<p>"According to a study published in the journal Addiction, 7 percent of college students surveyed at 119 colleges and universities across the country have used prescription stimulants for non-medical purposes."</p>
<p>Is it this widespread? What is the policy of the schools toward the use of these perscription stimulants? It seems like it is being used as an 'academic steriod'. Or am I exagerating its effects.</p>
<p>I would think it is more than 7 percent... I know that some people use it "recreationally" too. </p>
<p>When I visited my older brother at college, I know a lot of people there were using aderall. His roomate did to finish a paper one night while I was there. I was like "Oh, do you have ADD" and he was like "what? Oh, no. It helps me stay up and study."</p>
<p>If you stay up late a lot, you won't need any artificial substances to keep you awake and alert all night. The best way to stay up very late or all night if you know you won't be able to make it is to take a nap from like 8 to 10 or 9 to 11 or something.</p>
<p>most parents of smart kids think that since their kid is going to a prestigious college (ivy, etc) then they will be more protected from some of the bad things about college like drugs. The sad truth is that at most top colleges the drug use rate is much higher than at average schools. I'm not just talking about prescription drug. At most average universities the drug of choice is marijuana however at most prestigious colleges harder drugs are used in greater quantity than marijuana...cocaine is especially prevalent. Reason being that at most prestigious universities there are a lot more rich daddy's kids that don't have anything else to spend on other than drugs. </p>
<p>personally i know a lot of people at penn who take aderall, stratera, ritalin, etc in order to study. I doubt that it's just 7%...</p>
<p>It seems half of society now is on prescribed ritain and aderol especially boys. The increase in ADD, ADHD is amazing, probably due to our environment and it's influence of kid's central nervous system. It is not really all that effective anyways if it is not needed. In our days everyone took nodose nonstop.</p>
<p>ArizonaMom, I agree that there is a significant increase in 'diagnosing' ADD and ADHD. However, I am not sure that there has been a change in the environment to cause it.</p>
<p>Please forgive me if I speak generally instead of specifically. Personally I think that society is making a problem out of something that may be natural. It has always been my belief that every child has a certain energy and our job as parents is to direct that energy. It seems that the energy exhibited by many boys has become devalued and the objective of the diagnosis is to change that energy level because that is what is now more socially acceptable.</p>
<p>I did not post to the topic but recently there was a thread about boys and girls as students. It was quite interesting to me to see the number of anecdotal posts on the behavior of boys. For example, long showers, adversion to busy work, etc. </p>
<p>Perhaps we should understand that the children are different and we may need to find a different way to teach to each student.</p>
<p>Sorry for getting off the adderoll topic but I personally have an aversion to perscription drugs but these drugs are becoming more prevalent every day. I am just searching for what is behind it.</p>
<p>Bern you hit the nail, by the way thanks for your all the answers about wharton you provided in last few years. Depit other offers, my son maybe headed that way as he likes to earn $$$$$$$$ after garduating from college.</p>
<p>"Sorry for getting off the adderoll topic but I personally have an aversion to perscription drugs but these drugs are becoming more prevalent every day. I am just searching for what is behind it."</p>
<p>In 1990, there were 100,000 children in the U.S. on drugs for the treatment of ADD/ADHD. Ritalin had been banned in Sweden (in 1968), and they didn't see any reason to remove the ban. In 1991, the U.S. Department of Education, provided for "special ed. funding" (Title XIX?) for students diagnosed and treated for ADD/ADHD. By 2005, the number of public school students taking these drugs is estimated at a little over 5,000,000. Meanwhile, during the same period, England, using the same criteria, diagnoses ADD/ADHD at a rate of roughly 2-4% of the U.S. rate. In other words, the condition may actually exist (there is some dispute), but perhaps at a level 1/25-1/50 the prevalence for which treatment is being given. </p>
<p>A blue-ribbon National Institute of Mental Health Consensus Panel was convened by the National Institutes of Health in 1998 to end the controversy regarding the use of Ritalin in the treatment of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). The 13-member expert panel -- including psychiatrists, pediatricians, neurologists, epidemiologists, and educators, and thought to be favorably disposed toward the use of psychostimulants -- found, After years of clinical research and experience with ADHD, our knowledge about the cause or causes of ADHD remains largely speculative. They also found, based on hundreds of peer-reviewed studies, that, after 20 years, Ritalin has no proven positive long-term effects. In the short-term clinical trials that have been undertaken (three months or less), the Consensus Panel reports there is demonstrated ineffectiveness of current treatments in enhancing academic achievement, and little improvement in social skills. For the full report, see <a href="http://odp.od.nih.gov/consensus/cons/110/110%5B/url%5D">http://odp.od.nih.gov/consensus/cons/110/110</a></p>
