| Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder | | | | wake up till wee hours to prepare for exams |
| (ADHD) is a contentious disorder that is | | | | as it has been suggested to help students |
| believed to be a developmental disorder that | | | | maintain abnormally high levels of |
| is largely neurological in nature. It is | | | | concentration. It is believed to be even more |
| known to affect around 5 percent to 7 percent | | | | effective than mega-doses of caffeine for |
| of all children in the United States, sixty | | | | keeping them awake and on task. Apparently, |
| percent of which are known to retain it in | | | | it is popular by various street names viz. |
| the adulthood. There are several clinically | | | | vitamin R & cramming drug! It is sadly |
| proven effective options available to treat | | | | ironic that many young people who start using |
| people diagnosed with ADHD and Ritalin is one | | | | Ritalin this way are actually good kids and |
| such medication which is asserted to treat | | | | excellent students. Because so many of them |
| ADHD most effectively, and cost efficiently. | | | | are juggling more than they can really |
| | | | handle, some of them succumb to temptation of |
| In recent years, Ritalin has become one of | | | | getting something to help them study for a |
| the frequently abused prescription drugs. The | | | | final or finish a major project. But then a |
| United States Drug Enforcement Administration | | | | few weeks later, more exams, term papers, and |
| classifies Ritalin as a schedule II drug i.e. | | | | projects loom overwhelmingly on the horizon. |
| a substance with a large potential for misuse | | | | So they resort once more to their "study aid" |
| as it is a CNS stimulant that produces | | | | that helped them ace their work the last time |
| pharmacological effects similar to those of | | | | & this is how it starts... |
| cocaine and amphetamines. As a result, a | | | | |
| growing number of incidents of ADHD | | | | ADHD Prescription medicine drugs are abused |
| prescription drug abuse, associated with all | | | | for their stimulant effects like appetite |
| age groups, are being reported nowadays. | | | | suppression, wakefulness, increased focus |
| According to a survey of Texas university | | | | attentiveness, and euphoria. Ritalin is so |
| students in 1997, almost 1.5 percent of | | | | cheap and so easy to get hold of that a |
| students had misused Ritalin during the past | | | | highly profitable illegal resale market has |
| year and 2 percent had done so at some point | | | | sprung up around it. Some kids in middle |
| in their lives. A 1998 survey of students at | | | | school, high school, and college have taken |
| the University of Wisconsin, Madison, | | | | to buying the pills at an inflated, but still |
| presented yet another peep into this | | | | quite manageable, price. |
| disturbing trend when it concluded that 20 | | | | |
| percent of the students had illegally taken | | | | Excessive doses of Ritalin over a long period |
| Ritalin or a similar drug at least once in | | | | of time can produce addiction. It is also |
| their lives. | | | | possible to develop tolerance to the drug, so |
| | | | that larger doses are needed to produce the |
| Ritalin is also occasionally used in adults | | | | original effect. Addiction to Ritalin seems |
| to treat narcolepsy, a sleep disorder | | | | to occur when it induces rapid increases of |
| characterized by sudden and uncontrollable | | | | dopamine in the brain. So instead of |
| episodes of deep sleep. So it is quite famous | | | | excessive use of drugs, behavioral therapy, |
| for its stimulant effects & that are | | | | emotional counseling, and practical support |
| exactly what college students need! | | | | must be given to ADHD children so that they |
| | | | can cope with everyday problems and feel |
| As a result, an increasing proportion of | | | | better about themselves instead of getting |
| college students are taking up Ritalin to | | | | dependent on drugs! |