An adderall free 4.0

[Greg]

Finals is over and I got my grades back!! An adderall-free 4.0.

 

I honestly can't believe i at one time thought I couldnt study or absorb material without adderall and was 100% convinced my good grades were a direct result of adderall and that I had ADD and really needed it to get through school on academic level to pull allnighters and study nonstop for hours.

 

Ive been doing a lot of investigation about how prevalent and rampant adderall is on campus --by talking to lots of people about it--- and the results are "woah". I cant believe the number of people I talked to who pop adderall and vyvance. But hey, that was me at one time. ill probably write more about some of my discussions later but what I can say is that my perspective on adderall and adderall addiction has changed - for one, it made the epidemic seem more real to me. it feels more like a really large scale problem and less of a group of people who happened to get addicted and are posting on this forum if that makes sense.  I am not surprised in the slightest that according to Mike, thousands of people visit this site every week and that the issue continues to be on the front page of NY TImes. There was another front page story in the past week or so. 

 

ANYWAY - to the people who have just found this site - Anyone taking adderall because they think they need it to study -- You DONT. It is a belief system you have created in your head because adderall makes you feel speedy and sharp. Based on my observations now, if you are on this site and reading stories about adderall addiction then chances are (im going throw out the number 98% chance) you have a developed a problem with adderall..If you are reading this on behalf someone you care about, they probably DO have problem with it and its something that needs to be taken care of and dealt with and not ignored....  

[Zerokewl]

You are an inspiration.  Completing a semester without Adderall is an amazing the achievement. Completing the semester surrounded by a bunch of tweakers even more amazing. 

[Greg]

Thanks ZeroKewl. Each time I achieve something off of adderall it fills me with confidence. A confidence that seemed to have disappeared in the time and months after I quit but comes back with each victory. The 4.0 was a victory..

 

 I was shocked by the sheer number of tweakers i came across.Everytime i was around a group of people I would casually bring up adderall, or maybe someone would just mention it. Heres how an example of one conversation went. One guy sitting across from me mentioned he was dusting his eyes with cocaine to help study for finals...another girl, who id never met, told me she just took like 4 vyvance to prepare for exam. I asked them what the difference was between adderall and cocaine and they said they make you feel exactly the same.  Another guy at the table told me he popped adderall (I tried to convince him that ADD was not a real thing and he did agree with me on that even though he is diagnosed with it.). 10 mintues later. I went to class to take a final and girl told me she was offered adderall so many times it was not even funny, but that she never took. These are kind of how my adderall conversations have been going. And Ive had a quite a few.

 

Now... I am wondering how many people I talked that were taking adderall but just didn't want to mention it to me . I really wasnt expecting it to be so many people. Im thinking. These are just some people Ive talked to, and if they represent the larger population at the University then 'damn, a LOT of people are on adderall" And if this one University is representative of all the Universities around the country, then "damn, that is a lot of people tweaking on adderall" And out of all those people Im sure a lot are needing help.

 

But thanks for the congratz. I am really excited about how I did.

 

. I just dont see people feel they need to take it. I understand it, but having all this time away from it now,  taking adderall or vyvance seems ridiculous and to me I know it takes away from their beliefs in their own abilities which is really detrimental thing to them in the long run. And people who cant stop should really understand that they need to learn how to do shit on their own and not with pill.

[Greg]

It interesting. when i talk to people who take adderall. Sometimes they say 'well I ONLY take it to study' or 'im always careful with it' but a lot of people say 'i take it because I have ADD' and when I say i suggest its not a real diagnoisis, they tend to agree with me without argument. which i found interesting.

 

Personally... I feel ADD is a BS diagnosis and over prescribed to a degree that is terribly detrimental to our society..

[ashley6]

Oh my gosh, InRecovery! That is ridiculously great news. You continue to be a success story on this site....so proud, and it gives me lots of hope! Congratulations!

[Greg]

Oh my gosh, InRecovery! That is ridiculously great news. You continue to be a success story on this site....so proud, and it gives me lots of hope! Congratulations!

