Her heart is beating like a jackhammer, her brain is abnormally sharp and alert, her eyes are fixated on the task at hand. Adderall pulses through her body – it’s time to get down to business.
The drug has kicked in.
She’s in the zone, and the rest of the world no longer exists to her.
For her, this is a form of stress relief. She’s consumed by focus, which calms her because now she knows her schoolwork will get done. Only minutes before, she was stressed about her workload, her upcoming midterm, her usual inability to concentrate, her busy life.
But with a tiny pill, the worries and tension are gone. All that matters is homework and studying; everything else is put on the back burner, as she’s ready to let the drug keep her going until 6 a.m. at Love Library.
“I just don’t think I could get through school without Adderall,” explains 21-year-old San Diego State senior Leah, who wished to keep her real name anonymous. “I’ve never been able to concentrate like that in my life.
“I feel a lot more calm and at ease knowing I’m going to take that Adderall. If I didn’t have (it), I’d be a lot more stressed out.”
Leah has a double major at SDSU, is an officer of an on-campus club, has a part-time job and maintains an activity-filled social life of drinking (often getting “really drunk”), partying and being with friends.
But school is her biggest stressor, and she’ll do anything to perform well, including taking a pharmaceutical amphetamine for which she doesn’t have a personal prescription.
“Adderall keeps me focused,” Leah said franticly. “When I take it, I want to study, things don’t distract me, I want to get (my work) done, I become a lot more motivated, I become a lot more determined, I want the good grade, it keeps me awake – I don’t feel tired at all for at least five hours.”
Adderall helps her manage her school-related stress, even if that means getting only two or three hours of sleep. She feels helpless otherwise, not confident that she can do well academically without that pill.
“I can’t stay up if I don’t take it, and I can’t concentrate,” she said. “It does help me not to stress.”
The stressors in Leah’s life – school, family, relationships – are normal in a college population, and many students often turn to alcohol or drugs to deal with stress.
“What we encounter is people drinking excessively or using other substances as a way of coping and trying to relax and unwind,” said Stephanie Brown, Ph.D., a at SDSU’s Counseling and Psychological Services.
But stress management in the form of drug use is not what the doctor would prescribe.
There are more effective ways to cope.
Finals week is an especially stressful period, a time when most students, such as Leah, feel like they’re drowning in a sea of chaos. There is light at the end of the tunnel, but while it’s still “dark,” feelings of stress can be overwhelming.
You’ll probably hear the words, “I’m stressed” a hundred times a day walking through campus. What is stress, though? It’s not so matter of fact and requires some self-analyzation to relieve it.
What is stress and why do you get it?
Stress is a natural response of the body and includes both physical and mental components.
But it isn’t so simple.
It’s different for everyone – a highly subjective phenomenon and sensation that cannot easily be defined, according to the American Institute of Stress.
There are a couple of main types of stress, and it’s not all bad.
Eustress is good stress. It makes people proactive, productive and able to accomplish tasks – physical or intellectual – and gives that extra burst of useful energy. The sense of pressure from eustress acts as a motivator.
Then there’s distress – the bad stress – the type that brings people down. It produces tension and the feeling of being overwhelmed. Many people tend to lose a clear perspective, as the head becomes clouded and life feels like it’s too much to handle. Even the smallest things become the biggest issues.
“Lots of us do it – we worry consistently, every day about the same set of problems,” said Linda Diane Smith, Ph.D., a counseling psychologist at CPS.
Such problems or difficulties in one person’s life might be casual, stress-free things for someone else, however, because stress is unique to each person.
Yet, in a college-aged population, there are certain aspects that Brown said are prone to add stress in a young adult’s life.
“Relationships issues are big,” she said, “either having a lack of a relationship or a recent loss of a relationship due to a breakup or a death.”
Brown also said juggling and managing multiple life demands – school, work, family, friends, etc. – are hard on a student.
Like Leah’s frets, Brown agreed that academic concerns largely affect students. Students also tend to gear worries toward the future, as concerns about life goals are sometimes too much.
Leah said she’s stressed about deciding which of her two majors she’ll follow in pursuing a professional career.
“Being a fourth-year, that’s a lot of stress,” she said. “I don’t know where I’m going to be in a couple of years.”
And family pressures don’t help.
“It’s stressful when my parents don’t understand sometimes how busy I really am,” she said. “I come from a very successful family, and I come from a very successful area, and that puts a lot of stress on me to become successful myself.”
Whatever causes a person to stress, there is a broad base of signs and symptoms that surface.
And, as a result ?
Like stressors themselves, the effects of stress vary greatly from person to person.
“Stress shows up in different ways for different people,” Brown said. “The key is being aware of how your stress shows up – your particular stress – and intervening early rather than waiting.”
But people often wait too long before taking positive action against stress.
“They wait until they’re totally freaked out,” she said.
Leah explained her reactions to stress, which were all symptoms Brown described as well.
“I get in a really bad mood, I don’t pay attention to anything or anyone, a lot of times I’ll just start crying, (and) I like to procrastinate,” Leah said.
The list goes on.
It’s imperative to be aware of behavior, feelings and habits, and to know what is and isn’t normal.
Signs could seem as average as lack of concentration or as serious as panic attacks or other intense immobilizing anxiety, but both are likely stress related.
Many people in college have an alcoholic drink at some point, but others take it to extremes, which could be a sign of trying to shrug off inner stress.
A decrease or increase in appetite, resulting in weight loss or gain, are significant signs of stress.
Some may show signs of increased escapism, such as withdrawing and shutting down, Brown said.
Physically, the body can suffer from stress, as well, including a suppressed immune system.
“Some people will get more stomachaches or headaches or they’ll catch more colds,” Brown said.
Before people allow stress to get the best of them, there are corrective, helpful actions to take.
