An Overview of Adderall and the Effects of the Stimulant Drug

Last Updated: 17 May 2023
Essay type: Coursework
Pages: 3 Views: 184

Adderall has a rather notorious reputation among college students from across the entire nation for being the go to "study pill" that allows them to accomplish so much more coursework and research in about half the time it normally would. At the same time having endless amounts of energy to the point where they never feel fatigued and have no intentions on sleeping or eating. Not surprisingly though according to multiple polls and surveys, conducted on college campuses across the entire United States.

Almost up to thirty to thirty-five percent or more of college students are currently abusing Adderall or other stimulant medications at least once a month. Whether they are only trying to pull an all-nighter study session with their friends during finals week or maybe they are just chasseing after that insane euphoria and the side effects like weight loss the drug produces. The reason why people become addicted to Adderall is that they love the feeling the drug produces, but over time they become chemically and psychologically dependent on the drug and will do almost anything to attain that one last pill of Adderall while causing irreversible detrimental physical and psychological health effects (Pilkinton). The effects of this new-found crisis in modern culture and society have yet to face the

real consequences of overprescribing stimulant medications. Letting doctors and psychiatrists overprescribe one of the most regulated and controlled substances, makes it much harder to distinguished ordinary people from those who have Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. The prescriptions and medications that are currently used to treat patients who are suffering from symptoms of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder are among the stimulant class of drugs that are known as psychostimulants.

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The current accepted medical treatment of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder is to use a stimulant. Stimulant drugs belonging either the amphetamine or methamphetamine class are the two predominate classes that are the most commonly useful medication for the reduction of symptoms in individuals suffering from Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder ("Dextroamphetamine and Amphetamine").

How exactly has Adderall changed the entire social dynamic of colleges with their new- found love for this so-called "smart drug?" How could anyone ever become addicted to it? Adderall has been around since the late 1990s, and during early 2000s there was a near almost one-thousand percent increase in the sales of the pharmaceutical company Shire that produces Adderall.

The company was making an enormous amount of money and had a monopoly on the entire ADHD stimulant pharmaceutical market after coming out with Adderall, which quickly took over Ritalin as the most prescribed ADHD stimulant. Later the stimulant market grew with the advancement of new and safer drugs, but the entire market soon became oversaturated with too many stimulants drugs. It also has caused many different children misdiagnosed as having ADHD making it the most commonly diagnosed childhood psychiatric disability in the United States ("Youth and Prescription drugs").

Adderall is an incredibly addictive, potent central nervous system stimulant, that has a similar effect to meth and cocaine. The drug works by increasing high levels of dopamine to the brain, which makes your whole body feel good, while chemically in your brain it is creating a rewarding effect, every single time you take the drug. Adderall releases so much dopamine to the brain that it causes unnaturally high levels of stimulation, leading some recreational users to keep using more and more of the drug to reach a potentially desired effect.

Due to the prolonged use and a tolerance built up to Adderall the person has to keep using more of the drug which can cause instant heart failure and complete rapid muscle breakdown, to reach the same level of desired effects. As the brain and the person become psychologically addicted and dependent on daily usage of Adderall to have constant high levels of productivity and alertness, not only does all the brain's dopamine and serotonin receptors wear down, but the receptors will become destroyed by the time the person stops using Adderall. Creating a physical and psychological struggle for months or even years in some extreme cases, which causes the brain to start producing healthy levels of dopamine and serotonin again at a very slow pace ("Adderall for ADHD").

Becoming an addict to Adderall can ruin your entire life, and any destroy future goals and ambitions because of a constant need and desire to take the drug. The addiction can take hold over every other daily activity and could even significantly impact your socioeconomic status.

The long-term result of Adderall addiction and abuse causes high levels of neurotoxicity that could permanently destroy any future ability for the brain to even function again at normal cognitive levels without the drug. The result of this extreme addiction is untimely either death or bring significantly impaired in all most aspects of daily functionally that could take years to recover from.

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An Overview of Adderall and the Effects of the Stimulant Drug. (2023, May 17). Retrieved from https://phdessay.com/an-overview-of-adderall-and-the-effects-of-the-stimulant-drug/

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