The procrastinator's dream

By Anthony Medoro
Collegian Staff
February 6, 2008

It’s already 12:34 a.m. by the time Jason arrives at the off-campus house he inhabits with several of his fraternity brothers. Although he has an accounting test tomorrow, he still hasn’t begun studying. This might present a problem for some students, especially considering Jason’s current situation: He is responsible for six chapters and a case study, but he’s missed three of the last five classes and will have to teach himself much of the material.

Nick Elmer

However, Jason’s grown accustomed to this type of situation, and has achieved a good deal of success by pulling all-nighters. He equips himself with the tools to do so. Clattering in the bag he holds in his hand are four energy drinks, which should help. More importantly, though, he has his study buddy.

Tiny, pink and round, Jason’s study buddy is a standard-looking pill. No bigger than a thumb tack, it is a pharmaceutical psycho stimulant comprised of a variety of mixed amphetamines. The common name is Adderall. With a number 20 stamped into the center, each pill offers a seemingly slight amount of milligrams, and yet, they possess an extreme amount of power.

Jason swallows his first pill with fruit punch at 12:48 a.m.

“Let’s get this show on the road,” he says.

Used primarily to treat attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and narcolepsy, Adderall increases alertness, concentration and mental-processing speed, while decreasing fatigue. For these reasons, it has become popular among college students looking for a competitive edge— students like Jason. According to Dr. Tim Wilens, a psychopharmacologist at Massachusetts General Hospital, 25 percent of college-age students have tried the drug Adderall without prescriptions. More than 50 college newspapers have already published articles describing Adderall abuse on campus, according to CBS News. Adderall has many possible side effects, inducing decreased appetite, jitteriness, panic, headaches and stomachaches; however, it can get worse.

***

It is now 1:41 a.m. All Jason has accomplished so far is editing the interests section in his Facebook profile. He sits in his room at the small desk he built himself. It barely fits his laptop and the speaker that resides next to it. His desk is positioned under the unsteady bed loft he constructed shortly after he moved in. There is an aroma of new carpet in the air which he just laid a few weeks earlier. The floor is splattered with all sorts of clothing and shoes, like paint splashed on a wall. The thumping of the subwoofer can be heard lightly as a Led Zeppelin song plays softly in the background. He stops the music.

Jason has big brown eyes, but you wouldn’t know it looking at him. The light brown brims are twin lunar eclipses, hardly visible behind the dime-sized behemoths his pupils have become. Casting a shark-like stare into his computer’s monitor, Jason’s eyes are black as coal. Dilation is one of the many side effects of Adderall.

At 6’3’’, Jason makes his presence known. His legs are long and skinny, but his shoulders are big, his forearms defined. He is outfitted in a grey hooded sweatshirt and black sweatpants, and wears the hood up over head because the house is without heat.

“I feel like it helps me concentrate, too,” he says.

Jason continues to page through Facebook looking at pictures from the previous weekend. He alternates between the photo albums and the fantasy football statistics Web site. Obviously in no hurry, he has three pills of Adderall with him tonight, 60 mg in all.

“I’ll be happy if I start by two,” he says. “I’m not too worried about it.”

Jason plans to follow normal routine: Take his second pill around four or five o’clock, then the third shortly before the exam.

According to an article on the University of Iowa Student Health Services’ Web site, “The production of Adderall increased by 5,767 percent from 1993 to 2001.”

There is really no reliable test to determine if one has ADHD. The diagnosis generally involves an interview with a psychiatrist who judges symptoms and compares them to the criteria set forth, and then determines if the individual has the disease. There have been reports of college students faking symptoms in order to get a prescription for studying.

***

It is 2:18 a.m. when Jason finally opens the textbook that has been on his lap for nearly an hour. Intermediate Financial Accounting II is the course, and he is gearing to prepare for the third and last exam before the final. He has scored an 89 and 92 on the previous tests using the same method he will use tonight.