<p>But we are dealing with awfully powerful lobbies here....</p>
<p>And guess who else you're dealing with? Students like my younger son, who found upon taking Adderall that he was finally able to focus on what was happening in the classroom, calm himself down, and concentrate long enough to actually write more than two sentences at a time and complete an occasional assignment. He is now 15, and says that it's as if a fog lifts from his consciousness and he's able to see and think clearly. I have no way to know what his life would be like if he had not found a medication that helped (he briefly tried Ritalin but it did not help), but he asks to continue his Adderall during school hours for now, so we have agreed.</p>
<p>Until you have lived with someone who is way, way, WAAAY beyond "a certain energy" (details upon request: they are not pretty), who is able to focus for the first time in his life when he takes Adderall, you can speculate and pontificate all you like, but you have no experiential credibility in my eyes. I know what my son experienced, and I know it's beneficial for him. And I know I am no "powerful lobby".</p>
<p>I really resent the implication that it is somehow the "fault" of those with an actual neurological disorder, that said disorder is over diagnosed and over prescribed by doctors.
Diseases that are not physically visible, have often been ridiculed and slammed by this puritianical "pull yourself up from bootstraps' culture.
This is starting to change. in our state the governor recently signed a law that will require insurers to treat mental illness the same as physical illness. If you had a chronic condition like diabetes, why should you be eligible for more treatment, than if you were bipolar or ADD?</p>
<p>Mootmom, I do not think anyone denies that there are some that should be diagnosed as ADHD. Appearently your son is one of them. That is why I started my post by saying that I was speaking generally, not specifically.</p>
<p>However, I also think that here in the US it is very convenient to diagnose a behavioral issue as ADHD/ADD. Why are there so many more diagnoses in the US than elsewhere? It is very convenient to diagnose a child as learning disabled when I think that all the child may need is a different teaching method that is in line with their type of 'energy'.</p>
<p>Further, my original purpose in creating this thread was to find out what others thought about the 'self medication' of a significant number of college students using an 'academic steroid'. The athletes are getting ripped in the press for taking steroids. I just think it makes sense to take a closer look at a similar issue in the academic environment.</p>
<p>Eagle79, thanks for the comments. I was responding to posts that were veering off into a generic discussion of medication and diagnoses of ADHD. I realize your intent in starting this thread was to discuss misuse of these medications to replace the NoDoz and speed I remember from the early '70s at college, and frankly I'm concerned about that when my son leaves home in a couple years. If he still feels he needs the Adderall at that point, there will be the temptation to give (or sell, eeek!) some to friends who need to pull an all-nighter, and then their friends will come by, and then... Assuming he will think himself impervious to consequences, as so many teenagers do (especially boys), he may be courting trouble and we may not allow him to continue taking the Adderall in college. And then we cross our fingers and wait to see if he is able to overcome his disability without the medication. It's a serious concern for me. </p>
<p>Have others here dealt with this situation?</p>
<p>While ADHD may be overdiagnosed it is still rising at an enormous rate as is autism in our country. These kids do do better on medication if there is a visual attending issue. Children are finally able to learn to focus and read and write. If there is not a real visual attending defecit it will not help these skills. Without medication many families have to monitor their children for safety 24/7, and they can not even do something as simple as go to a grocery store as it is overstimulating. I work with these children and feel for these families.This is quite different from active rough and tumble boys. I know that it(medication) is overused on college campuses and I agree this is a whole different issue. I am just not convinced it will even help those that don't really need it but I may be wrong.</p>
<p>arizona, what do you mean by visual attending?</p>
<p>I have an ADD diagnosed son; so far no meds; working on other things to see if meds can be avoided. Grades are going up w/ a study hall and more careful attention at home.</p>