Are drugs such as Ritalin safe?

In highschool I was prescribed a medication named Vyvanse to help me focus in class. Originally, my doctor wanted to give me Ritalin or Adderall, but my mother said that those had bad effects on my when I had tried them earlier in life. I am one of the people who is prescribed these types of medication,but in this survey done by Nature Weekly Journal of Science, 1 in 5 people they asked admitted to using these types of drugs without being prescribed them in an attempt to make them smarter and focus better. This did not shock me because in my high school, taking Adderall and Ritalin was a big phenomenon. People who were prescribed were selling it to anyone, both for school and not school purposes. I remember that because people were not prescribed the medication themselves, they did not know what dose to take and were frequently overmedicating themselves. If the drug is already not supposed to be given to people not having ADHD or another condition, overmedicating is definitely not a good idea.

According to Science Alert, while medications such as Vyvanse and Adderall can be helpful for someone like me who has ADHD, they might be making children do worse than they would be usually. People who have low levels on concentration are the optimal users of this drug, the type of people who are wasting their time are the people who have high concentration levels because their brains are already almost using their brain’s full potential, so using drugs such as Vyvanse could actually weaken concentration and short term memory (Science Alert).

Interestingly enough, in a new study people who were given a placebo drug which they thought was Ritalin concentrated more on schoolwork and in class.

These drugs can also be harmful because of what it does to the body. When I take my Vyvanse I don’t want to talk to anyone, I don’t eat during the day, and if I am not doing work I feel wasted as a person. But once the medicine wears off, I always feel exhausted and drained. To some, the reaction is feeling wide awake so when it wears off and they are tired, they are tempted to take another pill. According to Business Insider, this can lead to a cycle of becoming addicted to taking these drugs, and it is especially harmful for people who are not supposed to be taking them every day.

Even some people who are supposed to be taking the medication can have bad reactions to it. Among the people listed  as having health problems because of this medication, a young boy was given a low dose of the drug and had hallucinations and reoccurring nightmares. He needed the prescription because of ADHD but his body did not handle the medication in the correct way.

Hopefully, if you are prescribed Adderall, Vyvanse, Ritalin, or something similar this blog post has offered you a new insight of things that can happen.

Sources used :

http://www.businessinsider.com/how-adderall-affects-your-body-and-brain-2014-5

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3590067/?report=reader

http://www.sciencealert.com/here-s-why-smart-drugs-like-ritalin-can-actually-make-you-less-clever

http://www.nature.com/news/2008/080409/full/452674a.html

3 thoughts on “Are drugs such as Ritalin safe?

  1. Matthew J Overmoyer

    I used to think Adderall was this miracle drug that helped you focus, made you smarter, etc. I knew several people in high school that took it and you could always tell. They were extremely talkative, always busy. It got to the point where I’d play a game with my classmates where we would easily guess if so and so was on Adderall or not. Anyways. I like the effort you put into this post. Its obviously important to you and I’m glad you brought up all of the negative side effects. No drug is completely safe and Adderall, like all drugs, has consequences and should only be taken by those who genuinely need it. Great post.

  2. Erin Nicole Kemp

    My mom is a teacher and she always talks about how much she hates mediation because what it does to her students. Starting in high school, I believe I have ADD but as long as I was a minor my mom would not let me get diagnosed because she did not want me to be medicated. Now that I am legally able to do what I want, I haven’t because my mom’s opinion has affected me and I think she is right.

  3. zvk5072

    This blog is interesting. Well done with it by the way. I’ve had personal experience with ADD medicine as I’ve had many friends who were prescribed Adderall and Ridalin. Unfortunately, these drugs just neutralize people and totally kill their personalities. It can be interesting how different people act when they aren’t on either drug. Here is a link with more research from a website that looks into topics like these: http://www.additudemag.com/adhd/article/1592.html. Well done on the blog.

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