A 40-year-old high-level e-commerce executive in the Pacific Northwest — we’ll call him Bob — felt he was losing his edge. Although his colleagues saw him as a star, he feared he wouldn’t be able to continue the lightning pace and constant multitasking his job required. So, he saw his doctor. Now Bob takes Adderall, a prescription amphetamine ordinarily used to treat attention-deficit disorder.
“It gives me clarity of thinking and focus,” says Bob. He credits the drug for improving both his career and his personal relationships. “I am still getting accolades,” he says. He was initially wary of taking any substance with a so-called black-box warning, he says, but after nine months of using Adderall under close supervision by his doctor, he has not developed an addiction, required a dose increase or had any other adverse effects.
Welcome to the brave new world of “cognitive enhancement,” a term that typically refers to the use of attention- or memory-boosting prescription drugs, such as Adderall, Ritalin or modafinil (Provigil), along with other performance-raising medications, to improve productivity. College kids have been doing it for years. About 7% of U.S. university students report having taken stimulants “non-medically” at least once, according to one 2005 study of nearly 11,000 students. On some campuses — primarily private, elite schools — a full quarter of students admit to “non-medical” drug use in the past year, mainly as an attempt to improve grades.
