When the stress of finals weighs heavy on students, many turn to medication used to treat Attention Deficit Disorder, believing it will help them focus.
While some students like Kari Warner, junior in business administration, have been diagnosed with ADD and have prescribed medication that truly helps them, others find that using unprescribed medication has a negative effect on their learning.
Warner has taken both Adderall and Concerta to treat her diagnosed Attention Deficit Disorder.
Warner said she did not like Adderall because of the side-effects, but that Concerta has helped her focus tremendously.
"Adderall keeps you awake," Warner said. "I don't like Adderall because Adderall makes you jittery. It's sort of like you just drank too much coffee--you can't go to sleep, you just can't relax, you're mind's just racing constantly."
Warner only takes Concerta when she knows she will need to focus.
"Concerta is not going to make you have any loss of appetite, so you'll still be able to eat like you do," Warner said. "If I take it in the morning, which is when I take it, it'll wear off by three o'clock. That's fine, because by that time I'm done with class."
Warner said she has noticed a difference in her test scores since she started taking Concerta.
"Concerta just makes you focus, and I need that," Warner said.
Warner said she doesn't have people ask her to buy Concerta, but she knows people who take it without a prescription.
Warner also said she knew someone from her hometown who died after mixing Adderall with a sleep aid.
"He took (Adderall) for finals this past fall, and before it wore off, he took a sleeping pill so he could go to sleep, and he never woke up," Warner said. "It definitely has its effect if you don't need it."
Warner said if a person really has ADD, it is easy to get diagnosed and prescribed medicine.
For adults, a doctor can simply ask a series of questions to determine whether the patient needs help focusing.
"Everyone's brain works differently," said Allison McClendon, sophomore in psychology. "If you don't actually need the medicine, it's going to mess up your brain composition."
McClendon said people often diagnose themselves and expect the same results as others by taking medication.
"I think people see people who have ADD or ADHD use Adderall and they see how it works for them, and they think they'll get the same results," McClendon said.
Joseph Buckhalt, professor of special education, rehabilitation, counseling and school psychology, said students who have not been diagnosed with Attention Deficit Disorder should not take ADD medications to try to focus.
If someone has been diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, a related attention disorder that causes hyperactivity and loss of focus, the brain is actually functioning at a more sluggish pace, Buckhalt said.
The person with ADHD must compensate for their brain's slower functioning by becoming hyperactive, and this is why stimulants such as Adderall help people with ADHD calm down and focus.
"If your cognitive tempo and cognitive functioning is a little bit sluggish, it might be that a stimulant ramps it up so you can perform," Buckhalt said.
Taking medication to focus may help for a short time, Buckhalt said, but will most likely have negative long-term consequences.
"What happens is you may be sharper for a period of time, but they've also found that long-term memory of what you study for is not retained," Buckhalt said. "In other words, you may know it enough to pass the test, but there may not be any long-term storage of that information."
Buckhalt said for people who do not have ADD or ADHD, the best way to focus and do well is not to take unprescribed medication, but to stay rested.
"I would advise students who are trying to study for a test to be well-slept and well-rested when you learn the material, and then be well-slept and rested after you learn the material," Buckhalt said.
During sleep, the prefrontal cortex, which is the learning apparatus, communicates with the hippocampus, where memories are stored, Buckhalt said.
"It's not just that the body needs rest or that the mind is tired," Buckhalt said. "There are actually some restorative aspects of sleep that improve cognitive functioning."
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