2008 Woodie Awards
Skeptical Sisson: Adderall's unfair advantage
Douglas Sisson
Issue date: 11/8/07 Section: Opinions
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Eager to deal with problems with a quick fix, Western society turns to prescription medications. Adderall, prescription amphetamine salts, is used by numerous students and adults to treat Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD). For others, the medication serves as prescription speed to increase academic productivity by improving a patient's attention span and decreasing distractibility. Stimulants - like coffee in the mornings or a Red Bull to pull all-nighters - are a reality for college students. Yet students who consume Adderall have an unfair academic advantage over those of us relying on caffeine or organized study habits to complete required assignments.
Coffee, the stimulant of choice for students and faculty at the College, sets the bar of feasible academic productivity at a level that can be fairly accessed by the community at large. Red Bull, caffeine pills, soda beverages and Starbucks Double Shots - each sold at the College - additionally cater to the lucrative market of caffeine-induced study aides. Caffeine is effective in keeping a student awake, but Adderall is a prescription medication that not only decreases the need for sleep, it increases one's ability and drive to perform academically.
Increasing numbers of students are choosing prescription medications after discovering their fantastic ability to heighten reading rates, improve concentration and overall make studying more enjoyable. As a first-year student, it didn't take me long before I realized the advantages students prescribed to Adderall experienced. Soon thereafter, I met with various credible psychiatrists and after sharing with them my struggle to concentrate and read free of distraction - something I feel any human experiences - I became diagnosed with ADD and was prescribed Adderall.
It wasn't until this summer that my legitimately prescribed love affair with Adderall came to a much needed end. Yet, there's something to be said about learning to multi-task under the influence of medication and now having to do the same tasks with only the aid of coffee and organized study habits. Strictly from the perspective of academic productivity, the benefits of consuming Adderall greatly outweigh using only caffeinated beverages.
Coffee, the stimulant of choice for students and faculty at the College, sets the bar of feasible academic productivity at a level that can be fairly accessed by the community at large. Red Bull, caffeine pills, soda beverages and Starbucks Double Shots - each sold at the College - additionally cater to the lucrative market of caffeine-induced study aides. Caffeine is effective in keeping a student awake, but Adderall is a prescription medication that not only decreases the need for sleep, it increases one's ability and drive to perform academically.
Increasing numbers of students are choosing prescription medications after discovering their fantastic ability to heighten reading rates, improve concentration and overall make studying more enjoyable. As a first-year student, it didn't take me long before I realized the advantages students prescribed to Adderall experienced. Soon thereafter, I met with various credible psychiatrists and after sharing with them my struggle to concentrate and read free of distraction - something I feel any human experiences - I became diagnosed with ADD and was prescribed Adderall.
It wasn't until this summer that my legitimately prescribed love affair with Adderall came to a much needed end. Yet, there's something to be said about learning to multi-task under the influence of medication and now having to do the same tasks with only the aid of coffee and organized study habits. Strictly from the perspective of academic productivity, the benefits of consuming Adderall greatly outweigh using only caffeinated beverages.
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