The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported a 16 percent increase in cases of attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder since 2007.

The report stated 11 percent of four to 17-year-old children, and 20 percent of boys in high school were diagnosed with the disorder.

However, the findings don’t reveal what caused the increase in diagnoses.

Student Health Service Medical Director Elizabeth Neel said there could be more children who “truly” have the disorder, but other factors exist.  

“Schools are becoming less tolerant of any sort of behavior that is not on task, causing more children to see doctors for cases like that,” Neel said. 

The need to do “more and more” in school and get better grades could also lead to an increase in diagnoses, according to Neel.

However, the need to do better in school could be leading to the abuse of popular ADHD medications, such as Adderall and Ritalin.

The North Carolina General Assembly recognized this trend and passed a bill that came into effect last month, which requires the presentation of photo identification in order for consumers to receive Class-II drugs like Ritalin and Adderall.

The   new requirement is not a huge adjustment, according to Neel, because other federal agencies already regulate and control misuse of these medications.  Stimulant medication prescriptions already must be brought to a pharmacy on paper with the original signature, and refills cannot be called in or written for these prescriptions. 

Before receiving stimulant medications from Student Health Services, providers discuss responsible use with patients and have students sign an agreement in which they must acknowledge they are aware of the side effects, drug interactions and legal ramifications that may result from selling or sharing the drugs with patients and/or students for whom the drugs are not prescribed, according to Neel.

Whether this service works, though, Neel can’t say for sure.

“We know we have made at least a good attempt and they have seen [the legal issues involving stimulant medication] at least once from the Student Health Center,” Neel said.

 Neel said she does not think drug abuse is a “rampant problem” on campus, though she recognizes its existence.

“I have had students tell me they’ve taken their roommate’s Adderall, and it helped them on a test, or someone stole their medication,” Neel said. 

She said she also encountered instances where students received Adderall from their roommate and asked the Health Center if they could switch medications.

A senior in biological sciences who wished to remain anonymous said he takes Adderall to stay focused when he has a lot of exams to study for, and has been taking it since freshman year after he heard of friends using the drug.

 “You have to choose between your sleep or your grades,” he said. “In times of stress, the only way people can stay awake and focused is by taking Adderall. I think there is a misconception about Adderall use and somebody needs to speak up.”

He said he is currently taking 15 credit hours, while working two jobs. When he talks to professors about his situation, he said they respond with: “It’s college.” However, he said he doesn’t blame the professors, because he knows he is competing with students from around the world.

“Students are going to take the drug that gives them the edge, it’s just the way everything around them is transforming,” he said. “There’s so much work piled on you that you need something to help you.”

Friends usually provide the Adderall, but occasionally he said he buys it from students with ADHD.

However, some students with ADHD, like sophomore in engineering Teena Coats, are not happy about this.

“It makes us feel a little insignificant,” Coats said. “I don’t appreciate [students] using this because I actually need it to function and [they] are using it for whatever [they] need it for.”

According to Coats, one student saw her with Adderall and offered to pay her 20 dollars for a pill, and then tried to steal it from her room when she refused.

Coats was diagnosed with the disorder in second grade after people thought she was depressed, but she has had time to learn to cope with her diagnosis, unlike friends of hers who were recently diagnosed when they came to college, she said.

Coats specifically struggles with hyperactivity, which can be “distracting” to other students because she is often fidgeting with something in hand, she said.

Without Adderall, she said it is hard for her to study. She said she sometimes has to read a passage 10 times to comprehend it.

“It just makes life a little more difficult,” Coats said.

After arriving at college, she thought she no longer needed the Adderall, until her grades dropped from As to Cs and Ds, and she “drove some people away because of [her] hyperactivity,” Coats said. She has since started taking her medication. 

In rare cases, though, these medications can produce harmful effects on the cardiovascular system because they are stimulants, which increase heart rate and blood pressure, Neel said.

Misdiagnosis is another problem surrounding ADHD, as some students are diagnosed after one doctor visit.

 Neel said she does not believe this is the best way to diagnose ADHD and getting the correct diagnosis is important because students could have a different learning disorder altogether.

“Many factors need to be considered,” Neel said. “I believe you should have some level of comprehensive testing done to make sure that ADD/ADHD is the reason one cannot concentrate in class.  It’s not enough to say, ‘I can’t pay attention in class, therefore I must have ADD.”

Students cannot receive ADHD diagnoses at the Student Health Center, and must present verification from other doctors, though the College of Education’s Diagnostic Teaching Clinic can provide comprehensive testing for ADHD diagnoses should students wish to use their resources, Neel said.

Another resource on campus is the Disability Services Office.  Students with appropriate documentation of ADHD can register with DSO to receive accommodations that range from more time on tests, or a change in testing location, to scheduling privileges that allow for more morning or afternoon classes, according to Neel.

For students diagnosed with ADHD who cannot or will not take medications, behavioral therapy is another option, through which students learn time management and study skills, according to Neel.