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An academic Adderall addiction

Published: April 8, 2010, 12:45 am ET
Elizabeth Ygartua/The Collegian
By
Opinion Editor

With today’s beauty standard at an unforgiving, all-time high, people go to great lengths to modify their appearances.

In a world where it is possible to go from looking like a falcon to looking like a model in less than a few hours of surgery, people are chomping at the bit to look “better.”

Comparable to wanting to look physically “better,” people (especially young people) are craving “better” minds with higher (seemingly unrealistic) capabilities. That’s where “cosmetic neurology” comes into play.

In an article published by The New Yorker, the term “cosmetic neurology” is attributed to Anjan Chatterjee, a neurologist at the University of Pennsylvania. The article details how Chatterjee uses the term “cosmetic neurology” to “describe the practice of using drugs developed for recognized medical conditions to strengthen ordinary cognition.”

Adderall and Ritalin, commonly prescribed to youth with attention deficit disorder (with or without hyperactivity), is no longer exclusive to the what? who? wait, what? community. The pills, which come in various shapes, sizes and colors, as well as rapid release and extended release forms, have become very popular on college campuses. So much so, 8:15 at Boatwright may have to watch its back, or figure out an alternative. “Would you like an extra shot of Adderall with that venti, decaf, nonfat, two-pump, no whip mocha?”

In reality, young people who are swamped with schoolwork, real work, extracurricular work and social work (whichever way you want to interpret that) seem to view Adderall and Ritalin as a way to make all of these things and more possible.

Why stress about life when you could just embrace it in one giant gulp, right? If only it were that simple. According to an article on “smart drugs” by NPR, Martha J. Farah, director at the Center for Cognitive Neuroscience at the University of Pennsylvania, said that excessive use of pills like Adderall and Ritalin can lead to serious sleep, heart and addiction issues. Farah said the drugs trick the brain into creating a false sense of extra-motivation, ultimately leaving the body exhausted and craving more pills.

My personal relationship with the drug is from what I hear people saying around campus. I can’t walk through the library without hearing, “Nah man, I’m gonna stay … just took some Adderall.” My favorite quote, by far, still has to be, “Adderall, coffee and a NOZ; I’m about to shit my brains out.”

I beg to differ, sir. If I’m correct, I believe your brain is so stimulated right now, your body couldn’t shit it out, even if it wanted to.

To me, the issue at hand isn’t the increased popularity of the prescription drugs, but rather the reasoning behind the excessive “need” for their use. If you ask around campus, a majority of students who take Adderall or Ritalin illegally say it’s the only way for them to finish all of their assignments and projects on time.

Of course as is the case with almost every medication, there are those who truly abuse Adderall and Ritalin. And yes, there are those who choose to swallow or snort it on weekends to get high because they feel tired after drinking his or herself into a coma-like stupor. But for those who are using the drug to complete assignments that otherwise couldn’t be completed by a normal human, I say take a step back and assess all of your options.

I can’t stress enough, the importance of having an open dialogue with all of your professors. Let them know how much work you have in all of your classes and how it’s affecting your life and mental health. Tired students do crazy things. Crazy students do scary things. Let’s try to not find out what scary students do.

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  • A concerned student

    I personally cannot understand why anyone would want use medicine such as adderall and concerta illegally and willingly if they knew what it was like to live on it. As a student who has had to take said perscription medication just to keep myself working and not burdened by writer’s block, forgetfullness and quick distractions. Every time I take such drugs I find myself completely devoid of emotion and humor. Beyond the mentioned sleep and heart issues comes a lack of appetite and a loss of awareness to anything not related to the task at hand. The only reason why I even take said medication is due to having a lifelong case of ADHD and that, after getting through my last year of high school without the use of medical aid, I ended up barely passing my first semester. Hearing that other students, who can focus on a task without the use of drugs, are abusing the very substance that I wish to overcome is disheartening.

    Keep in mind that students who have ADHD use medication out of necessity, it’s not a tool to get work done otherwise and there can be severe side effects in people who do not have a medical imbalance that would require said perscription.

  • Liz

    As someone who was unnecessarily prescribed the drug at a very young age, I’m shocked that anyone would use it willingly for anything. The stuff is vile.

  • Grant Gibbs

    It's an unfortunate but true fact of life- sometimes, the opportunity cost is just too high to remain well rested and drug-free. We will always be competing with people who opt for biochemical enhancement.

    Everyone uses chemicals to “game the game” to a certain extent…if you purposefully load carbs the day prior to the big race, if you drink coffee before that massive midterm, you are no better than the people using antidepressants in the library.

    As with sex and alcohol, the official policy on performance enhancing drugs should shift from “don't” to “do so safely”. People need to be aware of their patterns of use and the potential for tolerance, addiction, and withdrawal.

    • Anonymous

      You don’t fully understand this issue, these particular chemicals are not meant for ‘biochemical enhancement’, but to treat a chemical imbalance for people who have ADHD or other conditions that would require a perscription. These aren’t ‘smart drugs’ to be used for personal gain, but medication that can have very serious side effects to people who do not have ADHD. Someone who doesn’t need said medication would not get the same outcome in terms of being able to concentrate, and are at a higher risk of suffering severe medical complications due to the creation of a chemical imbalance by taking said perscription medicine.

      The metaphors you use to describe “game the game” are also inadequate: Carbs are part of any athlete’s training, as a healthy diet is required for physical activity. As for coffee, while it is a stimulant used to stay awake, it isn’t something that is meant to help deal with a biological condition. (Also I hope you were not referring to Adderall and similar types of medicine as antidepressants, they are not in the same catagory).

      Finally, and I cannot state this enough, these are not recreational drugs that can be used by anyone under a policy of moderation. These are Perscribed medications that have serious side effects and are only meant to be used by someone with a condition such as ADHD. There is no ‘do so safely’ unless you are told otherwise by a qualified medical professional. If you want to make a pro-moderation drug message, do so somewhere else and on the subject of different substances, because medicine such as Adderall are not meant to be a ‘study drug’ and anyone using it as such will only end up worse off.

  • Robert Dylan

    Psh, like there are actually people that never took Adderall and got through college? yeah right.