How Abuse Starts
It seems so simple at first. A student gets a little behind in his studies. An exam comes up and he needs to prepare. He’ll have to stay up late to have even a chance of making the grade. Coffee gives him the jitters, but many of his friends use these pills to give them the extra energy they need. Why not? A couple of bucks; one pill; an entire night of study; a feeling of “focus.”
That may be where it starts, but it is often not where it ends.
Some students chop up Ritalin and snort it like cocaine for faster absorption. “It keeps you awake for hours,” said one user.
Just like cocaine or any other stimulant, that “up” feeling is inevitably followed by a crash, a feeling of fatigue, depression and decreased alertness. One student on Adderall recounted that a feeling of “utmost clarity” turned into a state of being “crashed out and overdone” the next day. As another user put it, “I usually go into a crash coma afterward.”
And, of course, the user soon comes to know that this crashed-out feeling can be relieved with the “help” of another pill that gets him back up again. And so it goes.
Next it may be larger doses or snorting it for a bigger rush. Tolerance increases, so the person has to use more. In larger doses, Ritalin, Adderall and other stimulants can lead to convulsions, headaches and hallucinations. The powerful amphetaminelike substance can even lead to death, as in the many tragic cases of children who have died of heart attacks caused by damage linked to these drugs.
I first tried Ritalin when I was in 7th grade. It was prescribed to me—they thought I had slight ADD [attention deficit disorder] because I pretended to so I could have an excuse for not doing well in school. I never realized that I was getting myself addicted, and then I was no different than any other habitual drug user.
“I took about 40 mg a day and I felt it put me at the top of my game. I would stay up for days in a row, to the point I suffered a severe psychotic episode. It was terrifying! Everything seemed to be melting and morphing, and I was terrified.” —Andrea
How much do you really know about ritalin abuse?
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