Many students say the pressure to maintain quality grades in a distracting environment such as Ohio State can be overwhelming. The measures taken to overcome these distractions can be extreme - some people cheat, stay up all night or take prescription medication.
Some of these stressed-out college students are taking medications prescribed for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder recreationally or to help them overcome distractions.
Ritalin and Adderall are the drugs most commonly used to treat these disorders, according to drugs.com. Both medicines are central nervous system stimulants with similar side effects.
Will Stubbs, an Ohio State first-year graduate student in business, said he was diagnosed with the disorder in grade school. Ritalin (and later Adderall) made him more careful in his work and enabled him to counteract laziness.
For someone not diagnosed with ADHD, such as Jake Heppner, an OSU student taking time off this quarter, the experience can be quite different. Heppner said he was having trouble focusing and multitasking and was absent-minded his first year in college.
On the day he needed to write a paper, Heppner acquired some Adderall from a friend in his dorm to help him complete the assignment. After taking a 70-milligram dose, he never finished his paper.
Once he realized the medicine was more fun than helpful, he started using it recreationally, buying it from friends for about $3 a pill.
OSU alum Bill* uses the medication in similar ways.
He tried it for the first time his junior year and enjoyed the drug, he said.
"Short term (Adderall) has only positive benefits," Bill said.
He used it to study when he was still in school and now uses it for work and when he wants to stay up later to party, he said.
"It makes doing a lot of work more enjoyable," Bill said.
Like Heppner, Bill said he buys his medicine for $3 to $5 per each 20 milligram pill. Both said the price for the pills goes up during midterms and finals, especially in the dorms. Heppner and Bill also said the pills are easy to attain on a college campus, although Bill said there are times when he does not have any because he has to wait for someone to refill their personal prescription.
The demand for Adderall and Ritalin can be a problem for students who have the prescriptions. Stubbs said he would get calls and text messages from acquaintances who would hound him for it. Stubbs said that at Indiana University, where he received his bachelors degree, a 30 milligram pill cost between $15 to $20.
The potential for abuse of these drugs is similar to street drugs such as cocaine, and long-term use of Adderall or Ritalin can cause brain damage similar to that of cocaine users.
Both Adderall and Ritalin are very addictive, with Adderall having the highest potential to become addictive and be abused. The potential to become addicted is higher for people without ADHD, according to add-adhd-help-center.com. Heppner said he had a friend who became addicted to Adderall and ended up in a mental hospital.
"I'm a drug whore. I'll take anything," said Tom*, a junior in philosophy and a recreational user of Adderall.
Tom said he uses Adderall for the same reasons he uses other drugs - for fun and to escape. Adderall is "designed for behavioral modification and can be used for escapism and recreational purposes," he said.
Similar to other hard drugs, coming down off these medications can be painful. Bill said he "feel(s) like a zombie or very groggy" when the medicine wears off.
Tom said he gets scatterbrained and cannot sleep, only to crash the next day.
He added Adderall makes him "feel speedy and intense," which is what he is looking for. However, there are other drugs he could use that do the same thing, he said.
*Editor's Note: Some names have been changed to protect the identity of sources for this article.
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