More Students Taking Cognitive Performance Enhancing Drugs
With the pressure of school exams looming, more students are taking cognitive performance enhancing drugs in order to pass tests. According to the Academy of Medical Sciences, more kids are dipping into their parents and grandparents medicine cabinets to take prescription medication normally meant to treat Alzheimer’s Disease and ADHD.
Because of test examination pressure, students are looking to enhance memory and boost alertness with these drugs. No longer is caffeine the drug of choice for many students as other cognitive performance enhancing drugs (which can be likened to sports performance enhancing drugs) are now taking the forefront.
on October 23rd, 2009 at 11:38 am
I totally agree with these observations. I have three children who are now attending local universities. They tell me that the use of ADHD prescription medication is rampant. Adderall became the drug that took over a lot of the Ritalin market. Now Vyvanse is beginning to become the new “drug of choice.” One major source of this growing phenomenon is that virtually all college students are aware of these drugs and share with each other what to say to their physicians to get prescriptions. Also, now more than ever, freshman students are totally overwhelmed by their social and academic schedules after graduating from high school. In my opinion, many high schools (if not most) have tended to “dumb down” the curriculum, making it easier for students to graduate as honor students. This opens the door for scholarships and admission to more prestigious schools. Unfortunately for these unsuspecting graduates, most universities have not lowered their academic standards the way high schools have. Students begin to panic as they falter in first and second semester courses and often run for prescription help under the guise of ADHD.