As exams, assignments and responsibilities pile up, some students might resort to “study drugs” for support.
Some students still say they need it as a crutch to balance coursework and other responsibilities.
After self-diagnosing himself, one student, who asked to remain anonymous, said he feels like every person who ever believed in him would hold disdain for him if he failed.
He said he started paying other students for Adderall throughout his time at Ole Miss. He said he doesn’t have health care or a way to pay for the prescription since he has no financial support from his parents.
He said the Adderall is easily accessible through other students. He added the students who use the study drugs do it mostly during high-stress times, such as midterms and finals week.
He said he pays for his college through academic scholarships, his Pell Grant and a part-time job.
“Being a college student and being on a tight budget makes it hard to keep up money for premiums,” he said.
He said he resorts to study drugs when feeling mentally and physically drained.
“When I hit a block so far as my thinking capacity is concerned, it allows me to tap into the deeper thought process than I could if I were not under stress,” he said.
He said he feels like he could manage without stimulants if he were forced to, but the fear of failure holds him back.
Sandra Bentley, director of the Student Health Center pharmacy, said the student pharmacy actually fills more urgent care medications on campus, such as antibiotics, flu and cold symptom treatments, than study drugs.
Bentley said the pharmacy fills out relatively few Adderall and Ritalin prescriptions but did not divulge the exact number.
Dr. Randy Yates, director of University Health Services, said Adderall works best when taken as prescribed, but study drugs like Adderall and Ritalin have addictive qualities similar to cocaine and opioids. They are Schedule II drugs, meaning the Drug Enforcement Agency has labelled them highly addictive.
Nearly 10 percent of American children from 4 to 17 years old are diagnosed with ADHD, according to a 2015 report from the Centers For Disease Control and Prevention.
But due to the high accessibility of the drug via students who sell the prescription pills, as many as 1 in 5 college students abuses prescription stimulants or “study drugs,” such as Adderall, Ritalin and Vyvanse, at least once in his or her lifetime, according to the most recent data from the Partnership for Drug-Free Kids.
Yates said Adderall and similar drugs act as stimulant medications, not intended for stress, but rather for ADHD or narcolepsy. The medicine is often used by students for lack of focus, poor concentration or to improve alertness.
The number of individuals with ADHD in the United States has tripled to 11 percent, and sales of ADHD medications are generating nearly $10 billion worth of revenue every year, according to the Huffington Post.
The study drugs do not raise intelligence, but students rely on them to power through late-night cramming sessions or for the ability to research and write a paper in one night.
Yates said there are other resources for students struggling with stress management. There are medications are available for anxiety and depression, which are prescribed based on individual patient circumstances.
“It is therapeutic for those students with (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder) proven by appropriate testing,” Yates said.
Yates said stress can often be managed through taking advantage of the services offered by the University Counseling Center.
The counseling center on campus offers individual and group therapy for students struggling with anxiety, depression, stress and substance abuse, as well as a hotline for emergency use, according to the website.
“Unfortunately, it has a high potential for dependency, abuse and diversion (by) selling to those without a prescription for illegal use. Thus it is highly regulated by the Drug Enforcement Agency,” Yates said.