       When I was taking adderall i remember i got a 3.82 and was so excited but I attributed 100% of those grades to ADDERALL's doing, not me. This time it felt real because the 4.0 was me with absoutley no adderall. in the picture. Just hard work and using my own brain. I have a working brain! despite all the damage from taking over 250mgs a day for 12 years. And hearing voices in my head daily that i thought were real for a year from adderall induced pyshosis.And lots of painful rehab, relapse, and outpatient treatment and putting family and friends through hell. I saw my brother in law last week who was visitng from Switzerland, and i hadnt seen him in a while, but i could just tell how happy he was that things were getting back to normal after the throes of addiction and then spending 2 years doing absolutely nothing except recovering.  

 

Thanks for the congratz Ashley and for always being there ---to all of you for always being there!!!

[Greg]

And for those of you just quitting - remember it takes TIME. be easy on yourself, get rid of this problem first, and the rest will begin to fall into place, But if you try to get back on the horse before you are ready, you may not have the strong foundation you need for things to fall back into place.

Edit - I just want to add one more thing about ADD. A lot of people do feel they have ADD and that they are taking the adder all to treat it.

if you are a newbie on this forum reading this, (all lurkers included) just because u feel you have add does not mean u have to take adderall every day. Feeling you have Add does not = must take adderall. To lurkers and newbies, I hope you read some of the horror stories on this website, so you can get a better understanding of the full potential of adderall addiction and then make this your last day of taking it.

[Zerokewl]

ADD is not a disorder it is a difference in cognitive abilities. 

[quit-once]

A 4.0 in grad school is as good as it gets, InRecovery.  Congrats. 

Last year you were concerned about grad school business ethics and how community cheating could impact the grade curve.  Any more experiences with that?

Also, how do you feel about people using Adderall as a performance-enhancing drug, like athletes using steroids, for academic gain?

[Greg]

A 4.0 in grad school is as good as it gets, InRecovery.  Congrats. 

Last year you were concerned about grad school business ethics and how community cheating could impact the grade curve.  Any more experiences with that?

 

 

 I never filled you all in on what happened with that!!! That really bothered me last semester...

 

I was extremely annoyed because there were 15 people (out of about 22) in my class who sat around a table and did their take home exams together - which was strictly forbidden. There were 5 exams, and for the first 4 exams they all got As. They also raised the standard of getting an A since their exams were so much better with 15 minds working together. These were extremely tough and lengthy exams and these 15 were just cruising through them easily and getting As. (I spent at least 15 -25 hours PER exam doing mine. And I got Bs and Cs on all my exams. I never got an A)

 

THEN on the fifth and final exam the professor surprised them all and FAILED them all. I think he knew what was going on the whole time and had planned to surprise them all in the end. All their As went down to C - and Ds. Basically all of them ended up on Academic probation because you have to maintain at least a 3.0 in the MBA program.

 

None of them fought it because he could have done much worse and brought them before ethics board etc...One of the girls who I know cheated (she told me she was cheating) fought him even though everyone told her not to...and told him she did it all on her own. And went line by line through her exam telling him where she got her answers but he refused. She's persistant. She's going to fight him again next semester. Personally, If i were here, I'd just drop it. 

[Greg]

 

Also, how do you feel about people using Adderall as a performance-enhancing drug, like athletes using steroids, for academic gain?

 

I think its disappointing.;.Lance Armstrong, ARod...so many people. Not only are these people role models, It really brings down the entire sport. How about you?

[quit-once]

 I never filled you all in on what happened with that!!! That really bothered me last semester...

 

Until now I had lost all faith in higher education having any kind of a moral compass.  That story really bothered me too because I thought the teacher just didn't give a shit if they were all cheating.  So, did you get an A in that class?

 

I believe that using Adderall for academic gain, whether one is ADD or not, is not ethical.  I see it exactly the same way as I view those "role model" athletes using steroids.  Steroids enhance physical performance, and speed enhances mental performance.  Both put the non-users at a significant disadvantage when it comes to competition.

