When I was younger, and even now, I hated taking my ADHD medicine. It wasn't until later in high school that I found out that a lot of people would pay good money to take them by choice and, for a while, I didn't understand why. Now I know more people who take Ritalin and Adderall without a prescription than with one. As finals week approaches so does the spike in the number of students who take these medications to help them study.

To be clear, I'm not judging or scorning anyone who takes these medicines recreationally or from a friend just for studying. What people do with their medicine isn't my business and, quite frankly, I really don't care. Considering this, however, I do believe that there should be some level of understanding of what the real purpose and effectiveness of these medications are for the people who actually need them.

The effects that people seek for with these medicines, including the hyper-focus and the energy, is sort of the opposite of how the medicines actually make people with ADHD feel. Generally, the side effects or behavioral effects can pretty much make you feel like a zombie and if you feel more of the former effects than the latter when you take Ritalin or Adderall, you probably don't actually have ADHD. Losing focus while trying to write something or while sitting in class is not a learning disorder, you're just bored.

It amazed me when I found out that people actually really liked taking these meds, as I spent years trying to get off of them. The meds made me, and often a lot of others, feel completely drained of personality, indifferent, and at a total loss of appetite. The surge of super concentration is something that I have never been able to get from these meds and, honestly, I would love that, but with this disorder, it's not the case.

Again, I would especially like to express how little I actually care about people buying other people's ADHD medicine to help study or to have fun, it's not my business. It's frustrating, however, for people to not understand what it really means to have to take drugs like Ritalin and Adderall. It's a pain in the ass. I grew up pretending to take them and flushing them down the toilet just because of how bad they made me feel and, unfortunately, that's sort of how they're supposed to make you feel. Having to take Ritalin or Adderall isn't actually any fun at all and, while I'm not criticizing those who take it without a prescription, I'm not encouraging it either. Consider that maybe the reason that it has become so common and easy to buy is because the people who actually need it would rather get rid of it than endure it.