To me, I think one of the strongest aspects of this article is that the author interviewed a variety of people who used the neuro-enhancers for different purposes. Since she started with Alex, a student, it kept me interested because I could relate to his reasons for using. If he wasn't a Harvard student he wouldn't have had the same incentives to 'abuse' Aderall. By taking the drug he now had more hours in the day and therefore could have a well-rounded life. Even though his academics would've taken all of his time, by adding 4 hours to his day he could actually go out to a party. Nicholas used neuro-enhancers as one of many ways to try and push his body to maximum performance. He was eating a power bowl every day for breakfast that didn't need to taste good; it just needed to stay down. Unlike Alex, he didn't have a doctors prescription or recommendation to use it. He simple read articles online and decided he wanted to take Piracetam.
The user that interested me most was Paul Phillips. My dad and his friends have poker parties two to three times a month so I am very familiar with the game. He said that Adderall "helped him resist the impulse to keep playing losing hands out of boredom." I can see this as being very useful in poker. Since the cards being dealt are completely random you are just as likely to get twenty bad hands in a row as every other hand being playable. I know that my dad has told me after a poker night that he was bored so he went all in or made a big play. The article provided an abundance of studies that supported the fact that neuro-enhancers do help people who don't show a need for the drug (Chatterjee and Farah). But, since Phillips met the criteria to be diagnosed with ADHD then the pills effect him how doctors want them to. Phillips clearly had the strategy down, but one of the most important things about playing poker is staying aware and on your feet. He couldn't stay focused for the 14 hour tournaments so he didn't start winning money until taking Adderall was part of his daily routine. One of the reasons my dad and his friends don't have to stay so focused is being they are playing the same people over and over again. They already know the habits of the people they are playing & that can help them decide how much to bet. Phillips on the other hand was playing mostly new people every tournament. Having better focus gives him an edge on his opponents. If he notices a certain tick someone has when they are bluffing that can change his game play, for the better, drastically. He had a doctors prescription so I don't see how it could be banned from poker tournaments. Yes, as we learned through this article, people can fake the need or take advantage of their prescription, but there is no way to fairly decide who can take it before a tournament and who can't.
Phillips didn't suffer from any disadvantages of the neuro-enhancers other than Adderall left him a little "jittery" and Provigil has had a gradual loss of intensity. Because of the lack of negatives he experienced I would say this is an endorsement for neuro-enhancers.
Excellent post.
ReplyDeleteI agree that Paul Phillip's account of his use while earning a fortune playing poker was certainly an endorsement. If the Adderall help his focus to detect the tells of new players and if it's not banned, let him use it.
I appreciate the connection to your dad's poker parties. The rules are easy to learn, but it takes lifetime to learn how to play well. A good player has patience. I didn't have any patience when I was younger and I always lost or went all in too early. I got bored with the waiting. I guess that develops with age, just as detecting player tells and behaviors does as well.
This is incredible insightful, the familiar touch was fanstastic.