Study drugs

!! WARNING !! This content is for a well-informed public.

Have you ever seen the movie Limitless ? The story is about a man who manages to develop cognitive faculties in few minutes by taking simple pills. Then it  improves his perceptions, his memory and his reasoning capacity. It seems to me too good to be true! And yet ...

... What if reality catches up fiction!

It is by loosing myself  in the maze of youtube that I find out a serious documentary  about drugs which may increase mental skills among students. My curiosity pushed me to press the play button and that is what I discovered:

The "study drug" is a phenomenon that affects the United States for some years. Indeed, taking drugs in American universities is becoming ordinary and common, even more a "necessity" sometimes. A study lead by The New York Times revealed that 1.5 % to 35 % of students use medecines to improve their academic performance.

Usually these "drugs" are  prescribed by psychiatrists to treat Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Thus , there are many drugs on the market such as Ritalin , Adderall or Vyvanse , which are amphetamines and other psychotropic drugs.

So why do "healthy students "  consume drugs they are not supposed to ?

In theory, these « smart »  drugs would  improve focus, to work more than 20 hours in a row without tiredness, stimulate memory and consequently to optimize learning process, by staying awake and fighting against distractions. Therefore, it is a usefull and effective solution to get better grades.

Mostly, this practice is widespread in the most prestigious and competitive universities. Acutally, 1 student out of 5 would consume these drugs on a regular basis to stand out and be amongthe best.

We can understand that these drugs are commonplace and are compared to energizing drinks or coffee. Moreover, since these drugs are producted by pharmacists they look like they are safe for health.

However, there are many side effects that can be devastating . For example, there are physical addiction, headaches , nervousness, insomnia , anxiety, depression , confusion, memory trouble, important mood swings.

So do you think taking these drugs is worth a try?