Quinn Wease

Debate Discussion
March 11, 2015
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ADHD is disorder with your brain that usually occurs during a person childhood years
and can go through out their adulthood. ADHD stands for Attention deficit hyperactivity
disorder. Most common symptoms involved with ADHD are hyperactivity, trouble
keeping focus and attention, and difficulty controlling their behavior. Having these
symptoms makes for school, getting along with others and finishing tasks extremely
difficult. When diagnosing ADHD, there are many kinds of things people can look for
because there is not one single test that can diagnose someone for having ADHD.
(National institute of mental health, 2012)
A health professional will sit down with this child and learn information about
their behavior and the environment they are surrounded in. Many doctors will refer
people to a mental health specialist, who has experience with ADHD and brain disorders.
Some things the mental health specialist will try to determine are: does the child have
medical problems that affect their thinking, learning disabilities, and anxiety or
depression.
These specialists pay close attention when interviewing their patients so they
can try to get as much information about their patients background to decide if this child
should be diagnosed with ADHD or if it is another issue. Treating ADHD with
medication is the most common form of treatment for this disorder. Some other
treatments that can be done are psychotherapy, education training as well as a mixture of
different types of treatments. Most common types of medications for treatment are

methylphenidate and amphetamines. These are stimulants that control the brain function
to help with the problems that are occurring for the child (National institute of mental
health, 2012).
When non-users were asked what factors influenced their choice not to abuse
prescription drugs, 82% cited a lack of interest, 61% responded it was due to a fear of
damaging their physical health, and 60.1% responded fear of damaging their mental
health(Brandt, 2014). College students who use Adderall have an unfair advantage
because Adderall is a stimulant that controls the brain function with focusing better, and
more so getting school work done for multiple hours. When a college student uses
Adderall they are telling their brain to be more productive.
Adderall gives a need for more energy and a need to stay awake, like when
college students have to cram for exams and need to pull all nighters.
Research has made me come to believe that college students who use Adderall also
levels out the playing field. Being a college student myself, and researching about this
topic, it comes to my attention that there are very high percentages of college students
who are not prescribed to Adderall, that still take this stimulant. Research shows that
college students have the advantage and control to take Adderall if they wanted to
because it is easily able to get since many students who are prescribed will sell their
prescribed Adderall. Concluding with these two sides of this topic, it can go both ways.
Some say, taking Adderall is equivalent to cheating your way through college, but the
other side of this is that many students need this drug and are prescribed to it (College
students who take Adderall, 2011).

Many people have the ability to already keep much focus in school while the people with
ADHD use Adderall to keep on the same level of what the focused students already
feel.

Adderall is considered by some to be the academic miracle drug to college students

today, whether they have ADHD and need it everyday or are just using it to study. You
could try to figure out the percentages of students who use the drug even without being
diagnosed, but this person would not go far with their research. No matter if it is illegal
or not, college students are going to misuse Adderall because students believe it is the
miracle drug to get you through their hardest times with classes (College students who
take Adderall, 2011).
With research I have found that using Adderall without being prescribed is academically
dishonest, but how are colleges going to know? I believe overtime this drug will wear off,
yet people are always inventing new things, and the future is undergoing a world where
people think drugs solve all problems.

References

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. (2012). Retrieved from

http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/attention-deficit-hyperactivitydisorder/index.shtml#pub4

Brandt, S. A., Taverna, E. C., & Hallock, R. M. (2014). A survey of nonmedical use of
tranquilizers, stimulants, and pain relievers among college students: Patterns of
use among users and factors related to abstinence in non-users. Drug & Alcohol
Dependence, 143272-276. doi:10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2014.07.034

College Students Who Take Adderall-Are They Cheating Themselves? (2011). Retrieved
from http://in.princetonreview.com/in/2011/03/college-students-who-takeadderallare-they-cheating-themselves.html