ADDicted: Adderall Is Not Your Friend

Originally published at The Hollywood Times: https://www.thehollywoodtimes.today/addicted-adderall-is-not-your-friend/

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“Changing your lifestyle is the answer, not medication.” Dan Jenski’s new film ADDicted displays all the harmful effects of the misuse of Adderall throughout the country. According to the United States Drug Enforcement Administration, Adderall is a “Schedule II” drug. This kind of drug can produce a strong kind of physical dependency as well as severe psychological dependency. Other dangerous “Schedule II” drugs include cocaine, methamphetamine, OxyContin and Vicodin. This movie perfectly depicts the terrible events that can occur while taking Adderall without a prescription, let alone a medical need for it.

ADDicted follows the life of promising football star and hopeful lawyer Drew Dawson, portrayed by Luke Guldan. Drew was prescribed Adderall by a physician when he was just 10 years old. Taking it his entire life, he became dependent on the drug to focus in school. Over the years, Drew started giving it to his friends to help them focus more to get through all their school work and/or perform better in football; Adderall is a banned performance enhancement drug by the NCAA. Drew used the pills to escape from the outside pressure’s weighing down on him: his overcontrolling mother, a difficult break-up, school work, football, finals, and most importantly the death of his father. The film also displays the effects the drug can have on an over-achieving, well-rounded student, through the character of Drew’s ex-girlfriend Ashley, portrayed by Lauren Sweester. Ashley juggles an internship, being the social chair of her sorority, writing for the school newspaper, and 18 hours of classes per week. Unfortunately, she resorts to using Adderall to fulfill all her social and professional obligations as well as her school work. Both Drew and Ashley’s lives spiral out of control and neither one of them realize that the pill bottle is their worst enemy, not their friend. There are plenty of people around, other than the pill bottle, who are willing to help in a healthy, constructive way. This film displays that pills are never the answer. Unfortunately, both Drew and Ashley learn that the hard way. Without spoiling too much, they both experience a horrendous event that makes them view their pill-popping ways in a different light.

This thrilling, educational and eye-opening film is now available on DVD/VOD! I encourage parents who believe their child has ADD to watch this film to be educated on the diagnosing process and the effects of Adderall on people of any age. Watch the trailer at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZvEHIdTGZM0.