Imagine, you have 7 assignments, 5 presentations and 2 exams all lined up, and all you have is a meagre 2 days to get yourself together. Most such cases would lead to a burnout or an incomplete half-hearted effort due to lack of energy and time.
But what if there was
a way wherein, you can ace all your assignments, excel in your presentations
and to top it all, get a perfect score in your exams?
What I’m talking
about is a drug referred to as Adderall, the Study Drug.
What triggered
the use of Adderall?
The USA reports
thousands of cases of children suffering from ADHD(Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) or Attention Disorder,
wherein it becomes difficult for the child to concentrate on the work at hand.
The attention span of an individual is reduced drastically which in turn could
affect comprehension and cognition skills.
To resolve this grave
issue, doctors started prescribing drugs like “Adderall” and “Ritalin” which
helps calm the nerves and redirect all the effort and attention onto the task
at hand.
This was found to be
extremely helpful in hiking up grades, teenagers saw this drug as a performance
enhancer thus making it popular in schools and colleges. The intake of the drug
has more than doubled since the time it was introduced.
Perils of
Adderall
As rosy as the
thought of administering this drug to improve grades might be, it is of utmost
urgency that the youth understand the complexity of what they are getting into.
In the short term, it may help you ace exams and top your class, but the future
consequences of the drug are as much damaging.
The effectiveness of
the drug lies in its composition which is Amphetamine salts, which closely resembles
the ingredient in Meth, which is why it triggers the neurotic cells of
the body and acts as a stimulant to beat sleep and the feelings of lethargy.
The use or rather
abuse of the drug has increased mainly amongst those who don’t really need it.
These are the people who need extra motivation in form of drugs to keep the
wheels of their life spinning in high speed. The market for Illegal
prescriptions to get hands on this drug is the
biggest racket in the
USA. Taking advantage of the system and using it for recreational purposes, not
only puts yourself at risk but also damages the prospects of drug availability
for those who seriously require it.
Long-term Abuse of the drug leads to-
Insomnia
Irritability
Hallucinations and
Paranoia
Aggression
Panic Attacks
Suicidal Thoughts, to
name a few.
Why is Adderall
Addictive?
The long-term usage
of Adderall helps release a lot of Serotonin and Dopamine,
responsible for the quick inexhaustive stimulus it provides but in the longer
run it, it hampers the brains’ ability to produce it naturally, which makes us
incessantly dependent on the drug.
The deprivation of it
may put the person on the track of anxiety attacks, tremors and other symptoms
similar to those of a person recouping from alcoholism or drug addiction.
Does Adderall
Affect Everyone Equally?
Adderall is
definitely proven to be effective in enhancing concentration spans of people
suffering from ADHD, but it is important to note that Adderall may or may not
work for people not suffering from attention disorders.
The drug would be
nothing but a drop in the ocean for someone using it to put up an all-nighter.
It may help achieve an exhaustively repetitive learning task but wouldn’t have
any effect on cognitive skills such as those needed for an exam.
The Way Forward
The governments of
these countries must lay stringent laws and must track the distribution of the
drug. The agencies providing these medicines must be centralized and accessible
only to those providing a medical certificate.
The black-marketing
of Adderall and other Meth-induced stimulants must be heavily penalized and
medical practitioners resorting to unethical practices must bear the brunt by
way of cancellation of license to practice.
The future of youth
is in the hands of the government, but more importantly it is also the will and
morality of the individual abusing the substance. Workshops instilling
awareness of substance abuse must be planned by schools and colleges galore with
adolescents. A comprehensive plan for achieving daily targets must be prepared
so that they don’t fall prey to untimely stress.
Substance abuse is as
simple as this:
When you want to make
money, you don’t steal it right? You work for it.
Similarly, when you
truly want to achieve something, be it as small as excelling in a class-test,
you give it your 100% and not fall back upon stimulants or performance
enhancers. Moreover, the biggest performance enhancer is your mind. The more
you train it, the more it’s going to reward you with better things in life.
Written By - Tushna
Choksey
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