The Misuse of Adderall by College Students
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| Adderall, a stimulant, prescription drug used to aid students with AD/HD, is also taken illegally by students to help them stay up all night and focus on studying for long periods of time. (Image Source: Alex Dodd.) |
For some, the solution to procrastination is an illegal dose of a stimulant drug used for the prescription treatment of Attention Deficit Disorder or Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (AD/HD).
ADDERALL (Adderall), a mixed salts amphetamine and one of the most popular AD/HD medications, helps students with AD/HD focus at the same level of their colleagues.
Charlie Manhoff, a senior government and politics major, who began acquiring Adderall in high school to stay up all night for parties, now purchases the drug from friends and acquaintances to help him study all night.
“Everyone has a prescription in high school,” he said.
College Life Study, a five-year study at the Center for Substance Abuse Research (CESAR) at the University of Maryland about health-related behaviors in students, found that about one-third of students who are prescribed AD/HD medication have shared it and another 9.3 percent have sold it to those unprescribed.
Students at the University of Maryland are using Adderall to help them study late, focus longer and party into the early hours of the morning. Some say it makes them drunker while others say it allows them to drink more without getting as drunk.
The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration classifies Adderall in the same category as drugs like cocaine and morphine, but students agree that Adderall does not have the same negative stigma. Professionals say it is still dangerous.
“I definitely think for me and for my style of studying it helps, but if you’re not an all-nighter type, I’m not sure how helpful it would be,” said Manhoff.
Helpful or not the medication guide released by the Federal Drug Administration (FDA) says side effects of Adderall include stomach ache, decreased appetite, headache, nervousness, trouble sleeping, mood swings, weight loss, dizziness, dry mouth and a fast heart beat. A doctor should monitor the dosage and side effects of those taking the medication.
“If you don’t need it, it is often not effective and there is more likelihood that you would experience the negative side effects…that really cause damage when it is used inappropriately,” said Beverly Rohman, an ADHD coach and learning consultant at The Learning Connections, LLC in Easton.
So are those willing to take the risk gaining an unfair advantage?
Haniya Silberman, a social worker in the Mental Health & Substance Abuse Service at the University Health Center where she runs a support group for students with AD/HD, said students use it to gain super human powers temporarily, but they are not prepared for the crash that comes as the drug wears off.
“It makes me more alert, focused and motivated and able to think about things for a lot longer than I would normally be able to,” said Manhoff, who used to take the drug almost every morning in high school. “Coming down can be hard though because you get out of it. I usually take more before going into a test.”
Typically, students between the ages of 17 and 19 who abuse stimulant drugs have a lower grade point average during college compared to non-users. They also spend more time socializing and less time studying then non-users, said a 2008 study at the university’s School of Public Health.
They skip class about seven percent more often than non-users too, which, the study said, may contribute to their lower grade point averages.
In other words, students are using stimulants to study to make up for partying, reported the Journal of American College Health in a 2006 study of an anonymous university in the U.S.
Dr. Lori Perez, the executive director of the Severna Park LearningRx Braining Training Center, said in addition to the health issues, a false sense of security is a downfall of using prescription drugs to help you study.
“It doesn’t really help them cope with the reality of life. You can’t really cram for a test and do well and when you’re married and have kids you can’t stay up all night to get your work done.”
Some believe that using unprescribed Adderall to study violates the University of Maryland’s honor code that forbids “unauthorized assistance” on exams and assignments.
“I wouldn’t frame it as an issue of unfairness or not,” said Dr. Valerie Chepp, a professor in the Department of Sociology. “I would wonder what’s creating a situation that’s leading students to rely on this drug for this reason.”
“I would be more concerned about them turning to extreme behaviors,” said Chepp, who believes it is a violation of the honor code her students write and sign on each exam. “If they’re doing this for a small study guide in my class I would be concerned about other risky behaviors they’re a part of.”
Dr. Andrea Chronis-Tuscano, the director of the Maryland Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder Program and associate professor in the Department of Psychology, said “Sure, performance enhances…but [misusing] it creates a stigma around the [medication] and puts those who prescribe it in a hard situation. It makes them more suspicious. It’s a scandalous thing that complicates prescribing Adderall to students who really need it.”
Maggie Johnson, a junior hearing and speech major, takes Vyvanse, an alternative stimulant prescription drug, for what she called a severe case of ADD. She said sometimes she wishes she could use the medicine for the extra boost, but taking extra would not make a difference.
“I know a lot of students who take Adderall weekly or for every final,” said Johnson, “but I don’t give mine out very often, except for a close friend or my brother if they are striking out in school.”
“I need them for myself,” she said, “and I’m not comfortable without them.” Johnson’s prescription requires her to return to the psychiatrist for a new prescription every 30 days making it difficult for her to distribute to those who are unprescribed without losing out herself.
“The problem with ADHD is it’s a psychology, not a medical, diagnosis…They don’t have degrees in behavior, so it seems ironic that [medical doctors] can prescribe it,” said Perez.
The University Health Center psychiatrists can prescribe students to the stimulant drugs after as little as one 50-minute session, said Silberman.
The amount of prescriptions for AD/HD medications being written, which rose 133 percent between 1998 and 2005, reported the American Academy of Pediatrics in their monthly journal, Pediatrics, parallels a 76 percent jump in the amount of calls to poison control centers about AD/HD medication.
“I don’t think that it’s anything drastic or new,” said Perez, who decided to take her son off of Adderall because of its side effects. “It was coffee then Red Bull then Adderall. It’s easy to get and it works well.”