College Student And ADHD Medication Abuse Facts To Ponder

By: Jimmy Brownen Click author's name for more of his/her articles

Misuse of ADHD as prescribed medicine has become one of the nation's prevalent problems. Findings of a study done in 2001 was released in 2007. This study was carried out on almost 11,000 students from 199 nationally representative of 4 year collage students. These students were asked on usage of non-medical use of stimulant medications and were promised that their personal identities would not be revealed to ensure honest and open responses.

Results included the following:
- The percentage of students that have used the stimulants during their life time is about 6.9%. 4.1% reported that they have used such stimulants in the past year and 2.1% in the past month

- Males used them twice as much as females while misuse of the stimulants among Caucasians are significantly higher than African American.

- Those in a sorority and fraternity are likely to use stimulants twice as much as non members.

- Use was higher among students with a GPA of B or below.

- It was found that there are more students that came from colleges with higher admission criteria who abuses stimulants than those that came from colleges with lower admission criteria.

Findings also found that non-medical use of stimulants are associated other substance abuse. The followings are the percentage of those who use stimulants versus those who didn't:

- Use of cigarettes: 67% vs. 24%
- Frequent binge drinking: 69% vs. 21%
- Use of ecstasy: 19% vs. 1%
- Use of cocaine: 17% vs. 1%
- Driving after binge drinking: 35% vs. 9%
- Being the passenger of a drunk driver: 66% vs. 21%

What are the reasons for using stimulants? The most common motive is to enhance academic performance especially when studying outside of class. This does not mean that using stimulants is never used for recreational purposes, but the findings are not that significant.

One theory on abuse of stimulants is that these student actually do have ADD but failed to get it diagnosed. However, there is still the question of why those who really do not have ADD feel that they are experiencing ADD symptoms. There are even students who voice out that they actually don't have problem with paying attention but over time has developed this problem.

Finding of this study might be relaying something important to parents who anxious about their children getting involved in stimulant abuse.

Here are a few symptoms that parentsâ€™ needs to observe.

1. Is your child under a lot of academic pressure, either to get in, or to excel, at his particular university? You may notice that he seems obsessed with getting into a school, or once in, worries constantly about keeping up and doing well.
2. How are his grades? If he seems horribly stressed and yet his grades are not reflective of his efforts, check with him.
3. Has your daughter lost a good bit of weight? Is she irritable and does she complain of having no appetite? Is this normal for her?
4. Is there other substance abuse that you are aware of?
5. Is your child complaining of problems with attention?
6. Does your child seem depressed?

Whatever the answers you may find from as a result of these questions, you should not neglect them. Whether they prove that your child is engaging in abuse of stimulants or not, as parents you will find it valuable enough as they make you understand what your children is experiencing.

The most important findings of this study shows that college students should be educated more about stimulants abuse. We should be looking out for accurate information on ADD as well as methods of treatment. We should also learn about other factors that can contribute to attention difficulties and why it is important to seek professional help rather than prescribing one's own medicine. It is then also important for us to be aware of other methods be it medical or non medical that can assist people with ADD.

Article Source: ABC Article Directory

About The Author: As a leading practitioner in the field of treating attention deficit disorder, Jimmy Brownen has had man years of experience in the treatment of such disorders. For more information on adderall or vyvanse, please visit his site today.