ADDERALL'S the ANSWER?

Editor's note: The names of students have been changed due to the subject matter of this article.

The days when Late Nite Café will serve free coffee are approaching fast and some students may be feeling overwhelmed with all of the knowledge they are expected to retain for final exams or research papers.

As a response, some prefer to illegally pop an Adderall in order to keep them awake for final exam study period.

"More often than not, if there're exams coming up, someone mentions Adderall," said Frank, a School of Management junior.

Now students are knocking on friends of friends' doors and buying $5 pills to help them concentrate on their work for hours on end without losing focus, and according to a recent survey, one in five college students has tried the drug.

STUDY BUDDY?

"It focuses and organizes your thoughts really well and you do a lot of work really fast, and it's good work, your thoughts are just really organized," said Annette, a College of Communication junior, who said she uses Adderall several times a semester to study for exams and also recreationally at parties.

The prescription drug is an amphetamine meant to treat people with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

SMG junior Frank has used Adderall in the past to study for exams and says that he probably should be on it anyway because of his self-diagnosed ADHD problem.

"It keeps me focused on one single thing. You can't get distracted away from what you're doing," he said. "I can stare at a computer and do a lot of work and not even realize how much work I'm doing ... I find that I do pretty good work. It doesn't [mess] up your head at all. I understand what I'm doing and get quality work done."

Frank said he goes through a sort of withdrawal after using it, though.

"Coming off is kind of weird. You kind of get tired. It's not like a bad crash though. It's not like you're dying," he said.

Dr. Anna Fitzgerald, a psychiatrist and director of Psychiatric Emergency Services at Boston Medical Center said she is dubious of students who have hardly anything negative to say about the drug. It can, indeed, mess up a person's head if he or she abuses it, she said.

"It's a pretty dangerous way to study," Fitzgerald said.

Frank, who is finishing up the first semester of SMG's rigorous "Core" program, where students are swamped with real-life business scenarios and responsibilities, says he has not used Adderall since last semester and doesn't feel like he had to have it to handle the workload.

"I'm incredibly surprised that I've made it through without Adderall," he said. "Our home stretch we were up for like 30 hours straight. It was not easy at all. It was very stressful and hectic. It was not enjoyable at all, but it was a drug-free couple of weeks."

The popularity of prescription drug misuse - like Adderall - has even found a place in pop culture, most recently in the hit ABC show "Desperate Housewives." Lanette, a character played by Felicity Huffman, abuses Ritalin in the show.

"I don't know why they over-dramatized the 'Desperate Housewives' woman with her kid's prescription," Annette said.

But, the depiction of the housewife being addicted is not a dramatization for some people.

GO SPEED RACER

"It's essentially the same as using speed," said Fitzgerald.

In a recent study, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) found that Adderall, which can easily be addicting because it is comprised of the controlled substance amphetamine, has been extensively abused.

Amphetamine creates extreme psychological dependence, tolerance and severe social disability, according the Food and Drug Administration.

Doctors warn that Adderall can exacerbate symptoms of behavior disturbance and thought disorder such as depression or anxiety. People who have a history of psychosis, hallucinations, drug abuse or significant anxiety or agitation should not take Adderall. Anyone who has Tourette's syndrome or cardiovascular diseases should also not use the medicine because the drug magnifies the adverse effects of the disease.

"Some people can get mentally ill on it - like a bad trip on a drug," Fitzgerald said.

SHADY SIDE EFFECTS

Several of Adderall's psychological side effects include psychotic episodes, worsening of depression and anxiety, panic states, restlessness, hallucinations, confusion, irritability, insomnia and personality changes.

Adderall also elevates blood pressure and causes dry mouth, diarrhea, constipation, Anorexia and weight loss.

"I get really bad dry mouth if I don't drink water the whole time," Annette said. "If you do too much it can be uncomfortable. You get really anxious and shaky and stuff ... like the worst anxiety you've ever had. If you're partying, you feel like if you stop talking you will go crazy ... you really just want to calm down and it is really hard to do because it's not like you can just lie down or something and sleep it off. You have to be awake for every miserable second of it."

Taking the drug may also ruin a romantic evening with a significant other, because of the side effect of sexual dysfunction. Both men and women could experience a decrease in their sex drive and men could become impotent, according to the FDA.

NOT JUST FOR KIDS

Adderall stimulates the central nervous system by increasing the amount of dopamine and norepinephrine, two neurotransmitters (chemicals), in the body. Dopamine improves attention and norepinephrine dampens noise, enhances executive operations and increases inhibition, according to the Adderall XR website.

The prescription drug works in people who are diagnosed with ADHD - mainly children and an ever-increasing adult base - by improving attention span, decreasing distractibility and increasing the ability to follow directions and complete tasks, according to Adderall's website.

Some students who use the medicine attribute the desire to attain similar effects as the drug promises ADHD patients.

Students abused other drugs to help them stay awake or focused in the past, including the caffeine pill No-Doze and Ritalin, also used to treat ADHD, according to Fitzgerald.

She said does not really believe that using Adderall can be that helpful for college students' studying tactics.

"It impairs concentration and memory which could not be so hot for the test you're going to take. Plus it's illegal," she said. "There are cognitive risks, which is ironic if you're trying to get better grades on exams."

But Annette claims Adderall helped boost her grade point average last semester after a less-than-stellar freshman academic year. She said she was the kind of student in high school who was used to getting As and found Boston University's classes very difficult.

"Maybe if this school didn't grade so hard I wouldn't be stressed out about it [GPA]," she said. Taking Adderall could possibly only add to that stress, though.

"It's very anxiety-producing and makes the heart go really fast," Fitzgerald said. "It could really really disturb someone's reflexes and cognitive functions and impair judgment. It's just not a safe idea for your body."