Prescription stimulants like Adderall or Ritalin are prescribed to help treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). ADHD can make it difficult for people to focus, stay on task, keep organized, sit still, and consider the consequences of their actions. It is usually treated with stimulants because they increase production of dopamine and norepinephrine. You might have heard of dopamine as a chemical in the brain that affects pleasure and feelings of reward, but it also plays a role in motor and cognitive functions. Norepinephrine is a stress hormone and neurotransmitter that plays a role mood and ability to concentrate.
Considering that these medications affect cognition and concentration, it’s no surprise that people have been using them improperly for years, in an effort to improve school or work performance. College students in particular may find themselves under an amount of stress that they aren’t used to, trying to balance the sudden freedom in their social lives with the more demanding academic expectations. In taking ADHD medications, they hope that they can stay awake longer, concentrate better, and retain more information while studying. According to a Survey on Misuse and Abuse of Prescription Stimulants Among College Students and Other Young Adults, one in five college students admits to having used Adderall without a prescription.
Does taking Adderall or Ritalin for these purposes actually work? They do still increase the amount of dopamine in the brain, even in someone without ADHD, which could potentially allow students to find a bit of pleasure in studying when they wouldn’t otherwise. Still, most college kids will take the medication the night before an exam and stay up cramming, and no matter if you find it enjoyable, trying to learn an entire semester’s worth of information in one night likely isn’t going to cut it.
Keep in mind that the potential side effects of improper use are much worse than feeling unprepared for a test. Adderall is a psychostimulant classified as Schedule II by the Drug Enforcement Agency, meaning it has a high potential for abuse with the possibility of severe psychological or physical dependence. Some of the possible side effects are hyperactivity, fatigue, and depression, and if any of those present themselves, it’s certainly not going to help you focus. Also, say you stay up all night before your first exam, but it’s finals week and you’ve got four more to go. You’re going to be exhausted when the medication wears off the next day and probably tempted to take another, and then another, so you can keep studying. By the time the week is through, you may well have developed a dependence.
Scientists haven’t done definitive studies on the effects of these stimulants on people without ADHD, mostly because they are so addictive and studies in humans aren’t advisable, but there is no evidence to suggest that they do help with performance.
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