Maddie DesNoyer
The Tower
Grosse Pointe South HS
1st Place
Division 1, News Writing
Environmental, Heath or Science
Jeremy Smith* was a student who always looked for the easy way out, including during his freshman year when he relied on Adderall to help him focus more and improve his grades.
Adderall is a medication used to treat Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), Family Therapist Mary Beth Garvey said. It induces the greatest success when paired with psychological, therapeutic, social or environmental interventions.
“Adderall is a stimulant, so the people that are hyperactive or can’t focus can focus better and have less movement,” Social Worker Doug Roby said.
Adderall affects the central nervous system: the pulse goes up and heart rate goes up, but the ability to concentrate also goes up, Roby said.
He added that there are two types of people who take Adderall: actual patients diagnosed with ADHD and people who take it for the sensation and school-related purposes.
“Students get frustrated with their work depending on what classes they’re taking,” Roby said. “And you’re doing it for the studying. It enhances your focus which is actually a false sense because that’s not a true measure of you and what you produce under those conditions”
Prescription stimulants like Adderall are designed to give users increased concentration and focus, Garvey said. When used appropriately under the guidance of a doctor, it is an effective tool to overcome attention disabilities like ADD and ADHD.
“Ever since I was little I’ve always been really hyper and I could never sit still but in the 6th grade I was diagnosed literally with ADD,” Lance Xavier*. “My doctor started me off with some medications that would just calm me down and help me focus, but I think I started actually taking Adderall in the grade.”
To be prescribed Adderall, the patient will undergo an extensive evaluation by a mental health professional, Garvey said. Family history, teacher input, classroom observations, and specified testing all contribute to prescribing the medication.
“It helps me mainly in school,” Xavier said. “I never really thought about what it would be like if I didn’t take it, but it would probably suck. My grades would probably be really bad because I would just be bouncing off the walls all the time and not paying attention to anything.”
Other students that are not diagnosed with ADD or ADHD are using Adderall as a way to increase their performance in school by thinking that it will help them focus more and retain more information, Roby said.
“I started taking Adderall when I first got to high school,” Smith said. “One of my friends had ADD and talked about how he took it, and I really wanted to too. It was just sounded really cool how it made you super focused all the time. My grades in middle school weren’t the best so I thought it would help me do better.”
“The thing about it (Adderall) is it makes you feel like a better version of yourself,” Smith said. “You feel super in control of everything you do, and I like that feeling. Without it I find myself needing self-motivation and little boosts of confidence throughout the day.”
The studying aspect of the drug is more commonly found on college campuses, Roby said. High school students aren’t usually staying up all night writing eight-page papers because they just don’t have that amount of work yet. Anything that is current at a college campus is going to eventually trickle down to the high school level.
Studying while on Adderall may not affect the performance on tests, Roby said. A student may be focused when you’re studying but falling asleep when taking the test. The preparation with the drug may actually not even affect your performance.
A little study boost can easily spiral into addiction, Garvey said. Prolonged use of Adderall and other stimulants can create dependence and even serious side effects when abused.
The short-term effects of Adderall abuse include insomnia and loss of appetite, which can cause stress and malnutrition. A few days of abuse coupled with sleep deprivation will cause paranoia and psychosis, and these symptoms will get worse until the person stops the amphetamine use and returns to a normal eating and sleeping schedule.
“I’ve also heard that it sadly is being used with the consumption of alcohol,” Roby said. “Because of the stimulant nature of it you can consume more alcohol because your body is processing it quicker. Binge drinking, without question, occurs more on college campuses.”
There was a recent student at the University of Michigan about a student who took Adderall to enable himself to drink more, Roby said. Eventually he overdosed on the alcohol.
“It’s misguided thinking because ultimately you’re not decreasing the amount of alcohol in you at the end, said Roby. “It gives you more energy, but in the meantime you don’t really realize what you’re actually doing to your body. It’s a double-edged sword truthfully.”
Along with studying and drinking, there has also been occurrences where athletes are using adderall to help their performance.
According to The Seattle Times, it increases alertness, aggressiveness, attention and concentration.
It improves reaction time, especially when fatigued. Some think it enhances hand-eye coordination. Some believe it increases the mental aspects of performance.
“When I heard about college athletes taking it (Adderall) I decided that I was going to try it and see what it was like,” Tom Stevenson* said. “I guess you could say that it helped but after it, I felt awful. I was super tired and was nauseous the whole next day.”
While Garvey said Adderall may induce immediate positive effects, diminishing symptoms that can get in the way of academic success, she suggests pursuing alternate, safer methods to succeed in school.
She said, “The risks outweigh the benefits.”