Impact of ADHD and stimulants on students

May is more than a month of mental health awareness for me. May marks the first anniversary of my diagnosis of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). At the age of 15, he was diagnosed with anxiety and depression, and repeated trial and error with various drug combinations. In February 2020, I knew something wasn’t right yet. I was diagnosed with ADHD only a few months later.

I was diagnosed at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, so I did an ADHD test with a psychiatrist via Zoom. My first meeting was an hour. We just talked about things and he got to know some of me. The next meeting with the psychiatrist was nearly three hours long and included multiple questionnaires, intellectual screening, cognitive tests, and distraction tests.

My diagnosis was difficult to grasp immediately and completely, and the idea of ​​telling the person who was diagnosed exacerbated my anxiety. Immediately after my diagnosis, my doctor put me in Adderall and started trying more drug combinations.

I have long kept the diagnosis and treatment secret from most of my extended family, friends, and peers, as I didn’t know how to explain why I didn’t show many of the well-known symptoms. As I grew up, my classmates and teachers told me that I was too sensitive and distracting and needed to stop procrastination. The teacher told my parents that I was a smart student, but I stopped paying too much attention during class. In a fierce, fast-paced situation, I became overly emotional and influenced most of my athletic career in high school.

After diagnosis, all of these experiences were found to be actually symptoms of ADHD.

Seton Warren, a senior at the University of Iowa, also suffers from ADHD and uses stimulants as a treatment for her diagnosis. She shared how ADHD affects her scholarship, letting her talk before thinking in a social situation, and affecting her timeliness.

“I think it’s very difficult to pay attention,” Warren said. “I think it’s contributing to my procrastination. I’m having a hard time getting to the place because I missed the deadline.”

Many women struggle to get a diagnosis of ADHD from their doctor. According to that number, 38% are women and 62% are men. Their ADHD diagnosis is usually mistaken for another mental illness or overshadowed.

by Children and adults with Attention Deficit / Hyperactivity Disorder (CHADD), Much of what researchers know about women is based on the clinical experience of mental health professionals who specialize in treating women.

“It’s really hard for a girl to get a diagnosis. I was 16 years old, but I was too old to get that diagnosis,” Warren said. “My brother was diagnosed when he was in fourth grade.”

As with any mental illness, not everyone has the same symptoms.according to Article understood, Girls and boys tend to show different signs of ADHD, and boys are diagnosed at a higher rate. Boys tend to have external symptoms, such as impulsivity and outward aggression.

However, girls often have internal symptoms, such as inattention and loss of self-esteem, which can cause problems with anxiety, depression, and eating disorders. As a result, a common symptom in boys is a change to the stereotype of ADHD symptoms.

“It will be different for everyone. It will be at different levels,” Warren said. “Not everyone who knows about ADHD will be the same as the next person. It’s not an option. Many people say,” Would you like to do your homework or clean your room? Don’t think so, why don’t you think this way? “, But that is not always the case. Possible. “

Kylevo Torbeck, a staff therapist at UI University Counseling Services, said it was difficult for many to accept a diagnosis. Daily Iowan on mail. Many people may find it their fault and simply not as smart as a neurotypical person. Others diagnosed later in life can feel the burden removed from their shoulders.

“Many people with ADHD have internalized the fight against self-blame, which can have a profound effect on their self-esteem and feelings of self-esteem,” Votroubek wrote. “Many people who were later diagnosed with ADHD, for example after graduating from high school, eventually realized that the problem wasn’t bad enough, but that they had a different neural structure than people. I feel relieved in the diagnosis because I am. I assumed they have. “

Treatment is often planned along with the diagnosis. For me, this was Adderall. Getting my diagnosis was overwhelming, but adding Adderall to the mix was a completely different obstacle. The disability was not just to adapt to the new prescription, but to prepare how it would be treated by others who knew my medication use. I knew about the use of Adderall on college campuses and knew what this meant to me.

Adderall is a mixture of the stimulant amphetamine and the regulatory substance dextroamphetamine, which can cause many health problems for those who abuse it. Adderall abuse can cause the human nervous system to deprive dopamine receptors due to the high levels of dopamine in the brain caused by Adderall.

