Many people think the main problem for college students is binge drinking. Although, a huge problem worldwide for college students is the ‘smart drugs’, called adderall. This pill is prescribed to children with ADHD, to help them pay attention. Although, this is widely available to college students.
Many college students, take this pill to help them study for an exam or get a paper done. This helps the student be able to “not procrastinate” and get their work done with no distractions. This aderall is very cheap financially, costing a college student on average two to five dollars per pill. In the article I have read, they have compared adderall to steroids in baseball. Both adderall and steroids are used to “enhance performance in a competitive environment”.
Even though it is so widely available, this medication is still prescribed by doctors. Although, students are finding ways to convince the doctors they have ADHD, like , symptoms.
They say things like:
“My thoughts are channeling and it can’t stop”
Or,
” I really cannot pay attention in class, no matter how hard I try”
College Students describe this medication to be the link between the capacity to become productive and intelligence.
Although there are short-term effects to adderall, there are definitely long term effects as well. An individual’s brain begins to adapt and the dose eventually has to be increased. Adderall also affects an individual’s sleep pattern; it makes it hard to fall asleep. It also increases ones anxiety level very dramatically. The come down of aderall also effects an individual’s mood and the way they act towards other people.
I personally know many people who’s personalities have completely changed due to the overuse of adderall. I would advise people to only use it, if it is absolutely needed.
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/05/opinion/global/roger-cohen-adderall-the-academic-competition-drug.html?_r=0
I have many friends who take Adderall when it is not needed. It is a drug that is definitely abused by college students. Some take it to concentrate better, and some have even snorted Adderall to stay awake for whatever reason, partying, studying etc. I know it is a drug that is capable of making you addicted and I am not surprised either that is has long-term side effects. When I traveled to Peru, where my mother is from they do not even carry Adderall in pharmacies because they do not really prescribe it. American doctors mostly over prescribe this drug when it is not needed. I also have many friends who have gotten prescribed Adderall when they even know themselves that they do not have ADHD. I found an article that shows 15 Facts about what Adderall can do. http://beforeitsnews.com/health/2012/07/15-scary-facts-about-adderall-abuse-2444180.html
Going along with what people said above, I found an article that shows college students were twice as likely to try and experiment with Adderall compared to other students who weren’t in college. That got me thinking. It is obvious that college is a lot more work and more hectic than high school, but is our society putting too much pressure on college students? Between parents, professors, peers and simply the financial cost of college, students have pressure from all angles of their lives when they’re in college. With pressure, comes the feeling that students need to be perfect and they feel that Adderall will help them be perfect. The second link I added in this comment is an online debate of if there is too much pressure in the schools. Feel free to weigh in on the debate, it seems as if most of the people agree that the pressure on students is just too high.
http://www.samhsa.gov/samhsanewsletter/Volume_17_Number_3/Adderall.aspx
http://www.debate.org/opinions/schools-put-too-much-pressure-on-students-nowadays
I am definitely not surprised that there are long term side effects for this drug. Using something as strong as this has to mess with your concentration when you’re off the drug to the point of needing it every time you study. And that definitely can’t be good for you. What is tough about this drug is that it has just recently started emerging as a prescription drug with constant abuse, so it is hard to tell what the long term side effects are for sure. All we know right now are some of the short term side effects, which can be dangerous. According to http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/politics/2013/02/08/adderall-me-good-bad-and-ugly/ there has been a sharp increase in hospital visits on users of Adderall. The media definitely needs to bring more attention to this drug
I was just talking to my friend about Adderall yesterday because I can’t concentrate on school work to save my life! She mentioned that when she takes it, she’s felt she was always on edge and mad at her friends because they would interrupt her when she was trying to do work. I googled it and found that she was right, I read a WebMD article that showed some “severe” side effects of this pill and saw the part about the anger and it truly discouraged me from taking it. I don’t need another reason to trigger my moodiness. Haha.
http://www.webmd.com/drugs/drug-63163-Adderall+Oral.aspx?drugid=63163&drugname=Adderall+Oral&pagenumber=6