‘Brain Gain’ drugs increasing on college campuses
CLEVELAND — At colleges and universities across Northeast Ohio this is the grind time at the end of the semester. With term papers due and exams coming up back to back-to-back, the pressure is on for every student to perform.
For generations, coffee shops have always been popular. But today thousands of college students have found they don’t have to drink cup after cup of caffeine to get an edge.
Adderall and Ritalin have become the drugs of choice for students looking for a brain gain. The two stimulants are normally prescribed for kids with a diagnosis of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).
Channel 3’s Mike O’Mara sat down with college students who candidly talked about their experiences with neuroenhancing drugs.
“I would take one Adderall and I would say that it lasts for 8-10 hours”, said Jeff. “You can remain very focused on whatever task you have to do and it’s perfect if you are writing a big paper.”
Mary said, “It helped me to concentrate and keep me from racing and thinking about different things.”
In 2005, a research team led by University of Michigan Professor Sean Esteban McCabe found that white male undergraduates at highly competitive schools, especially in the Northeast, were the most frequent collegiate users of neuroenhancing drugs.
Jeff said, “I would guess that 80 percent of the students I know have used Adderall in school to get an edge.”
Editors at the journal “Nature” conducted an informal survey of its readers on their use of “cognition-enhancing” drugs. They found 1 out of 5 respondents used stimulants for non-medical reasons. Ritalin was the most used, followed by the sleep disorder drug Provigil.
“It’s the American way of everyone wanting a quick fix for an issue that is not a quick fix”, said Dr. Max Wiznitzer, M.D. at his office near Beachwood, Ohio. A pediatric neurologist for University Hospital/Rainbow Babies and Children’s Hospital, Dr. Wiznitzer is a leading authority on the proper use of Adderall and Ritalin.
“Yes, it works,” said Dr. Wiznitzer, “but so does coffee. If you have ADHD it will help you dramatically. There is going to be a subgroup where it clearly does give them a better energy, a bit more focus to get things done in a more efficient manner.
“But it’s not a substitute for learning the right skills.”
Some students who take Adderall or Ritalin too much can over focus on a subject and lose sight of the bigger perspective. Ryan, a sophomore at a Cleveland-area college, said, “One of my friends was starting to micro-focus on a project after he took too much Adderall.
“That’s why I was there, to keep him looking at the big picture. I told him, ‘Look you’ve got to write this entire paper and not just worry about how the bibliography looks.’ He was suddenly only focused on a small part of the project.”
Most students don’t believe that taking the stimulants for “nonmedical” reasons can be dangerous. However, a government study issued to the FDA shows 25 sudden deaths between 1999 and 2003 among people taking the stimulants.
Drugs such as Adderall can also cause nervousness, headaches, sleeplessness and decreased appetite. For individuals who suffer from manic depression, the stimulants have been known to cause a sudden manic episode.
“This sharing of Ritalin and Adderall is not a legal behavior,” said Dr. Wiznitzer. “I cannot endorse this behavior in any way.”
http://www.wkyc.com