After my diagnosis, Adderall was the first prescription I tried. My experience at Adderall was good, but it wasn’t easy to get started. It took several months to adapt to the side effects of the drug and slowly increase the dose until it became comfortable. Adderall doesn’t work for everyone, but I’m relieved to know that there are medicines that can help me in my daily life.

“Adderall abuse is horrifying. People who are not prescribed Adderall and are taking it without consulting a doctor can have serious physical and psychological consequences,” Votroubek said. Stated.

College is a difficult adjustment for everyone, but it can be even more difficult for ADHD students.According to a 2014 study by Partnership to end addiction, About one-fifth of college students say they abuse prescription stimulants. The most common stimulant that is abused is adderall. Most students who abuse stimulants are students without a diagnosis or prescription for ADHD.

From getting a boost to focus on school to trying to enhance night outs, stimulant abuse on college campuses affects people with ADHD more than many understand. I will. Adderall is a regulated substance, not just a supplementable drug. People with ADHD need to call their doctor every month to send refills to the pharmacy.

“I sympathize [students that abuse stimulants] During those stressful times, “Warren said. “I understand why you need that extra push, but obviously they shouldn’t be used without a psychiatrist or doctor monitoring them.”

As an ADHD student, I asked another student to buy and use my medicine from me. After saying no to people many times and explaining that I can’t go pick up more, those same people still ask me to sell my Aderol pill.

“Stimulants are no joke,” said Warren, who was prescribed stimulants other than Adderall. “They make your body feel like junk. They let you through the ringer. You don’t want to eat, your stomach hurts, and you feel sick.”

There are side effects of drugs that never go away. I had some side effects from taking Adderall, but it hasn’t changed since I first took it. Personally, the side effects I encounter do not outweigh the benefits I get from taking Adderall. These side effects I have experienced include dry mouth, loss of appetite, and headaches.

Examples of common misconceptions surrounding ADHD include that people with ADHD can control what they can and cannot control their symptoms, people with ADHD are lazy, and people with ADHD are always hyperactive. Between these misconceptions and stimulant abuse, the stigma around ADHD seems hard to break. ADHD is not thoroughly researched or talked about about mental illness.

by National Institute of Mental HealthThe Department of Neuroscience and Basic Behavioral Sciences was given $ 756,314 in the President’s research budget for 2021, for a total of about $ 2 million.

Many people do not fully understand what ADHD is and what symptoms to look for in themselves and in their peers. ADHD is not a “universal” disease. Each person diagnosed with ADHD has a different treatment plan. As ADHD becomes a hot topic and learns more, doctors and families are more likely to be able to provide people with the resources they need.

“I think people have a very shallow understanding of what ADHD is,” Warren said. “If it’s spoken more deeply, I think more people will be diagnosed and, by extension, stimulant misuse will be much less.”

Understanding the impact of ADHD on people and the symptoms it causes will not make you feel that dealing with ADHD is isolated. After the diagnosis, I didn’t personally know another woman of the same age who had ADHD, so I felt very isolated and very lonely. It was difficult to talk about diagnosis with colleagues who do not have ADHD. Because they usually return comments on how I didn’t have ADHD because I wasn’t hyperactive or didn’t behave like others. I knew ADHD.

“It’s important for us to speak as a society for many reasons,” Votroubek said. “This is so common that we all need to know. People don’t understand their neurodiversity, their concerns are behavioral issues, and the result of bad choices. If you assume that, it can have a particularly negative effect on children. “

As of today, I am happy to say that I have reached the place of life where I accepted my diagnosis and am ready to accept it. It took me almost a year to get here, and — as a 20-year-old woman with ADHD — it wasn’t an easy process. I don’t know if I need treatment for ADHD after 20 years, but no matter what happens in the future, my diagnosis can’t define me.

Awareness of mental health, especially ADHD, is important to break the stigma of people with ADHD as lazy or unmotivated. As a student, daughter, sister, and friend, I’m proud to have ADHD and learn to live with it every day.