Uso não prescrito de cloridrato de metilfenidato entre estudantes da área da saúde: uma revisão

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: Currently, healthy university students have been using psychoactive substances in order to enhance mental activities, by allowing them to study for more hours and optimize their academic efficiency. Methylphenidate hydrochloride is one of the most prescribed and controlled stimulants in the world for the pharmacological treatment of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), but it has become prominent in the popular field for its use as Pharmacological Cognitive Enhancement. Nowadays many students live very agitated with so many tasks and, in order to achieve them satisfactorily, enhancing their intellectual performance, they regularly use some psychotropic substances, such as methylphenidate hydrochloride, which is one of the drugs most prescribed psychostimulants in the world. OBJECTIVES: To highlight the prevalence of the indiscriminate use of methylphenidate hydrochloride by university students in the health area, distinguishing between those who use it for the treatment of ADHD and non-clinical users. METHODOLOGY: this is an exploratory bibliographic study carried out through literary review. RESULTS: Studies have shown that healthy students have used methylphenidate to enhance mental activities, by allowing them to increase their ability to concentrate for long periods and to memorize what has been studied. CONCLUSION: The indiscriminate use of cognitive enhancers in the long run can alter noradrenergic and dopaminergic pathways, predisposing obsessive compulsive and addictive disorders.