Can ADHD medications make one a better "Critical Thinker" ?

[Anonymous]

I have looked up the definition of “critical thinker” in so many venues. Why? I have been brandished with two statements my whole life from outsiders. One being “You over think way to much” and the other “you need to calm down and focus on one thing”. I get why these statements fit me.DUH! So again I ask, if I take ADHD (Because I have been professionally diagnosed) medications should they not help me become a better critical thinker as they might/are supposed to lay a foundation to which I can focus more clearly on specific tasks in a more inner stable environment with less distraction to outside muddled stimuli that often interfere with logical and precise reasoning?

REPORT ABUSE

[Bibliophile]

I too cannot focus on one thing for very long unless I am obsessing about it (i.e. hyperfocusing/perseverating). The medication I am one, Adderall XR allows me to sit for longer periods of time and does improve my focus, but I find it doesn’t keep me on topic. Sure, I should theoretically be getting more done, but I don’t really see an output difference at work. I find that my mind still goes off on tangents too often and the meds do not allow me to steer control back to task. The ability to focus is improved, just not the control. However, others might have had radically different experiences.

REPORT ABUSE

[Wgreen]

I have a theory. Like most theories, it’s probably wrong. But, here it is anyway:

ADD brains are brains on strange steroids—constantly darting about, moving from one notion to another to another. What that means is that we process considerably more random thoughts as the regular guy/gal in a normal day. Volume often matters. When a normally functioning person is considering a problem, s/he may consider, let’s say, a dozen different solutions before coming to a conclusion. We, on the other hand, may consider 20, 24, or more. Not because we want to, mind you. Just because it’s our nature. Now, that doesn’t mean our analysis is necessarily more likely to be correct, since among our panoply of possible “solutions” there undoubtedly will a larger number of unsatisfactory ones. BUT…my guess is we generally give a problem more thought because we can’t help it—and often while we SHOULD be focusing on something else. In the process, we might see some possibilities that the normal person (with similar IQ and education) would never get around to considering.

Meds might make our thinking more “critical.” I don’t know. I would be inclined to think education (comparing our ideas to the ideas of others) would produce more “critical” thinking than some drug. But riffing off of racing ruminations can generate some interesting ideas.

REPORT ABUSE

[Author]

Posts