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More students nationwide using Adderall
Drug can become psychologically addictive
By Catherine Jozwik
“Nationally, more high school and college students are using Adderall and painkillers,” Paul Dupont of the Norris Health Center said.
Adderall, a stimulant drug used primarily to treat Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, has increased in popularity among college students nationwide in the past five years.
The drug increases alertness and energy for long periods of time, which enables students cramming for exams and working on final projects to stay awake for hours or even days.
According to a recent report by the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University, between 1993 and 2005 the proportion of students abusing stimulant drugs such as Adderall and Ritalin increased 93 percent. Similar research, done by the National Institute of Drug Abuse, reveals that more competitive colleges have more students who abuse stimulants.
Paul Dupont, a psychologist at the Norris Health Center, who specializes in drug and alcohol abuse, says the pill is meant to be taken orally so the body metabolizes it over time, but it is often snorted in order to get a more intense high.
Although it is not physically addictive, the drug becomes psychologically addictive by increasing dopamine levels in the brain, thus creating a euphoria which disappears after the effects wear off, leaving the user depressed. To alleviate depression, the user continues to ingest the drug.
Although the ability to work intensely without resting may sound appealing to stressed-out students, snorting a high dosage of Adderall can cause serious short-term effects, such as anxiety, headaches, an increased heart rate and blood pressure, and even convulsions or strokes.
Long-term abuse of the drug can lead to depression, psychosis and even tactile hallucinations, like the feeling of bugs crawling under one’s skin.
Although Dupont has had students come into Norris for problems with Adderall addiction, he says that the drug’s use on the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee campus is no higher here than anywhere else.
“Nationally, more high school and college students are using Adderall and painkillers,” Dupont said.
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