‘Can’t get smarter with a pill’: University of Melbourne research shows Ritalin, Adderall and Provigil don’t work as study aids

Students and workers popping drugs designed for people with ADHD to improve their focus are actually doing themselves a disservice.

Illegally-obtained ADHD medications don’t work as a “study drug”, new research shows.

Students, white-collar workers and shiftworkers have long fuelled a massive black market for prescription drugs such as Ritalin, Adderall and Provigil.

But research, led by the University of Melbourne, has found the drugs make it harder for people without ADHD to perform complex tasks.

Lead researcher Dr Elizabeth Bowman said there was no such thing as a pill which could make a person smarter.

“People without ADHD – especially people who are already high performing – who take these drugs to try to gain an edge in their workplace or studies may experience unintended consequences,” Dr Bowman said.

“Cognition is a complex thing, and there are no shortcuts to improving it. You can’t get smarter with a pill.”

The research involved 40 healthy participants aged between 18 and 35.

Dr Elizabeth Bowman says there is no pill that can make a person smarter. Photo: David Thomas

They were given one of the three stimulants – Ritalin, Provigil and Adderall — were asked to complete everyday complex tasks, such as having a limited amount of money to spend at a supermarket, but needing to buy enough to feed their family for a few days.

They repeated the same tasks on a placebo.

When given the so-called “smart drugs”, participants suffered dramatic decreases in accuracy and efficiency.

The decreases in accuracy and efficiency were more significant among participant who naturally performed at a higher level with no drugs.

When given Ritalin, participants took around 50 per cent longer on average than it took them when given the placebo.

A small number of participants performed the tasks better on the ADHD drugs, compared to the placebo, but only slightly.

Dr Bowman said more research needs to be conducted to find out what long term effects the drugs are having on users without ADHD.

The Alcohol and Drug Foundation spokesman Robert Taylor said illegal use of ADHD drugs can have negative side effects including sleep problems, anxiety and irregular heartbeat.

“Psychostimulants or ‘smart drugs’ may help mask fatigue, procrastination, or boredom, but they do not make people more intelligent and their effects only last while the drug remains in the body,” he said.

“Research has shown changes in brain chemistry associated with risk-taking behaviour, sleep disruption and weight loss in people using Ritalin without ADHD — such as students using it as a study enhancer.”

Mr Taylor said using these drugs without a prescription can be particularly harmful to young people as their brains continue to develop into their mid-20s.

“People can also develop a dependence on a drug by relying on it regularly to complete their work or their studies,” he said.

Research from 2018 looking at non-medical prescription use found that from a sample of 1,136 Australian university students, 2.3 per cent had used Modafinil, 1.6 per cent had used Adderall and 1.5 per cent had used Ritalin within the previous year.