By Tara Haelle
HealthDay Reporter
THURSDAY, Nov. 13, 2014 (HealthDay News) -- Nearly one in every five college students abuses prescription stimulants, according to a new survey sponsored by the Partnership for Drug-Free Kids. The survey also found that one in seven non-students of similar age also report abusing stimulant medications.
Young adults aged 18 to 25 report using the drugs to help them stay awake, study or improve their work or school performance. The most commonly abused stimulants are those typically prescribed for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), such as Adderall, Ritalin and Vyvanse, the survey found.
"The findings shed a new and surprising light on the young adult who is abusing prescription stimulants," said Sean Clarkin, director of strategy and program management for the Partnership for Drug-Free Kids. "While there is some 'recreational' abuse, the typical misuser is a male college student whose grade point average is only slightly lower than that of non-abusers, but who is juggling a very busy schedule that includes academics, work and an active social life."
Clarkin said the findings point to the need for parents and educators to increase their efforts to help young people develop effective time-management skills to balance academics, work and social activities.
"The profile that emerges is less that of an academic 'goof-off' who abuses prescription stimulants to make up for lost study time than a stressed out multitasker who is burning the candle at both ends and trying to keep up," Clarkin said.
The nationally representative study, conducted by independent researcher Whitman Insight Strategies, surveyed more than 1,600 young adults online this past summer, including approximately 1,000 college students.
Half of the students reported they took stimulant drugs to study or improve their academic performance, the survey noted. And, the survey found that two-thirds of those students believed the drugs helped them get a better grade or be more competitive at school or work. Around 40 percent took the drugs to stay awake. About a quarter of abusers said they took the stimulants to improve their work performance, according to the study.
These are the same reasons former user Linda Stafford said she began using the drugs.
Stafford began taking Adderall and Vyvanse without any prescriptions while she was a college student in Statesboro, Ga.
"I wanted to go to school, work and party, and Adderall helped me to focus pretty well at first," Stafford said. In reality, however, she said taking the stimulant did not change her test grades much. "Then," she said, "I got hooked."
Stafford began experiencing depression, paranoia and social anxiety and became unable to communicate even with her closest loved ones, she said.
"I was totally incapable of handling life," Stafford said. "I could not manage a simple job, my class assignments or relationships. Adderall was the center of my life."
Stafford has since been through recovery and uses a support network and support groups to manage, but her story is one that Miami University staff psychiatrist Dr. Josh Hersh has heard often.
"These survey findings have confirmed a lot of the things I have seen clinically," Hersh said. "Young adults are mainly using prescription stimulants to improve academic and work performance and to stay awake."
Although Hersh said some of the students taking these drugs may feel the invulnerability of youth, others are simply desperate to juggle everything even while they know the possible risks of taking the drugs, such as anxiety or panic attacks even with occasional use.
"The fact that students often use these drugs around deadlines, when their natural adrenaline is already high, elevates the risk even more," Hersh said. "Sporadic use can lead to severe sleep deprivation and cause stimulant-induced psychosis, when a student gets paranoid and may hallucinate."
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