As dozens of universities across the country are creating stricter policies for diagnosing and managing ADHD, UF is ahead of the curve.
The UF Counseling and Wellness Center began re-evaluating its policies two years ago, said Michele Travers, a medical director at the center. The policies, which Travers said are now fully implemented, help differentiate between students who have a medical need for the medication and students who fake symptoms to get the medication for nonmedical purposes.
Now, when UF students are tested for ADHD, they are also tested for drug abuse. They undergo psychiatric screening for other possible underlying illnesses and are required to get input from parents and former teachers, Travers said.
Restrictions other colleges are implementing include enforcing contracts with students that mandate drug tests and prohibit pill sharing, according to a recent New York Times report.
When UF specialists learned more than half the patients at the Counseling and Wellness Center were on ADHD medications, they decided the number of prescribed drug users was widespread enough to change the criteria for handling attention disorders.
“The guidelines have been in place for many years, but there was more leniency,” said Travers.
With the stricter policies in place, “it’s almost impossible to fake at this point,” she said.
Dr. Scott Teitelbaum, medical director for UF Health Florida Recovery, called ADHD medications the “steroids of studying” because nonmedical use has been known to improve students’ concentration and academic performance.
It’s a difficult drug to regulate because most students who use the pills for studying get them from their friends, he said.
“The issue on the college campus that’s tricky is that a lot of college students know what to say to get it,” Teitelbaum said.
Teitelbaum said these stimulants can cause restlessness, anxiety and paranoia, and it makes the person more prone to hypertension and stroke.
But Noah Silverstein, an 18-year-old UF biomedical engineering freshman, said doctors are partially to blame.
Silverstein said they typically require people to fill out questionnaires, and with the right answers, they will write a prescription.
“People are abusing the system,” Silverstein said. “Doctors hand it out like it’s candy.”
A version of this story ran on page 5 on 9/5/2013 under the headline "UF cracks down on ADHD medications, limits prescriptions"
