There are many trends that float around college campuses every year. Whether it’s something as simple as a new jacket that everyone buys and wears around campus, or something as serious as the newest drug that supposedly makes you instantly attentive and “focused.” This drug is known an Adderall. Adderall contains a combination of amphetamine and dextroamphetamine. Amphetamine and dextroamphetamine are central nervous system stimulants that affect chemicals in the brain and nerves that contribute to hyperactivity and impulse control. Adderall is most commonly used to treat only narcolepsy and attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder. However, especially when finals and midterm weeks come around, college students heavily abuse this easily accessible drug.
A.D.H.D. is a very common illness and studies show that it affects more than 10 percent of Americans between the ages of 4 and 17. People with A.D.H.D. may not actually be classified as having a disease. The reason people are prescribed Adderall is because of the fact that their actions and attitudes do not match the expectations of our contemporary culture, so this leads people to think A.D.H.D. is in fact a disease. Restlessness, impatience, and fidgeting are examples of things that those with A.D.H.D. do, which causes them to believe that Adderall is the only way that they remain focused and calm.
How does Adderall make you feel? There is a rush of energy and clarity which focuses your attention and quiets your appetite for the time being. Psychostimulants, such as Adderall help and cause this rush of energy by blocking the transport of dopamine back into neurons, thus increasing its level in the brain. However, Adderall has its negative affects as well; once the body becomes used to this drug and its affect on the body, patients may have to increase their dosage. By increasing dosage, other malfunctions in the body may arise, such as having difficulty sleeping. Those who use Adderall responsibly and for the right reasons do not face the same risks, but studies show that many abuse this drug and are slowly hurting themselves more and more.
As previously stated, college students are notorious for this so called abuse. In an article by Andrew Jacobs titled The Adderall Advantage, he states that as many as 20 percent of college students have used Adderall to study, write papers and take exams. This number continues to increase as Adderall becomes more readily available to students, and the competition of good grades increases over campuses across the country. Students believe that the only way they can achieve academic success is through the consumption of this drug, and it has become nearly impossible to determine the real A.D.H.D. patients from those who only need the sudden surge of energy to help them pass an exam.
A recent study was conducted asking, “When we enhance cognition with Adderall do we sacrifice creativity?” This statement poses an interesting question. While in college, young healthy adults are experiencing some of the most creative and interesting years of their lives. In a double-blind placebo-controlled study, 16 healthy young adults were measured on four tests of creativity from psychological literature to test the effects of Adderall on performance. The tests consisted of two tests that required convergent thought and two that required divergent thought. Convergent thought is defined as, means the ability to give the “correct” answer to standard questions that do not require significant creativity, for instance in most tasks in school and on standardized multiple-choice tests for intelligence. As a result, Adderall affected only the performance of the convergent tasks, enhancing it for lower-performing individuals, and also impairing it for higher-performing individuals. So, the results are consistent with the hypothesis stating that Adderall does have an overall negative effect on the creativity of individuals.
In conclusion, Adderall may seem like a good idea in the moment, but looking at its long term effects and possible addictive factors it is best to stay away!! Study harder and pay attention and the use of drugs that are not meant/ prescribed to you will not be a problem in the lives of college students.
Sources:
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/02/opinion/sunday/a-natural-fix-for-adhd.html?_r=0
http://www.shape.com/lifestyle/mind-and-body/your-brain-adderall
http://www.psy.vanderbilt.edu/courses/hon182/The_Adderall_Advantage_NYTimes_7_31_05.pdf
http://sk8es4mc2l.scholar.serialssolutions.com/?sid=google&auinit=MJ&aulast=Farah&atitle=When+we+enhance+cognition+with+Adderall,+do+we+sacrifice+creativity%3F+A+preliminary+study&id=doi:10.1007/s00213-008-1369-3&title=Pharmacologia&volume=202&issue=1-3&date=2009&spage=541&issn=0033-3158
http://elitedaily.com/life/suddenly-adderall/897136/
http://www.drugs.com/adderall.html
I think this blog is really relevant in todays day in age. So many people are taking things like adderall and other things that aren’t prescribed to them. These effects give me good information and I will let people know that they shouldn’t be taking things like this when they’re not prescribed. The fact that the long term effects on people who don’t need it are still unknown is also scary to think about. Really interesting post!
If adderall is taking very minimal when it is not prescribed to you, it can be a very beneficial drug. I have never personally used it, but from friends experiences they say more work get done while under the influence of adderall. I found this article very interesting and informative, so good job. I would just try to condense the information as this was long and people who aren’t on adderall may have a hard time reading the entire blog.
I’ve been diagnosed with ADD and if you look at one of my blog posts I discussed other ways to cope with the disorder without taking medication. My parents refuse to put me on Adderall for all of these reasons because they’re afraid I’ll become addicted and that my personality and creative abilities will suffer because of the laser focus it gives you.
I obviously believe that taking adderall when it is prescribed to you is beneficial because if you are prescribed to it, then clearly someone with a degree in this field has confirmed that you need it. I dont believe people that are not prescribed it should be taking it and I agree with Hunter, there most likely will be long term effects on those who dont need to take adderall in order to focus. here are some of the long term effects that can happen if you take adderall too often
It seems based off this article that those at risk are not students who may take it a couple times over finals week, but rather kids who take it regularly and are prescribed. A student who takes it a few times over finals week will see no long term side effects, but someone who is prescribed and taking it everyday would be much more subject to long term side effects. Those who are prescribed this drug by a medical professional most likely know the risk associated, and wouldn’t be taking it if the benefits didn’t outweigh them. Perhaps a larger issue exists in that doctors may be prescribing them wrong and or diagnosing A.D.D wrong. Either way I found this article interesting and would like to see what comes of the drug in the future.
This is a great topic. I know so many people who rely on adderall when comes time to study for big tests. I also know a handfull of people who benefit greatly from adderall because it is ACTUALLY prescribed to them. In high school I took an AP Psychology course and I remember the teacher discussing an article in class about how we still don’t know adderall’s long term effects on those who do not actually need it.