Aderall alternative let's get into it
God this works amazing and I'm not going
to G keep because I know that there's
millions of you guys out there who also
cannot get their prescription the name
of the product is for sigmatic guys an
orange shopping cart at the bottom left
of this you need to hurry and get it
they're going to sell out and if that
managerie of excellent Solutions is not
enough for you you could just mention
your medication problems on X which will
summon an army of Twitter Bots
recommending you to send crypto to some
Nigerian guy on telegram I don't need to
tell you that these are obviously scams
do I None of these people are going to
actually send you any form of effective
ADHD medication you will have to go to
the dark web for
that now this isn't as easy as it sounds
you can't just log onto the dark web and
find an ader all Jesus so dread is like
the Reddit of the dark web it has I'm
pretty certain it has over a million
users and the first post on the homepage
of dread is a promoted post from the
Aderall sub dread turns out that this is
quite the vibrant Marketplace with
established dealers reviews payment
gateways I can even pick up some 5 Meo
DMT on the same shopping trip that saves
me an errand now I did not actually
illegally buy my exact prescribed
medication for less money than what the
alternative is costing me and it didn't
actually arrive quicker to my mailbox
than it takes the pharmacy to stock it
now if these pills were real and not a
3D animated asset that I put in post-
production I would not be taking them
for a very obvious reason it could be
laced with something it could be
entirely made up of methamphetamine it
could be Fentanyl and literally kill me
this danger is not something that the
DEA made up or a paranoid delusion in my
head I know that this is a serious risk
because tragically it is happening to
real young people who are resorting to
buying their ADHD medication on the
black market and the reaction and
response to these tragic deaths is
Congressman Dave Joyce's stop the pills
that kill act which finally takes a hard
look at the glaring problem of
counterfeit medication being easier to
obtain than actual prescribed medication
and the solution to this problem to make
sure that it never happens again
proposed by our competent esteemed
lawmakers in Congress was obviously to
give law enforcement more power and
money to catch and punish the people who
are selling these pills outside of where
our law enforcement has any jurisdiction
yeah brilliant that'll work great job I
wish that I had a solution that I could
share with you I do not and and from
what I can gather the DEA analyzes their
quotas very seldomly and it appears that
they won't even consider increasing
amphetamine allotments for manufacturers
until December of 2025 it's safe to say
that there's no end in sight and the
official stance of the government and a
lot of drug companies is uh go
yourself listen up I'm going to be very
real with you this goes without saying
but it's really dangerous and stupid to
pay for or take pills that you're not
obtaining legally there's tons of
incentive for them to contain different
cheaper drugs and there's virtually no
incentive for an anonymous underground
pill Mill in another country to double
and triple check what they're sending to
whom and like 2 Mig of fentanyl is a
lethal dose for somebody without a high
opioid tolerance the reason we went to
drug markets on the dark web in this
video was to illustrate a very important
point when the government makes
prescribed medications more difficult to
obtain they inadvertently make illegal
drugs easier to obtain they punish
innocent civilians trying to obtain
legitimate treatment and reward drug
cartels with increased demand this is
nothing new this is the function of the
DEA it's not all bad non-stimulant drugs
like buproprion and stratera seem to be
pretty effective for some people and
sometimes even at a higher rate than
stimulants but the challenge is that
they're not immediately effective like
stimulants are so you have to give it a
few months to wait for things to start
balancing out before you know if it's
working or not neuro feedback therapy
something that I've made multiple videos
on is proven to be extremely effective
treatment for ADHD it just takes some
determination and patience which is
something that ADHD sufferers tend not
to have an excess supply of this video
is not in
Focus all right this video is sponsored
by viewers like you and if you enjoyed
this video or if you learned anything
and if you want to help make content
like this possible in the future my
patreon has a super positive Community
it has monthly songwriting challenges
unreleased music released music audio
and music production assets and a whole
lot more and it's as little as $1 thanks
for watching keep creating bye
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