The surplus of healthy college students who are willing to take a drug that alters their neurochemistry in hopes of receiving better grades is quite alarming. Every drug has associated risk factors that have to be compared to the benefits when one makes the decision to use it, but the massive amount of people prescribed to Adderall has caused users to disregard potential risks. Physically, these drugs take a toll on your body and have a high potential for addiction, while mentally they lower dopamine levels, which increases the chance for psychosis, and depression. They are also actually inefficient at improving cognition. In the case of a healthy individual, the negative effects of ADHD medications outweigh the positive. College students should not take ADHD medications without prescriptions because the drugs are ineffective in improving cognition, and have adverse mental as well as physical health effects.
​
Main Claim
Positives
-Elevated mood
-Not tired
Negatives
-Addictive Potential
-Mental Health Effects
-Physical Health Effects
Physical Effects
Some of the common negative side effects associated with Adderall are “loss of appetite, dry mouth, sleep problems, headache, dizziness, fast, pounding, or uneven heartbeats, numbness, tingling, and dangerously high blood pressure” (Lawson). These are all signals the body sends when something is wrong. A healthy individual shouldn’t put their body through this stress if at all avoidable, and this is not the only concern with nonmedical prescription stimulant use.
A case study describes a 15 year old male with no prior heart abnormalities who experienced a heart attack after being prescribed to and taking Adderall XR (Sylvester). Although it does not occur often, these drugs can have very sudden life-threatening physical effects. Taking them without a prescription puts one at risk for a heart attack and even sudden death if they have the wrong body chemistry. This is because stimulant use causes an increase in heart rate and blood pressure (Carey). Those who believe Adderall is safe simply because the drug has been prescribed to millions by the government, and those who self-diagnose Adderall without ever bothering to get a prescription, should learn a lesson from this case study. A doctor is qualified to make certain the patient is compatible with medications, whereas your everyday citizen is not - even qualified doctors mess up sometimes. People must realize that a drug intended to relieve symptoms in people with a certain disorder will affect those without the disorder differently.
One who has their mind set on taking Adderall or another NPC might write off the common side-effects as trivial and the potential heart issues as highly unlikely, but if so they should be sure to consider these drugs’ addictive potential. One method for determining whether or not a substance has addictive potential is called reinforcing effects. This consists of giving an animal an intravenous dosage of a drug for doing something like pulling a lever. When the animal realizes pulling the lever causes stimulus, if they keep coming back for more the drug is considered to have addictive potential. A range of species have reliably self-administered prescription stimulants to maintain their concentration levels (Kollins). As the brain becomes accustomed to these stimulants, higher doses are needed to produce the same effect. As the dosage increases, users are prone to desire the drug’s release of dopamine more often which can lead to problematic and frequent use (McAbe, et al. 2014). This frequent use makes it much more likely for the user to experience issues with side-effects. Those who take the drug non-medically in higher doses than normal are more prone to addiction. Intranasal use, and mixing with other drugs like alcohol are also great risk factors for addiction because the dopamine rush produced in the brain is much larger. Still, anyone who takes the drug – even those who are prescribed - can become addicted. Withdrawal can produce fatigue, depression and social disability.
Common Side Effects
ADDICTIVE POTENTIAL
Cardiovascular Issues
Mental EFFECTS
The physical dangers of taking Adderall are present both for those with and those without ADHD diagnosis, but where it becomes more dangerous for those without diagnosis is the mental health aspect. An FDA study showed that .25% of users with ADHD observed psychotic reactions to these stimulants. This is a small portion, but still acknowledges the possibility for psychosis, which is increased with non-prescribed use because previously normal dopamine levels are altered. A study conducted on squirrel monkeys and adult baboons showed the potential for ADHD medications to decrease dopamine levels over time. After the test animals were treated with a drug similar to Adderall for four weeks, they had concentrations of Adderall that matched human ADHD patients, and both species showed a 30-50% reduction in dopamine. This is about half as much dopamine as those with Parkinson’s lose (Berman). Medium dopamine levels are ideal for good memory and cognitive functioning so one should think twice before they take this drug to “make them smarter” (Dang).
created w/ piktochart - photo credits:
restless - http://expertbeacon.com/avoid-cycle-chronic-insomnia-poor-sleep-and-exhaustion/#.Vz4vVZErJPY
dizzy - http://www.123rf.com/stock-photo/dizzy.html
appetite - http://www.heartfailurematters.org/en_GB/Understanding-heart-failure/Loss-of-appetite
heart - https://www.uihealthcare.org/health-library/heart-palpitations-frequently-asked-questions/
Studies have proven that these drugs do not actually have any positive effect on the cognition of healthy individuals. A double-blind study on 46 participants both on placebos and some actually on NPCs (non-prescribed cognitive enhancing drugs) tested their cognitive abilities both on and off the drugs after baseline testing. Over three weeks, participants were tested on their memory, working memory, inhibitory control, creativity, and with standardized tests such as the SAT. They were first given baseline tests during the first week, then either received a placebo the second week and a real pill the third week, or vice versa. Although the participants perceived their performance to be better while on the real pills, the actual results showed that these drugs are not powerful in increasing cognition (Ilieva et al.). The reduced dopamine levels suggest that over time, use will actually decrease cognition.