[Greg]

No way did I get an A. I worked my butt off for that B. And boy was I angry about that teacher. I thought he didn't care either.

 

but im not joking when i say I worked my butt off for that B. I spent 15-30 hours PER take home exam. And we had five of them. That class was a nightmare - with 80% of the class cheating and then a professor who seemed to be turning a blind eye to it...and then just the sheer difficulty of trying to turn in good exams when the bar has been set ridiculously high by the 80% of people in class who were working together on these exams.

[JustinW]

Congratulations InRecovery!  I hope that I will be able to do the same here next semester.

[BeHereNow]

InRecovery I just graded 30 take home exams and they were strictly forbidden to collaborate.  I found 12 that had obviously collaborated/cheated.   Who knows, they were probably popping adderall together too.   I'm sure there were more I didn't catch.  It was sooooo tedious sitting there comparing these exams.  I deal with plagiarism on a regular basis, at least 1-2 times a semester, and it's such a waste of my time as an instructor.    Its really disheartening too especially because some of the strongest (or so I thought) students turn out to be cheaters in the end.

 

I'm going to have to go back to in-class exams next semester.  And I HATE HATE HATE blue books.   I truly don't believe in those types of tests for learning.   People just memorize facts and then forget them.   I put a lot of thought into how I write my exams, curriculum design, etc. trying to maximize learning, trying to inspire people to want to actually learn and not just care about grades, and I definitely set them up for success.  Because they are adults and I expect them to be in college because they want to.  And they STILL F*ING CHEAT!  I don't take it personally, but it really breaks my heart that this is so common.  Don't get me wrong, there are a lot of amazing students with integrity too.   But it kills me that so many college students can't even handle a take home exam or writing their own papers, or reading a f*ing book rather than copying off some stupid website.  Or popping pills.

 

Sorry, I guess I'm venting, but I'm also just adding to your point about how bad cheating is on college campuses.    

 

What's the point of getting a degree if you don't even want to learn anything?  A degree based on cheating is WORTHLESS! And meaningless!

[Jon]

_{In the long run dishonesty never pays. Either they get caught (99%) or guilt eats away at their sense of integrity. I agree that it's all disheartening, which is why I have trouble taking credit for anything I accomplished on Adderall. It's guilt that I used a pill to achieve it.}

 

_{I want to chime in with the rest of TEAM support by saying Congratulations to InRecovery for achieving a 4.0 GPA without Adderall. You are a shining example for all of the students out there who find themselves in over their heads using Adderall. Oh, they do not know the price they must pay.}

[quit-once]

InRecovery I just graded 30 take home exams and they were strictly forbidden to collaborate.  I found 12 that had obviously collaborated/cheated.   Who knows, they were probably popping adderall together too.   I'm sure there were more I didn't catch.  It was sooooo tedious sitting there comparing these exams.  I deal with plagiarism on a regular basis, at least 1-2 times a semester, and it's such a waste of my time as an instructor.    Its really disheartening too especially because some of the strongest (or so I thought) students turn out to be cheaters in the end.

 

I'm going to have to go back to in-class exams next semester.  And I HATE HATE HATE blue books.   I truly don't believe in those types of tests for learning.   People just memorize facts and then forget them.   I put a lot of thought into how I write my exams, curriculum design, etc. trying to maximize learning, trying to inspire people to want to actually learn and not just care about grades, and I definitely set them up for success.  Because they are adults and I expect them to be in college because they want to.  And they STILL F*ING CHEAT!  I don't take it personally, but it really breaks my heart that this is so common.  Don't get me wrong, there are a lot of amazing students with integrity too.   But it kills me that so many college students can't even handle a take home exam or writing their own papers, or reading a f*ing book rather than copying off some stupid website.  Or popping pills.

 

Sorry, I guess I'm venting, but I'm also just adding to your point about how bad cheating is on college campuses.    

 

What's the point of getting a degree if you don't even want to learn anything?  A degree based on cheating is WORTHLESS! And meaningless!

what did you do about those 12 students who cheated?

[BeHereNow]

They failed their final exam!