by Serena Yoon
Illustration by Charlie To
If you have an important exam coming up in a few weeks, you might make an effort to wake up earlier than usual, eat healthier, or do more exercise to optimise your performance. However, abuse of prescription medication when preparing for exams is becoming increasingly common – you might be familiar with its colloquial name: ‘study drugs’ (i.e., Adderall, Ritalin, Modafinil, and more). According to a report by the Times, students from top universities – including those from LSE – are “routinely using performance-enhancing ‘study drugs’ to prepare for exams”. So-called ‘study drugs’ are prescription medications used to treat Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) or narcolepsy, through artificially increasing dopamine levels in the brain to temporarily improve alertness and concentration. Taking a few tablets is supposed to help you work better, study harder, and become less distracted.
However, the purported effects of these ‘study drugs’ have been contested scientifically. Studies have repeatedly disproven the link between ‘study drugs’ and increased performance in exams, invalidating any scientific basis for their misuse. In effect, whilst these medications may make some ‘feel’ more alert, they do not improve integral skills such as test-taking or time-management that are needed for better academic performance. Additionally, repeated abuse of study drugs by individuals without ADHD or narcolepsy carries a strong likelihood of lower natural dopamine production in the future, making study-drug users more susceptible to addiction and various mental health side effects. This raises the question: why are we so willing to undergo all these risks for a few hours of hyper-focused productivity?
The pressure to succeed is ever increasing for university students. The hostile job market, expensive school fees, increasing living costs – you can’t afford to mess things up! The misuse of study drugs is likely to be a symptom of our addiction to ‘hustle’ rather than a simple trend. Also known as grind culture, hustle culture refers to a lifestyle or mindset that encourages overworking in the pursuit of success – sound familiar? LSE is known for its notoriously intense working environment and high standards (you only need to look at how many LSE students have a Pret subscription to know that they are in the library 24/7). In a lifestyle where academic life takes centre stage, hustle culture comes at the cost of every other aspect of being a human. If you’re sleeping, surely 3 hours is more than enough; if you’re eating, it’s ‘work fuel’. God forbid you’re having fun, as that’ll set you back 6 more hours in the library tomorrow. Because hustle culture puts so much emphasis on being productive all the time, you might find it hard to enjoy hobbies and you may even feel guilty when partaking in activities without academic outcomes, something that will certainly take an enormous toll on one’s mental health. It’s also worth noting that over-reliance on these drugs echo the unrealistic expectations students set on themselves to be ‘superhuman’ in their academic abilities. An astounding number of LSE students feel a sense of impostor syndrome, constantly doubting their place in the university. It’s not hard to see how such an attitude gives rise to the attraction for a seemingly harmless drug, particularly if it promises you enhanced cognitive abilities.
The lack of long-term research into study drugs, alongside the stigma associated with admitting to usage, makes facts difficult to come by. Yet, personal stories shed light on the acute fear permeating student bodies. Indeed, this ‘hustle culture’ seems to have even trickled down into high school environments – I remember many of my peers taking study drugs, such as concerta, for the sake of getting more revision time prior to their IB exams. It leads one to doubt the possibility that good academic outcomes justify the use of these drugs, as long as it allows you to be ten steps ahead of others. Yet, this would often come at the cost of a painful ‘crash’ a few hours later, often including a low mood, feelings of nausea, hyperventilation and shaking. Similarly, anonymous testimonies in the student publication Varsity reveal the painful consequences after taking Adderall: “your mind goes from focused to even worse than it was before.” It’s clear that the dangerous drive to succeed is placing students in the position to abuse potent drugs, creating the potential for medical complications, overdose, and detrimental impacts to mental health. Ultimately, the colloquial name ‘study drugs’ should not fool you: at the end of the day, these are prescription medications intended for treatment purposes, not as a casual ‘boost’ for a distressing Monday.
While it’s true that ‘hustling’ can prove an effective motivator, it’s worth questioning this mindset when it leads to doping yourself on study drugs for a competitive edge. It’s beyond time for hustle culture to change; our academic success simply cannot come at the expense of our physical and mental health.
