Stimulants and Students
By Kel Harris
posted Dec. 16, 2011
College students around the United States are consuming stimulants and amphetamines every year, such as Adderall and Vyvanse and other prescription medications. A rapid heartbeat, chest pain, seizures, nausea, vomiting, confusion and dangerously high blood pressure are only a few of the side effects of a central nervous system stimulant according to www.MedHelp.org. Despite these dangerous side effects, students around the U.S. are being driven to consume these amphetamines and stimulants both legally and illegally.
Prescription stimulants have become easily accessible to students due to students aspiring to earn the best grade achievable. These prescription stimulants produce hyper-focus which is beneficial for a student cramming for an exam or waiting the night before to write a paper. However, these stimulants become scarce in during the upcoming weeks of final exams. This is because students are using them more often to bypass the pressure of doing well on finals and being able to better focus on the material at hand.
There are many reasons why students are consuming these prescription medications such as Adderall, Vyvanse and other amphetamines. One of the main reasons is that these medications make it easier to concentrate on school work.
Erica Cornett, 21, is legally prescribed a stimulant as a mood stabilizer, has been using them for roughly two years. Cornett, who is one year away from graduating, says that stress stemming from school is the main reason why she is prescribed medication. The lack of the ability to focus has inhibited her from being able to excel in college.
“The aim of school is to get ahead,” says Cornett. “It’s hard when you’re behind. I find it extremely hard to focus.”
Even when sitting in a room, there can be many things such as a television or radio that can distract a student from the task at hand.
"I can’t sit in my room, even if everything is off, and directly focus without the help of a stabilizer that acts as a concentration enhancer."
-Erica Cornett
“It brings me back to normal to where I can actually sit there and focus, versus worrying about what I’m hearing, what I’m seeing, what I could be doing,” says Cornett.
Cornett says that during stressful situations, she has taken more than prescribed. She says that the middle of a semester is usually the most stressful and that’s when the help of medication is needed. Cornett says that by the middle of the semester, a student knows what grade they have earned in their classes thus far.
“If you don’t like it, you have to fix it by the end,” says Cornett. “In every class, the assignments just keep getting bigger and bigger. Not only do you have to worry about how you did in the beginning of the semester, but you also have to worry about how you’re going to fare in the end. In return, I tend to overindulge when I feel like I am overwhelmed with homework and school related activities. But the one good thing I’ve seen is that my test scores do improve if I take it before I start studying.”
It may be a misconception that students actually perform better on exams and school work when taking stimulants.
Mina McVeigh, Outreach Coordinator at ETSU who specializes in prescription substance abuse, says that statistics show that students who use stimulants for better concentration actually do not do better in the long run.
“On any one day they might convince you that they did better on a test,” says McVeigh. “But statistics don’t show that they do better in school; they usually drop out.”
There has to be a reason why students are being driven to voluntarily consume or abuse prescription stimulants.
McVeigh questions what it is about the U.S. society that drives students to such extent that they would put substances that are known to be harmful, in their bodies. Dr. Jameson K. Hirsch, assistant professor in the ETSU psychology department and director of the ETSU Peaks Campus Suicide Prevention Project, believes that college is one reason why students feel such a high amount of pressure – resorting to substance abuse.
“I think college is a time of transition to adulthood, which creates pressure,” says Hirsch. “Students are away from their normal support systems, such as family and hometown friends, and are vulnerable to risk factors such as financial pressures, academic pressures and social pressures. They may use substances to self-medicate to make themselves feel better.”
Dr. Hirsch and other ETSU faculty conducted a survey about substance abuse by students and have been analyzing the data. Students were asked about their use of substances in the last 30 days. With regard to amphetamines/stimulants, 19 percent of students used amphetamines at least once or twice in the past 30 days. Around 3 percent of students used amphetamines over half of the last 30 days.
According to www.higheredcenter.org, on a national scale, prescription medication abuse is second only to marijuana. The numbers of prescription drug abuse are growing rapidly between the ages of 18-25, ironically the age of most college students.
According to the Higher Education Center’s website, “despite recent high-profile cases of accidental prescription drug overdoses, many students mistakenly believe abusing prescription drugs is not harmful. Because these drugs are legal substances created in carefully regulated labs and prescribed by doctors, some students think they are safe to take without medical supervision.”
In a recent study conducted by the New York State Psychiatric Institute and Columbia University in New York of 564 individuals who died suddenly, researchers found that these individuals were 7.4 times more likely to have been taking these prescription stimulant medications. Due to the increasing number of deaths over the past several years, many doctors have suspended prescriptions for these stimulants.
Whether they disagree on whether it’s acceptable to abuse prescription stimulants, Cornett, Hirsch and McVeigh agree that pressure is one reason why this type of substance abuse is on the rise.
“We have the American Dream,” says Cornett. “ We have to get a job, own a house and be able to take care of your family. In order to do that, you almost have to have some sort of education. And in order to live up to the high standards that society places on college students, it’s driving us to look elsewhere for the aid that is needed to meet these outrageous standards.”