Preventative action
You’ve realized that your blood’s boiling, your heart’s racing and you seem to be sinking into oblivion.
Don’t worry, there’s hope.
“Keeping perspective is really important,” Brown said. “Sometimes students will think, ‘If I fail this class, it’s all over. But you can recover from that.”
Failures, losses or disappointments are a natural part of life and can be overcome.
A fresh start and a new semester is approaching at SDSU, and you can do it right this round.
Brown recommends learning and planning what you have to do – knowing what your whole semester requires from the beginning, thinking about how you’re going to get all your projects done and not waiting until the last minute.
“Managing time effectively is
a huge stress-prevention strategy for students,” she said.
Time management involves more than just school. In picking and choosing which extracurricular or leisure activities you do, effectively allocating your time can result in personal success.
Instead of wasting an hour on MySpace between classes, make use of the resources that are offered on campus.
“When people are involved on campus, it helps students to stay abreast to all the things that are available,” Brown said. “It’s important to be connected. It’s kind of hard on a big campus like this – if you just come here and leave, you probably wouldn’t know all that’s happening here.”
But to be involved doesn’t mean you have to be in 15 organizations; find something that’s interesting for you.
Aim to solidify a strong social network and social support.
“We all need people and places where we can talk, hang out, be ourselves and feel nurtured and supported,” Brown said.
Get personal with yourself to relieve your stress, too.
You hear it over and over – from parents to doctors – and it might seem obvious, but maintaining a healthy lifestyle is proven to help keep stress levels low. Set goals for yourself: Get enough sleep, eat well, do things in moderation rather than excess.
Living healthfully also means incorporating exercise and physical activity into your routine. Letting go of tension will make you feel better.
“Exercise is critical; it’s very useful to relieve stress, and it helps to improve mood,” Brown said. “And during high-stress time is when you need to keep your exercise in the plan.”
For some people that might mean treadmills, spin classes or weightlifting, but exercise doesn’t just entail hitting the gym. Go dancing with your friends or try an outdoor activity such as surfing or snowboarding. Exercise can be integrated into your everyday life: Take the stairs instead of the elevator or wash your own car instead of driving through a carwash.
But make sure you find the time to relax, unwind and do pleasurable activities, Brown recommended.
If there seems to be no place in your life where you can get peace and quiet, SDSU has a quaint place for your personal relief.
De-stress on campus
On the fourth floor of the new Calpulli Center, located on Hardy Avenue, students gather in a dimly lit, tranquil room. Led by Brown, students talk about life while soothing music fills the area. They’re there to support each other, to share problem and to just relax.
Brown started the “De-Compress and De-Stress Support Group” in October as one of many workshops offered by CPS. It’s open to anyone who has an hour to spare; it’s not required to sign up or attend weekly, and it’s free.
“The goal is for people to talk about what’s going on and give one another ideas how to share stress management,” Brown said. “I think peer support is really important; it’s huge for us to know that we’re not the only ones struggling with something.
“Unfortunately, sometimes students, people in general, minimize the benefit of peer-to-peer communication and learning from their peers. The group helps to relieve anxiety by knowing other people have issues.”
After the chatting session, Brown conducts a relaxation exercise during the last part of the workshop. Students lie on yoga mats and do an extensive breathing exercise to relieve tension throughout the body.
That’s not all the CPS offers. If the idea of stress relief through breathing sounds appealing, try meditation.
Led by Smith, the workshop “Mindful Meditation Plus” offers students the opportunity to learn ancient meditation techniques – including those of using Zen and Tibetan Buddhism – that help relieve stress.
“(Meditation) is actually mental training, (and it) produces deep relaxation,” Smith said. “I teach a system that teaches your breath to cut through worries and thoughts.”
It helps with alertness and reduces muscle tension, as well.
Skillful meditation can even change the physiology of the brain, change blood chemistry and reduce cortisol (what the body produces when feeling stressed). The brain’s anatomy can change, too, as certain areas become much more responsive than they are in the average person, she said.
“If you practice (meditation) a lot, you’ll find, generally, that you have less anxiety, you know how to shut (stress) off when you need to and how to adjust your thoughts,” Smith said.
Smith’s meditation workshop is a set 10-week course, but if you want to relieve your stress on your own time, CPS’s Center For Well-Being offers seven stations for relaxation, personal growth and mental stimulation.
Next time studying is overwhelming you, take some time to stop by CPS and meditate on your own or curl up in the cushy egg chair. Comfort is at your service.
But some students have found their comfort zone by other means.
For some, it’s healthy stress relief found in a walk on the beach, green tea and yoga. Others take the unhealthy approach – caffeine fixes by day and vodka shots by night – and don’t care to change their habits at this point in their life, despite the risks. Maybe, like Leah, they take Adderall.
‘So long’ Adderall ? after graduation
Leah said she has no intention to quit her Adderall use as long as she’s in college. Whether to help her pull an all-nighter of studying or to build concentration before a test, Leah has no problem with using the drug.
“I don’t care what other people think,” she said of others people’s opinions of using the drug. “I don’t see what the big deal is.”
But medically, there are negative side effects with taking Adderall, including heart palpitations, increased blood pressure, headaches, insomnia, moodiness, paranoia, etc., and it’s addictive.
Doing well academically seems to be addicting, too, so much for Leah that Adderall’s study-enhancing effect is worth the risk – good grades through the price of health.
She’s not completely caught up in the a life of Adderall and all-nighters, though.
Leah said she partakes in other stress relieving activities if she has time. She likes shopping with friends, going to the movies and playing tennis. And, she said she has “a strong social network ? a lot of really close friends here that I trust.”
Maybe she and a friend can pick up a tennis racket over Winter Break for a stimulating feeling that a drug will never provide. That natural high can do wonders.
