The amphetamine of the masses

The latest if failing to connect the dots in the ongoing mental health crisis is: F.D.A. Confirms Widespread Shortages of Adderall.

Further muddying the picture is the recent popularity of telehealth services. A crop of telehealth start-up companies flourished during the pandemic, with some prescribing Adderall and other drugs to patients in unknown quantities.

Over the years, concerns have been raised about the overprescribing of Adderall for children and young adults with A.D.H.D., and about its abuse as a study aid among college students. The teenage mental health crisis that exploded during the pandemic put a spotlight on sharp increases in some prescriptions, like Adderall.

[T]he telehealth start-ups made it cheaper and less time-consuming to get a diagnosis, although [Dr. Goodman] questioned whether all of those were accurate.

So if I understand it correctly, all you need to get a prescription for amphetamines these days is to talk to some prescription mill on Zoom for five minutes, excuse me: Telehealth™ Startup™.

No talk, of course, of the systemic problems in society that are causing the erosion of attention. There’s something fundamentally wrong when people have to spend 8 hours a day on Zoom in order to make a living and the only way to get through it is by taking amphetamines.