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Maybe you just can’t focus during the Monday morning meeting, or perhaps you’ve planned an all-night study session and need to get yourself in the zone.
Whatever the reasons, millions of Americans have started taking prescription drugs like Ritalin and Adderall typically prescribed for attention deficit hyperactive disorder, whether they actually need the medications or not. A recent report published in The Clinical Neuropsychologist concluded that one in four adults fake the symptoms of ADHD to get diagnosed. In a related MSN poll, thirty-eight percent of primary care physicians suspected patients of lying or exaggerating about ADHD symptoms.
Those figures could skyrocket as more adults perceive a need—performance-based or not—for such medications. Between 4 and 8 million adults and more than 5 million children are currently being treated for ADHD, according to the CDC. Several factors are behind the climbing figures:
People Lie. You can’t draw blood and confirm that somebody has ADHD. “Most people are diagnosed on the basis of a clinical interview only. That raises major problems because there’s no way of identifying dishonesty in that setting,” says Paul Marshall, a clinical neuropsychologist in Minneapolis and author of the study. In university settings, administrators can enforce stricter standards—like four-hour battery tests and other in-depth assessments before a student can get a prescription. Most other clinics, though, don’t have the time or the resources to give every patient such a rigorous exam. “You need to have some means of identifying exaggeration and, to be honest, there’s no accurate way to do that absolutely,” says Marshall.
People Mistake the Symptoms. Inattentiveness, irritability, and anxiety—sometimes, these problems are brought on by something as simple as a lack of sleep, leading people to jump to conclusions. “The most common symptoms of ADHD can be caused by many things,” says Marshall. “Most often it’s by depression and anxiety. But there is no question problems with sleep—particularly among college students—will lead to problems with attention and concentration.”
People Want an Edge. The most obvious answer? Lots of people—especially college students—use drugs like Ritalin and Adderall to fuel all-night study sessions and last-minute projects. While ADHD medication has a calming effect on the patients it’s intended for, the drugs react in the opposite way to those who don’t have ADHD—kind of like a more potent version of Red Bull or Four-Hour Energy. The use of these medications as performance-enhancers is a controversial subject among doctors, one that’s still very much up for debate. “If they’re not harmful, you could argue what’s the problem,” says Marshall. “We have people who will drink six cups of coffee throughout the day but maintain that one pill of Ritalin isn’t appropriate. Well, caffeine is a drug, too.”
So what’s the risk in all of this? That, too, is a point of heated contention. While there have been some documented cases of addiction to ADHD medications, many doctors concede that it’s rare.
“There is some risk,” says Marshall, “but they’re not like heroin or methamphetamines—you won’t go through terrible withdrawal. It’s more like a psychological withdrawal.” In cases of addiction, the dosage is often high—and sustained over a long stretch of time.
“Unless they take it all the time and increased to higher and higher doses—which most people don’t—the risk is small,” says Dr. John Ratey, Ph.D., associate clinical professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and author of the best-selling Driven to Distraction, one of the first books that brought mainstream attention to ADD.
Thankfully, the solution to improved concentration doesn’t have to lie in a prescription pad. In Ratey’s newest book, Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain, he offers up one promising alternative. “A lot of times people begin to show attention problems when they stop exercising,” he says. “When you work out, you release the same stimulants—dopamine and epinephrine—found in Ritalin and Adderall. Exercise enough, and you can often ameliorate those symptoms.”
If symptoms persist, you can also request a more intensive exam at an ADD clinic. You might find that you’ve got a condition worthy of treatment.
Whatever the reasons, millions of Americans have started taking prescription drugs like Ritalin and Adderall typically prescribed for attention deficit hyperactive disorder, whether they actually need the medications or not. A recent report published in The Clinical Neuropsychologist concluded that one in four adults fake the symptoms of ADHD to get diagnosed. In a related MSN poll, thirty-eight percent of primary care physicians suspected patients of lying or exaggerating about ADHD symptoms.
Those figures could skyrocket as more adults perceive a need—performance-based or not—for such medications. Between 4 and 8 million adults and more than 5 million children are currently being treated for ADHD, according to the CDC. Several factors are behind the climbing figures:
People Lie. You can’t draw blood and confirm that somebody has ADHD. “Most people are diagnosed on the basis of a clinical interview only. That raises major problems because there’s no way of identifying dishonesty in that setting,” says Paul Marshall, a clinical neuropsychologist in Minneapolis and author of the study. In university settings, administrators can enforce stricter standards—like four-hour battery tests and other in-depth assessments before a student can get a prescription. Most other clinics, though, don’t have the time or the resources to give every patient such a rigorous exam. “You need to have some means of identifying exaggeration and, to be honest, there’s no accurate way to do that absolutely,” says Marshall.
People Mistake the Symptoms. Inattentiveness, irritability, and anxiety—sometimes, these problems are brought on by something as simple as a lack of sleep, leading people to jump to conclusions. “The most common symptoms of ADHD can be caused by many things,” says Marshall. “Most often it’s by depression and anxiety. But there is no question problems with sleep—particularly among college students—will lead to problems with attention and concentration.”
People Want an Edge. The most obvious answer? Lots of people—especially college students—use drugs like Ritalin and Adderall to fuel all-night study sessions and last-minute projects. While ADHD medication has a calming effect on the patients it’s intended for, the drugs react in the opposite way to those who don’t have ADHD—kind of like a more potent version of Red Bull or Four-Hour Energy. The use of these medications as performance-enhancers is a controversial subject among doctors, one that’s still very much up for debate. “If they’re not harmful, you could argue what’s the problem,” says Marshall. “We have people who will drink six cups of coffee throughout the day but maintain that one pill of Ritalin isn’t appropriate. Well, caffeine is a drug, too.”
So what’s the risk in all of this? That, too, is a point of heated contention. While there have been some documented cases of addiction to ADHD medications, many doctors concede that it’s rare.
“There is some risk,” says Marshall, “but they’re not like heroin or methamphetamines—you won’t go through terrible withdrawal. It’s more like a psychological withdrawal.” In cases of addiction, the dosage is often high—and sustained over a long stretch of time.
“Unless they take it all the time and increased to higher and higher doses—which most people don’t—the risk is small,” says Dr. John Ratey, Ph.D., associate clinical professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and author of the best-selling Driven to Distraction, one of the first books that brought mainstream attention to ADD.
Thankfully, the solution to improved concentration doesn’t have to lie in a prescription pad. In Ratey’s newest book, Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain, he offers up one promising alternative. “A lot of times people begin to show attention problems when they stop exercising,” he says. “When you work out, you release the same stimulants—dopamine and epinephrine—found in Ritalin and Adderall. Exercise enough, and you can often ameliorate those symptoms.”
If symptoms persist, you can also request a more intensive exam at an ADD clinic. You might find that you’ve got a condition worthy of treatment.
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