About 17% of college students take stimulants such as Ritalin and Adderall, primarily because they believe the drugs will help them improve their academic performance, according to a meta-analysis published in Clinical Child and Family Psychology Review.
The University of South Carolina researchers examined thirty studies in which abuse rates ranged from 8% to 43%. “Primarily, students misused the medications to improve academic performance, although the researchers found that nonusers appeared to perform better academically than users,” reported Medscape.
The students most often obtained the drugs from people who had prescriptions for them for managing ADHD.
ADHD Medication Misuse Rampant in College Students (Medscape, March 16, 2015)
Benson, Kari, Kate Flory, Kathryn L. Humphreys, and Steve S. Lee. âMisuse of Stimulant Medication Among College Students: A Comprehensive Review and Meta-Analysis.â Clinical Child and Family Psychology Review 18, no. 1 (January 10, 2015): 50â76. doi:10.1007/s10567-014-0177-z. (Abstract)
This is exactly what people on MIA have been saying all the time. Using amphetamines to boost concentration and prevent sleepiness to learn more intensively before exams is nothing new and most people who have tried that know that it’s usually counteproductive. Both claims that amphetamines work differently on ADHD peoplethan “normals” or that they improve academic performance are patently false
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……primarily because they believe the drugs will help them improve their academic performance
The other reason for this is that amphetamines elevate mood. With the elevated mood comes impaired judgement. This can lead down a dangerous slope and can end up ruining a persons life. It did mine.
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Unfortunately, we have no way to determine how much more poorly the drug using students may have done without drugs.
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Out of all the pill highs the ADHD amphetamines are best , so much better than those pain killers people get hooked on.
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