LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (KTHV) - It's a life changer for those who deal with ADHD, but increasingly it's becoming a crutch for students, who aren't even prescribed it.
The use of prescription stimulant medications, like Adderall, is growing on college campuses. In this 11NEWS Investigates, we look into the desire for study drugs by college students and what medical professionals have to say.
"It makes your heart beat a little faster and I think that gives you energy more so you get a little hyper I guess," said one college student with ADHD, or Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder.
She’s been taking prescription Vyvance for about four years. She asked us not to release her identity in this story.
“It was freshman year of college and my mom noticed I had trouble paying attention and I was kind of spacey," she said. “My grades have definitely gone up."
Adderall, Ritalin, and Vyvance are all prescription stimulant medications to treat ADHD
“Instead of my brain going a hundred different places, I could actually focus on what the teacher was saying," she said.
A 2016 CDC study found 9.4 percent of children are diagnosed with ADHD. The Anxiety and Depression Association shows about 4 percent of adults are diagnosed.
When medication is taken properly, those with ADHD tell us it works.
"I feel like I can actually have a good conversation with someone and focus for a long period of time instead of constantly looking around and thinking about other things," she said.
People with ADHD have more difficulty paying attention, are more hyperactive and impulsive. The medication calms those nerves in the brain.
"I’ve seen students children who have been treated and do wonderfully well," said Dr. Puru Thapa, a psychiatry professor and Director of Student Wellness at UAMS.
Thapa tells us diagnosing ADHD is subjective.
"It’s very easy for someone to say ‘oh I’m not doing well in school, I’m not getting the grades, my mind wonders, maybe I have ADHD,’” said Thapa.
In his clinic, he takes the person’s history, asks for symptoms, then refers them for a neuro-psych test.
"It can last up to three hours," said Thapa.
"From an ADHD standpoint, they help the individual focus a little more, take the edge off a little bit, for someone without ADHD, you’re going to get the opposite effect, typically you’ll be a little more anxious," said Dr. Howell Foster, Director of Arkansas Poison Control Center at UAMS.
On college campuses, the drugs are popular by students.
“A lot of people take Adderall just to like study for a test really fast,” said our anonymous interview.
A 2014 survey from the Partnership for Drug Free Kids reports 1-in-5 college students abuse prescription stimulants.
“It is something that does happen more than we would like," said Thapa.
A 2016 Recovery Brands survey shows 63 percent of young adults (18-28) get prescription stimulants through friends.
"Even if you don’t have ADHD, Adderall is a performance enhancer so it can make people feel more productive," said Thapa.
Recovery Brands also shows that of young adults who have tried prescription stimulants without a prescription, 67 percent were college students.
"I hear quite a bit that students take it, even at this institution students take it,” said Foster. “Someone that’s going to take this to take a test, if they’re an anxious test taker, this is only going to make it worse."
He tells us the drugs will increase your blood pressure and heart rate and can have psychological affects like increased anxiety.
"It can actually make you more psychotic, paranoid delusion and I have seen patients who have actually become frankly psychotic by using Adderall, abusing it," said Thapa.
A 2018 Netflix documentary, ‘Take your Pills,’ shows use of drugs like Adderall in today's hypercompetitive world.
“The problem with Adderall, its legal meth. That’s what it really is," said Thapa.
Whether these medications help cognitive ability in people without ADHD -
“Is pretty sketchy, the subjective evidence is the feedback you get from students taking it, is it helps. The evidence in scientific trials is pretty inconclusive at this point," said Foster.
