Drug use has been quite normalized in recent decades, drugs of all kinds are used so that we can perform our daily tasks without any interference from the outside or our body, for example, we take a painkiller to avoid a headache, it is perfectly normal. But one of the consequences of this situation is that drug abuse is becoming increasingly common, that is, we stop taking medications only when they are really necessary to use them constantly.
Currently, one of the situations in which people use drugs unnecessarily is when they want to increase their intellectual performance, drug abuse for this purpose is not new and has existed since the 50s or 60s, the new, in fact, is it’s over. In the last 10 years, this practice has conquered schools and universities in an amazing way.
- There is a documentary on Netflix that speaks exactly of this situation.
- It is called ‘Take your pills’.
- Which in the Portuguese translation means ‘Take your pills’.
- In the film.
- Experts explain how these remedies are used to manage ADHD symptoms.
- Improve intellectual performance.
- And expose all the health risks that come with their use.
In this article, we will discuss what can cause performance-enhancing drug abuse and cognition. Will we also talk about the possible negative health consequences, both physical and mental in this practice?Similarly, we will reflect on the role of the current education system in this whole situation, for example, how the high rate of diagnosis of ADHD, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder affects.
In the documentary “Take Your Pills,” we can understand that there are several factors in the education system that facilitate the demand that many students take medications when they don’t actually need them. First, we found that the most important factor in drug abuse in the educational context is the massive diagnosis of ADHD.
This disorder is well known today, which works as one of the reasons why there are so many false positives. Because it is a very “popular” disease, many people and health professionals come to diagnose the disease even if the person does not actually have it.
Symptoms are stimulated, at least in part, by today’s educational model, children and adolescents grow up in a world of visual, auditory and tactile overstimulation, born in this inclusive world. It’s not uncommon to see younger children spend time with electronic devices like mobile phones, tablets and video games.
When they arrive at the formal education system, these children find themselves in an absolutely boring environment, that is, if they are used to an environment in high demand for stimuli from an early age, so are their brains. We ask you to remain calm and seated, paying attention for hours to a very unpleasant situation, for example, a teacher explaining something on a whiteboard.
Faced with this situation, many children end up having trouble controlling, controlling their behavior and attention, then being diagnosed with ADHD. In fact, they show a normal response to an educational model that was not designed to fit the demands of new students, who come from a digital world.
The whole world is more dynamic, more virtual, while the education system has been the same for more than 100 years, all of which creates a number of problems, including this massive diagnosis of this attention disorder, and the consequent drug abuse in an attempt to control the situation.
The culture of effort and competitiveness is another factor that motivates drug abuse to improve performance and cognition, if we add to that the lifestyle of the society in which we live, an individualistic style, we will end up in a highly competitive environment. than in the face of greater difficulty in highlighting, people end up resorting to external aid.
That is, people who fail to stand out even with their efforts, either because of their own characteristics or the external conditions of their life, end up being devoured by the temptation of a stimulant drug as an easy way to solve their problems and difficulties.
All students are evaluated at the same level, so anyone with particular difficulties or needs will always be aggrieved because they all start from a supposedly egalitarian condition that justifies homogeneous performance and evaluation criteria.
In this sense, drug abuse is more pret, nor is it in people who need more time to learn and therefore have more difficulty achieving high performance, who cannot devote themselves fully to their studies are also involved in these abuses. high family demand or financial responsibilities.
In these situations, the need to be on the same level as others leads many students to abuse psychostimulant drugs.
Performance-enhancing and cognition-enhancing drugs prevent neurons from recapitution of the substances they use to communicate with each other: dopamine and norepinephrine. Dopamine supports functions such as motivation and concentration, while norepinephrine increases alertness and energy from cognition.
The most well-known psychostimulant remedies are methylphenidate, atomoxetine, Aderall (the latter the trade name of the substance, a drug widely sold in countries such as the United States) and the trade name of Concerta which is widely prescribed in Europe.
So do these psychostimulants increase the level of dopamine and norepinephrine in the brain, especially in the prefrontal cortex?Thus, the effect is to feel more motivated, alert, focused and entertained with much more ease. These effects are positive, but they are not the only ones that these drugs cause in our body.
It is necessary to remember that all these remedies will have undesirable side effects, so abuse of such medications always carries a significant risk to both physical and mental health.
Almost all of these remedies have many side effects that alter the brain, the most common being tachycardia, insomnia, restlessness, anxiety and even anorexia; in addition, there is also some risk of developing substance dependence.
Its use is only a temporary solution to a student’s ongoing problem. The person may feel that they are not good enough or that they are not doing their business well enough. You will never be able to learn how to properly manage your needs and study time, because with medications, all circumstances change.
Finally, it is important to note that in some cases the drugs are really necessary, this happens if we are really talking about a real case of attention disorder, from now on, the drugs alone will never solve problems, it is necessary to combine the use. implementing psycho-educational strategies in schools and other educational settings, and even at home.
In most cases, medications should be an aid, not the only solution.