Topical Trial Psychostimulant medications like Adderall and Ritalin are being used at an increasing rate among high school and college students. Since this medication has existed, the number of children prescribed it has increased significantly. This medication was originally created to help children with ADHD, but now children who are not even prescribed these medications are taking them in order to improve their academic performance (Loe 2008). Is the increasing use of this drug becoming a problem, or is there a bigger problem where students feel like they have to take it to succeed and stay. Students are taking Adderall and Ritalin at an increasing rate. Even students who are not even prescribed these drugs are getting them through the “gray market” to help them academically. A study conducted at the University of Michigan found that one in four college students had taken these types of drugs. Their study also showed that colleges in the northeastern United States with higher admissions standards had a higher percentage of students taking Adderall or Ritalin (Loe 2008). A problem addressed by sociologists is the medicalization of this problem. Medicalization is the idea that, at one time, a problem was considered a personal behavioral problem, but is now defined as a medical problem that can be treated with some type of prescription (Loe 2008). “According to Loe (2008), this is what happens with ADHD and medications like Adderall. While it is true that these drugs help students perform better academically, they create the idea that every problem that arises can be solved simply with a pill. This places the blame on the student as an individual rather than the student body as a whole. I...... in the middle of the article......, so based on that, I worked extremely hard to do well and get good grades. Now that there is such a demand for students to perform well, students must resort to drugs and Ritalin to meet these demands. Due to increased pressure on students to succeed in school, drugs like Adderall and Ritalin are being used at an increasing rate. The high demand for student success has created the need for these psychostimulant medications in order to be able to meet the high demand. Works Cited Loe, M. and Cuttino, L. (2008). Grappling with the medicated self: the case of university students with ADHD. Symbolic Interaction, 31(3), 303-323. From ProQuest Social Sciences Premium Collection. Loe, M. (2008). The prescription for a new generation. Contexts, 7(2), 46-49. Retrieved March 20, 2014 from the American Sociological Association.