Moving forward to 2:59 a.m., it is clear that the drug is taking its full affect. Jason’s eyes are glued to every letter in the textbook. Moving them back and forth like a roving spotlight, he methodically processes each sentence. His facial expressions are like those of a detective on a murder case, and his diligent work—over four pages of notes—only enhances the comparison. He begins to tap on his desk with his fingers as he reads. It’s a steady beat that seems to model the systematic way in which the words enter his mind.

Jason’s proficiency is no fluke. According to Dr. Eric Heiligenstein, a psychiatrist at the University of Wisconsin who studies substance abuse, Adderall can give healthy people an almost super-human ability to focus for long periods.

“It’s a huge asset if someone wants to spend 12 hours studying without fatigue,” Heiligenstein says. “It’s an academic steroid.”

This “academic steroid” has aided Jason for two years now. He started taking Adderall while pledging his fraternity, because he feared his grades would slip during pledging.

“I knew students were taking it to help them study and that it gave you energy,” he says. “But the affects were much more intense than I expected. I didn’t know it actually would make me interested in studying boring subjects like accounting. I fell in love with the drug. It eliminated a lot of problems, but [now I] wish I never knew about it.”

Allowing him to eliminate much of the time the body needs for sleep, it succeeded in helping to keep grades up. However, when the pledge period ended, Jason had grown accustomed to the effects of the drug. Although he had much more time on his hands, instead of balancing his work load, he began to procrastinate. With the access to this new miracle drug, Jason knew schoolwork could be shifted to the backburner. The excitement of being part of a new fraternity combined with the use of his newfound asset trapped Jason in a cycle of abuse he still hasn’t escaped. Jason is an excessive partier and almost never takes a test or turns in an assignment without spending an Adderall-influenced sleepless night before the due date.

“I think the first time I actually realized I was addicted was on a Tuesday,” he says. “It was like early March, spring semester sophomore year. I had a pretty big assignment due Thursday. I wanted to get an early start. I remember I sat down to do it and I just couldn’t. I couldn’t focus. It felt like my brain was shut off. I felt like I wasn’t capable of writing [as] well if I didn’t take Adderall. That’s when I knew. So I went out that night and drank, and then did it all night Wednesday.”

According to Katherine Ward-Gaus, coordinator of the Alcohol and Other Drug Education Center at La Salle, the drug can have a strong psychological addiction.

“Students who become psychologically addicted to the drug may tend to second guess their own personal confidence when not using Adderall,” she said.

“It’s not the lack of the actual chemical in the body that causes the problem. It is one’s own belief that they cannot perform without the drug.”

***

Jason feels exhaustion slowly coming over him. It is 4:50 a.m. and everything is slowing down. His note-taking pace has decreased—only about a half of a page in the last hour. Jason’s eyes are the only part of his body that seem awake. The rest of his face is drawn, his mouth hanging down slightly open. He breathes slowly, as if he were asleep. He is sluggish when he moves, and looks uncomfortable no matter how he sits. His finger tapping has also ceased. He is also prone to distraction. Jason needs rest, or, at least, a charge. At 5:17 a.m. Jason takes his second 20mg dosage of Adderall.

Colleges and universities across the nation are becoming more aware of students using prescription stimulants, such as Adderall, to perform better in classes. Some schools have added sections to their policies and procedures for disciplinary actions to be taken against students using the drug illegally without a prescription. For example, the University of Iowa, as a part of its policy on illicit drug use, can discipline students found to be using prescription drugs illegally. According to the school’s student health services, “Possession or use of Adderall in violation of the Code of Student Life may include probation, mandatory substance abuse evaluation, suspension or even expulsion.”

Meanwhile, counselors at the University of Chicago are becoming more aware of the Adderall problem, according to the school’s official magazine. Because most abusers do not approach university counselors or health-care providers, campus specialists are reaching out to these students with pamphlets addressing issues like stress, time management and academic difficulties. The brochures provide practical advice for the overwhelmed student: “choose your own goals,” “take care of your health” and “buy a calendar.”