Contact Kel Harris at [email protected].
posted Dec. 16, 2011
College students around the United States are consuming stimulants and amphetamines every year, such as Adderall and Vyvanse and other prescription medications. A rapid heartbeat, chest pain, seizures, nausea, vomiting, confusion and dangerously high blood pressure are only a few of the side effects of a central nervous system stimulant according to www.MedHelp.org. Despite these dangerous side effects, students around the U.S. are being driven to consume these amphetamines and stimulants both legally and illegally.
Prescription stimulants have become easily accessible to students due to students aspiring to earn the best grade achievable. These prescription stimulants produce hyper-focus which is beneficial for a student cramming for an exam or waiting the night before to write a paper. However, these stimulants become scarce in during the upcoming weeks of final exams. This is because students are using them more often to bypass the pressure of doing well on finals and being able to better focus on the material at hand.
There are many reasons why students are consuming these prescription medications such as Adderall, Vyvanse and other amphetamines. One of the main reasons is that these medications make it easier to concentrate on school work.
Erica Cornett, 21, is legally prescribed a stimulant as a mood stabilizer, has been using them for roughly two years. Cornett, who is one year away from graduating, says that stress stemming from school is the main reason why she is prescribed medication. The lack of the ability to focus has inhibited her from being able to excel in college.
“The aim of school is to get ahead,” says Cornett. “It’s hard when you’re behind. I find it extremely hard to focus.”
Even when sitting in a room, there can be many things such as a television or radio that can distract a student from the task at hand.
"I can’t sit in my room, even if everything is off, and directly focus without the help of a stabilizer that acts as a concentration enhancer."
-Erica Cornett
“It brings me back to normal to where I can actually sit there and focus, versus worrying about what I’m hearing, what I’m seeing, what I could be doing,” says Cornett.
Cornett says that during stressful situations, she has taken more than prescribed. She says that the middle of a semester is usually the most stressful and that’s when the help of medication is needed. Cornett says that by the middle of the semester, a student knows what grade they have earned in their classes thus far.
“If you don’t like it, you have to fix it by the end,” says Cornett. “In every class, the assignments just keep getting bigger and bigger. Not only do you have to worry about how you did in the beginning of the semester, but you also have to worry about how you’re going to fare in the end. In return, I tend to overindulge when I feel like I am overwhelmed with homework and school related activities. But the one good thing I’ve seen is that my test scores do improve if I take it before I start studying.”
It may be a misconception that students actually perform better on exams and school work when taking stimulants.
Mina McVeigh, Outreach Coordinator at ETSU who specializes in prescription substance abuse, says that statistics show that students who use stimulants for better concentration actually do not do better in the long run.
“On any one day they might convince you that they did better on a test,” says McVeigh. “But statistics don’t show that they do better in school; they usually drop out.”
There has to be a reason why students are being driven to voluntarily consume or abuse prescription stimulants.
McVeigh questions what it is about the U.S. society that drives students to such extent that they would put substances that are known to be harmful, in their bodies. Dr. Jameson K. Hirsch, assistant professor in the ETSU psychology department and director of the ETSU Peaks Campus Suicide Prevention Project, believes that college is one reason why students feel such a high amount of pressure – resorting to substance abuse.
“I think college is a time of transition to adulthood, which creates pressure,” says Hirsch. “Students are away from their normal support systems, such as family and hometown friends, and are vulnerable to risk factors such as financial pressures, academic pressures and social pressures. They may use substances to self-medicate to make themselves feel better.”
Dr. Hirsch and other ETSU faculty conducted a survey about substance abuse by students and have been analyzing the data. Students were asked about their use of substances in the last 30 days. With regard to amphetamines/stimulants, 19 percent of students used amphetamines at least once or twice in the past 30 days. Around 3 percent of students used amphetamines over half of the last 30 days.
According to www.higheredcenter.org, on a national scale, prescription medication abuse is second only to marijuana. The numbers of prescription drug abuse are growing rapidly between the ages of 18-25, ironically the age of most college students.
According to the Higher Education Center’s website, “despite recent high-profile cases of accidental prescription drug overdoses, many students mistakenly believe abusing prescription drugs is not harmful. Because these drugs are legal substances created in carefully regulated labs and prescribed by doctors, some students think they are safe to take without medical supervision.”
In a recent study conducted by the New York State Psychiatric Institute and Columbia University in New York of 564 individuals who died suddenly, researchers found that these individuals were 7.4 times more likely to have been taking these prescription stimulant medications. Due to the increasing number of deaths over the past several years, many doctors have suspended prescriptions for these stimulants.
Whether they disagree on whether it’s acceptable to abuse prescription stimulants, Cornett, Hirsch and McVeigh agree that pressure is one reason why this type of substance abuse is on the rise.
“We have the American Dream,” says Cornett. “ We have to get a job, own a house and be able to take care of your family. In order to do that, you almost have to have some sort of education. And in order to live up to the high standards that society places on college students, it’s driving us to look elsewhere for the aid that is needed to meet these outrageous standards.”
Contact Kel Harris at [email protected].