The end of a semester can be stressful time for college students as it brings a flurry of project deadlines and all-night exam cram sessions. A stroll through Payson Library during late April will reveal frazzled undergraduates packed into every available corner of the structure.
These students may abbreviate sleep meals and social interaction devoting all available time and energy to their studies. Some guzzle coffee or energy drinks. Others spend nights half-awake in study rooms. Others pop pills.
A growing number of students turn to stimulant “study drugs” to get a competitive edge or reduce the stress of finals.
The use of stimulant prescription drugs like Adderall Ritalin and Concerta has become a defining feature of the “whatever-it-takes” attitude adopted during finals week at Pepperdine and on college campuses nationwide.
Adderall is perceived to have become the academic performance enhancer of choice for many Pepperdine students.
A male student who is prescribed Adderall and preferred to remain anonymous discussed the widespread use of the drug.
“Everybody knows that everybody takes Adderall during finals he said. It’s an Adderall frenzy. In fact if you need Adderall you know to go to the library. It’s reached the point where you’re not even ashamed to ask. It’s generally considered okay to ask for Adderall and if the person you ask doesn’t have any they know of someone else who does.”
He admitted to sometimes abusing the drug and regularly sharing it with friends who don’t have a prescription of their own.
“A lot of times I save up my Adderall and don’t take it on certain days so that I can take a lot more on the days I’ll need it he said. I don’t sell it but a lot of people ask for it. I give a lot of my Adderall away probably more than half.
While Pepperdine officials admit that stimulant use is a problem on the university’s campus the problem is not unique to Pepperdine.
A variety of national studies conducted during the past few years have found that between 6 and 7 percent of college students reported using Adderall or other stimulants illicitly.
According to Pepperdine’s 2009 college health survey which was self-reported and anonymous 6.6 percent of female students and 9.7 percent of males indicated that they had taken unprescribed stimulants within the past 12-month period.
Many Pepperdine students say the percentage of students that use the drug illicitly is actually much higher as students suggest that it seems like “everyone” is using it. One female student who uses Adderall she obtains from a friend with a prescription said it seems that more than 50 percent of Pepperdine students use the drug for study purposes.
Robert Scholz a Counseling Center staff therapist who specializes in alcohol and other drugs suggested that students’ perceptions that the drug is used more commonly than it actually is have helped to establish Adderall use as a Pepperdine norm.
“Prescription drug use— people taking or borrowing an Adderall has been perceived as normal Scholz said. It’s like with alcohol use. If someone thinks everyone else is out getting drunk every weekend then they begin to believe that that is the norm which then affects how they view that behavior.”
Adderall is a stimulant composed of amphetamine and dextroamphetamine. The prescription drug is used to increase overall cognitive function and decrease fatigue in those diagnosed with ADHD. Students who use the drug without a prescription report similar results claiming the drug allows them to focus and stay up for hours.
“There is so much going on in my life in just one day that I find it so hard to be able to sit down and crank out a lot of work a female student said, as she sipped a coffee in a Payson Library study corner. I’ve taken 30 milligrams of Adderall today during the course of the 10 hours I’ve spent studying. Adderall is one thing that helps me focus to get all of my stuff done.”
The drug exists in two forms— IR (instant release) and XR (extended release)— and is available in capsule doses of between 5 and 30 milligrams. At Pepperdine students report paying anywhere from $5 to $15 for Adderall depending on the dosage though many claim they are able to obtain the drug free of charge from prescribed friends.
Gary Greene a student health physician at Pepperdine’s Health Center said this prescription sharing is more dangerous than many students might think.
“One of the worst things you can do is borrow someone’s prescription Greene said. As a doctor when I prescribe it I take the full medical history I make sure there are no contrary indications to it and I see if there are any other drugs they are on. When you are giving your pill to your friend they don’t know your medical history and they might have a bad reaction to the drug.”
These bad reactions can range from sleeping problems to panic attacks to experiencing hallucinogenic effects.
While health risks exist many students feel the risk is worth the reward. Scholz said “there is a perception that it is a miracle drug that will improve your GPA and some students just take it without really thinking through how it will affect them.”
Pepperdine’s health professionals seek to discover students’ motivations behind illicit stimulant use to better educate students about their decisions. Scholz supposes students use stimulants to gain a competitive edge over their peers or to reduce anxiety in the midst of stressful times.
“We have a very bright student population who have very high sometimes perfectionist expectations of themselves Scholz said. That drives them to go to any means to be perfect and to excel at a really high level without examining the things that they are doing to get there and some of the unintended effects that those behaviors might be having on their efforts to be perfect.”
Some students who use stimulants see few other options for dealing with the competitive academic climate of Pepperdine especially during finals.
“There are students at this school who legitimately study 24 hours a day and do things to such extremes that it forces us to take [Adderall] to keep up a female student outside the library said. In order to get the grades we were getting in high school and still have time to do the things we were doing we have to take it.”
According to Pepperdine’s 2009 college health survey 90 percent of students manage to deal with the stress of finals without illicitly using stimulants.
Scholz and Greene say the popularity of the drug has grown due to an increased availability and decreased stigma associated with prescription medications. With an increase in Adderall prescriptions comes an increase in Adderall abuse. Greene stresses that students turning to substances as study aids is no new development.
“This kind of thing kids staying up late and studying has gone on for like a hundred years or more Greene said. It’s not a new phenomenon. The only things that might change a little bit are the drugs.”
While the prevalence of stimulant use at Pepperdine is no different than that of many other universities the Pepperdine administration acknowledges it as a problem they seek to fix.If a student without a prescription is caught with Adderall he or she can be sanctioned by the Student Disciplinary Committee and must complete a drug assessment program with Robert Scholz of the Health Center. Scholz said only a “handful of students” have been sanctioned for stimulant use.
Through programs talks and training the university hopes to educate students about the real effects of these drugs their downsides and the misperceptions regarding outcomes of their use.
Greene recommends that students who think they may have undiagnosed ADHD be evaluated by a doctor and obtain an appropriate prescription. Those without a prescription are encouraged to follow the basics known to improve academic performance— getting sufficient sleep eating healthy staying hydrated and exer
cising moderately.
Pepperdine’s Counseling Center aims to remind students to set realistic study goals for themselves rather than overburdening themselves in a quest for perfection.”Be flexible— don’t box yourself into ‘I’m only a good student if I get all A’s’ Scholz said. Leave room for some imperfection and learn to think differently about your success.”