Un-prescribed Adderall use poses a threat to students health and community of trust

Un-prescribed Adderall use poses a threat to students health and community of trust

Unwritten papers pile up, unfinished assignments approach their due dates, and the time for putting off studying for midterm examinations draws to a close. As the remaining weeks of the first semester dwindle, winter break seems distant in this infamous and stressful two week time span dubbed “exam season”.

“Exam season” is a time when focus, organization, and efficient planning are particularly essential, while procrastination, a pessimistic attitude, or even “giving up” are a recipe for disaster. Many students at St. Paul Academy and Summit School approach exam season or academically pressuring times with honest, determined hard work. Others, however, may turn to unprescribed study drugs such as Adderall to help them power through and achieve seemingly impossible high scores. What many might not know is that these drugs are dangerous for individuals without attention issues.
Negative Health Effects

Adderall is a drug prescribed to treat Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, characterized by a short attention span, easy distraction, organizational problems, procrastination, and the tendency to leave tasks unfinished. Junior Eva Zaydman, who has ADHD, takes prescribed Adderall regularly for this exact reason, but wishes there was another way to treat her ADHD. “I have a very short attention span. When I take it [Adderall], it does help me,” she said.

While Adderall increases the attention span and focus of those who have ADHD, it is still an inherently dangerous drug whose distribution must be strictly controlled. Its main ingredient, amphetamine salts, are derivative of the extremely addictive methamphetamine.

Adderall too is a highly addictive substance for which withdrawal can be extremely difficult. Upper School counselor Susanna Short comments on this crucial aspect of the drug saying,“If you really get addicted to Adderall, and then you go off, the withdrawal can be quite painful. I mean muscle aches, body aches, sweating, nausea. It’s a withdrawal from a serious controlled substance.”

Dosing an unprescribed drug like Adderall is dangerous, especially when the user feels only positive effects from taking it. “If it’s not prescribed, you may not be dosing it right. Nobody is following you to make sure that you are taking it appropriately, so I think in the long run it could be very very harmful,” Short, who is certified in mental health, said. An overdose of Adderall, while generally not fatal, may induce a laundry list of health troubles including but not limited to arrhythmia, hypertension, and hyperreflexia.

One of Adderalls most common and disruptive side effects is trouble sleeping, which Zaydman can relate to. “From my personal experience, trying to fall asleep while on Adderall is really hard,” she said. Other side effects include appetite loss, nausea, increased heart rate, anxiety, depression, and hallucinations. These side effects are very similar to those of methamphetamine.

Contrary to popular belief, Adderall isn’t even guaranteed to make every user feel more focused or succeed on a test. As with any medication, it could have different effects on different people. “For some it may cause a helpful amount of focus,and for others it may cause jitteriness,perhaps making them revved up in a way that could be unmanageable,” SPA’s Director of Center for Learning and Teaching Sarah Davies said.

Legality

If the health effects of taking un-prescribed Adderall are not reason enough to stay away from the drug, perhaps the legal implications of doing so are. It is against the law to possess Adderall without a prescription and such legality issues may “come around and hurt you, bite you in the back,” junior Ian Sussna said.

“If you don’t have ADHD, then the cons of it outweigh the pros, by far,” Zaydman said.

Long-term Side Effects

Adding to the list of downsides to unprescribed Adderall usage, is that fact that when used to replace constant hard work and effort, Adderall may permanently damage their study habits which indispensable for success in life. “[Illegal Adderall users] won’t learn the study habits they’ll need for college, or they won’t have the work ethic that they’ll need for a job. So it may be helpful to study in the short term, but they won’t learn the lessons that they need in the long term,” Sussna said.

“[Adderall] basically is a shortcut. You don’t have to study long or work hard when you have the advantage of, in this case, abusing Adderall that you’re not prescribed,” he added.

“I think [illegal Adderall users] are deceiving themselves,” Zaydman said.

As a private college preparatory school, SPA prides itself in the study habits it instills in its students. Its success in doing so is something which parents at SPA have invested in year after year. Taking that shortcut, that illegal Adderall, deceives not only parents but students themselves.

Students who take Adderall without a prescription not only miss out on academic strategies which will serve them for life, but also come to believe that they need Adderall to succeed. As they sink deeper and deeper into Adderall addiction, students begin to perceive their natural capacities as insufficient enough to succeed. Their self confidence drops, driving them deeper into a cycle of dependence on the drug.

The stakes at a school like SPA are high when it comes to academic achievement and this is part of the reason why so many students turn to study drugs like Adderall. “Adderall becomes really popular during midterms and finals. Around these times, for instance, they say ‘wow, I haven’t been doing well in this class. It’s so important for me to do [well] on this math final’,” Zaydman said.

“The whole community has a kind of a drive to be successful. People come to this school to take advantage of that,”sophomore Navodhya Samarakoon said.

“You go to SPA and if you think about it, if you get good grades at SPA, you can go anywhere. There’s a lot of pressure,” sophomore George Stiffman said. While it is important to be motivated to succeed in an environment which values success highly, one should not feel so desperate as to seek out illegal Adderall to lift their grades, test averages, or the like.