Other schools consider the drug less harmful.

“I haven’t had any complaints or any reports filed on it as a judicial matter,” April Thompson, director of undergraduate judicial affairs at Dartmouth, says in an interview with The Dartmouth.

She went on to indicate that Adderall use does not violate Dartmouth’s academic honor principle, saying, “The way our honor principle is written now, I don’t think Adderall is a violation of it. We are more concerned about the mental health issue of it.” Ward-Gaus says she’s seen only a handful of reports concerning the drug at La Salle. In fact, she indicated Adderall is not even included on the yearly Alcohol and Other Drug Usage survey distributed to students each February at the university. However, she does report that more and more doctors are monitoring prescriptions around the country due to abuse awareness.

“There is an ongoing concern for the abuse of Adderall and I think we will continue to see more restrictions on prescriptions in the near future,” Ward-Gaus says.

The time is 8:23 a.m. Intense fatigue has overcome Jason’s body. The second pill hasn’t been nearly as effective as the first. He will ingest the third one simply to remain awake during the exam.

“When I first started using Adderall, one pill was good enough to get me through the night,” he says. “Then it moved to two and eventually three. Now, it really only keeps me focused and barely keeps me awake.”

With little over an hour left until the exam, Jason still has an entire chapter to study. He takes his third and final pill at 8:48 a.m. before skimming through the chapter quickly, trying to cram all the important parts into his brain. He struggles with a concept, almost more physically than mentally, before he finally figures it out.

According to Dr. Anthony Rostain, a psychiatric specialist at the University of Pennsylvania, taking Adderall is probably the most serious health risk a college student can engage in.

“The resulting blood pressure changes can result into some really ugly heart rhythm problems. A stroke or an arrhythmia is possible,” he says. “One risk is sleep deprivation itself; another is not eating properly. And high dosage usage over a period of time can cause irritability, loss of proper thinking ability, and it can cause mania in those who are prone to that. So there certainly are some dangers.”

The drug is potentially even more dangerous. According to the Harvard Crimson, a Food and Drug Administration advisory committee recently voted in favor of putting a warning label on Adderall, noting the drug increases the risk of cardiovascular disease and sudden death.

It’s 9:04 a.m. and Jason’s body has fully abandoned him. He shakes slightly from time to time, as he mediates a battle between mind and body. He has consumed his fourth energy drink. It is the first time he has ever finished four before a test. The ingredients in the beverages have taken a toll on his stomach, which aches with pain. Feeling he will vomit, he heads toward the bathroom. False alarm. He knows he should get something in his stomach, but any type of food seems repulsive to him.

“That’s one of the worst parts about it,” he says. “Even later in the day when I know my body is hungry from my growling stomach I still do not crave any food. And when I force myself to eat it doesn’t taste good. It’s weird. It’s like my taste buds have shut off.”

Jason returns to his desk where even now his eyes have given up on him. He decides to attempt a half-hour nap before his exam. He waits for a yawn, which signals he will be able to fall asleep. It never comes. He climbs up into his loft anyway and tries his best to fall asleep, but he can’t. He is distracted by his racing heartbeat, which keeps him awake. It feels like it is next to his ear. His eyelids shake.

At 9:46 a.m., Jason jumps out of bed and gets dressed for his test at 10. He is uncertain of whether he is fully prepared. He grabs his schoolbag and heads down the stairs toward the door. It is drizzling , so he flips his hood over his head as he walks out of the house. His breath is visible in the air.

The following Friday he returns to class, nervous about his test grade. The professor hands him his blue book. As he opens the page he sees the number 90 circled in red.

“Sometimes I wish I would do badly,” he says. “I get scared that someday when I get a real job that has a heavy workload, I may be tempted to take it again. But I don’t think that will happen.”

medoroa1@lasalle.edu