What many people don’t realize is that there is more to Adderall than they might think.
So we’re here to present you with 10 facts about Adderall to make you more aware.
Fact 1: Adderall is a medication under the class of drugs known as stimulants.
Stimulants are substances that excite the brain.
Taking safe-dosage quantities of stimulants such as Adderall can effectively heighten
certain desirable attributes, such as focus, energy, alertness and attention.
Do you wonder what this might feel like?
Imagine being in a forest and seeing a bear.
Instantly, you become alert, focusing all of your attention on what your next step should be.
These feelings of heightened emotions are often experienced when taking a stimulant.
Fact 2: Adderall is most often prescribed for individuals with ADHD.
ADHD, or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, is a medical condition that is often characterized
by symptoms such as distractibility, hyperactivity, and inattention.
Adderall is known to help alleviate these symptoms.
Fact 3: Adderall stimulates chemicals in the brain such as dopamine and norepinephrine.
Individuals with ADHD often have a deficiency of dopamine and norepinephrine chemicals in
their brain.
To combat this, Adderall increases the release of these molecules in the brain and prevents
their breakdown.
This allows for the reduction of symptoms of hyperactivity, inattention and impulsivity.
Fact 4: Adderall is the most commonly abused prescription stimulant among college students.
Studies have shown that about 35% of students have used stimulants such as Adderall for
academic reasons.
However, 81% of these students believe that Adderall is not dangerous.
While the majority of this percentage are college students, research has shown that
younger students recreationally use Adderall as well.
Specifically, 4.9% of 8th graders, 8.5% of tenth graders, F have used Adderall without
a prescription.
Fact 5:Adderall is commonly used as a study aid.
In college student’s everyday struggles of completing assignment after assignment,
substances like Adderall are commonly used to enhance academic productivity and attention.
One study examined tweets related to Adderall.
The tweets confirmed the popular use of Adderall as a study aid with the highest number of
related tweets during exam periods.
In addition, the most common side effects tweeted about were sleep deprivation and loss
of appetite Although mainly used as a study aid, Adderall has other uses.
As study demonstrated that around 19% of college students have used prescription stimulants
in combination with alcohol for recreational use.
Fact 6: Adderall is the most widely prescribed stimulant Throughout the years, diagnosis
of mental health disorders such as ADHD have increased.
With this comes an increased use of Adderall.
Specifically, the amount of prescriptions made for stimulants such as Adderall have
increased by 368.5% between the years of 1992-2002.
Fact 7: There are several short term effects associated with Adderall use.
Some of these effects include gastrointestinal problems, blurry vision, increased body temperature,
increased blood pressure, increased heart rate, reduced circulation, irritability, and
insomnia
Fact 8: There are some long-term effects associated with Adderall use.
Some of these effects include significant weight loss, slowed weight gain, cardiovascular
impairments, hallucinations, psychotic episodes, mood changes, anxiety, sleep difficulties,
heart attacks or even death.
Fact 9: Adderall is an addictive drug that can cause serious negative effects.
Stimulants are addictive substances because they activate your reward pathway, leading
to positive emotions.
With regular abuse of Adderall, drug tolerance is likely to occur, meaning your body no longer
reacts to this drug.
During this time your body may experience withdrawal symptoms including violent mood
swings, extreme fatigue and uncontrollable cravings.
To avoid this, higher doses of Adderall are typically taken to sustain rewarding effects
and this can lead to adverse reactions such as hallucinations, depression, anxiety and
obsessive behavior.
Eventually, an overdose may occur because of this which may result in a decline in brain
function, brain bleeding, circulatory system failure, kidney failure, muscle breakdown,
coma or death.
Fact 10: There are some alternatives for the recreational use of Adderall.
Some alternatives that research suggests are caffeine, a good night's sleep, daily exercise
and a well-balanced diet can be used to improve cognitive performances.
We hope that with these ten facts you learned something new about Adderall.
Thanks for watching.