HEALTH

Pressured Students Take ADHD Drug for Classroom Achievement

By Gailon Totheroh
CBN News Science & Medical Reporter

November 18, 2004

CBN.com – (CBN News) - A drug called Adderall is prescribed to millions of children every year to treat Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). But CBN News discovered that a growing number of American students are taking it because they feel such intense pressure to get ahead in school.

Student Kevin Ngo is studying for his law school entrance exam and claims he needs the help.

"There is something about Adderall that makes you concentrate, focus,” says Ngo, “and makes whatever you're studying more interesting."

One Yale University student says the drug enabled him to read “Crime and Punishment,” and write a 15-page paper in 30 hours.

And another student in a college chat room writes, "I would say two-thirds of the student body has tried it for studying."

But doctors say Adderall can dangerously increase your heart rate, elevate your blood pressure, and even cause insomnia.

The drug does not always work for everyone, and frequent use can cause dependency, even increased psychotic problems in some.

Dr. Eric Heiligenstein, a psychiatrist at the University of Wisconsin Medical School, said, "It's an FDA-approved medication, so many people perceive it as safe; whether it is or not, is another issue."

The head of a tutoring company says that some high school students are taking Adderall to increase their scores on college entrance exams.

Lisa Jacobson, CEO of INSPIRICA, said, "Parents ask me should they get it for their kid, and my answer is absolutely not. The answer is no. It is cheating, with a capital C."

Dr. Heilingenstein calls it the new “academic steroid,” and said, "It's a very interesting parallel to what happens in athletics. In other words, why athletes on the starting line of a race will look around and say, who's using and who's not. Do they have an unfair advantage?

And some say perhaps academic pressure has gotten out-of-hand.

INSPIRICA’s Jacobson said, "It's a situation where the bar is now raised, because so many people are doing it, to the point where, at some point it is going to become the price of admission to get into a certain school."

Ngo found a doctor who now prescribes it for him. He says he cannot do well without it.

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