As a teenager, you live a life of curfews, parents, friends, grades, teachers, assignments, tests, dreams, fears, laughter, smiles, sloth, and hope. It's a turbulent roller coaster that makes you feel like each assignment, each essay, each big test is the most important event of your life.

Photo by Ana Bacic

All this pressure could lead you to ingest dangerous stuff. Really excessive amounts of caffeine, over-the-counter stimulants, and even some prescription medicine, like Ritalin, are all "study aids" used by some teens. This stuff, though, can cause problems that actually hurt your chances of succeeding in school—and in life.

Too Much Coffee

Miguel, 17, was under pressure to raise a failing grade to a "C+" average. Pulling an all-nighter, Miguel downed eight cups of black coffee to stay awake to complete an assignment. The next day, he felt "drained and barely able to concentrate" on what he was learning in class.

"After the caffeine was out of my system, my body immediately shut down and I had to force myself to stay awake and not fall asleep," says Miguel, a high-school senior from Union, NJ.

Barbara Snyder, M.D., chief of adolescent medicine and associate professor of pediatrics at the University of Medicine and Dentistry in New Brunswick, NJ, warns against excessive use of caffeine drinks. They can weaken your memory and concentration span and cause sleeplessness.

"Having one or two cups of coffee or tea or one or two caffeinated sodas may give someone a little extra wakefulness to help them with late-night homework or projects," she says. "But more than this puts the person at risk of developing problems and even dependence."

Pill Popping

Another commonly sought cure for stressed-out teens is over-the-counter remedies, like caffeine pills or energy drinks. Once again, these might keep you awake for that all-nighter, but the side effects could add to your school problems. Those side effects typically include nervousness, irritability, problems falling asleep or staying asleep, jitteriness, rapid heart beat, and headaches, according to Dr. Snyder.

And don't be fooled by labels like "natural," "herbal," or sold in "health food stores," warns Snyder. They can cause the same bad effects as other drugs.

A dangerous and growing trend among high school and college students is the illegal abuse of the prescription drug Ritalin as a "study aid." Ritalin, also known as Vitamin R, is a medication prescribed for people, usually children, who have an abnormally high level of activity or attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse.

However, NIDA claims that in recent years, evidence suggests that people are taking Ritalin without a prescription. NIDA's Community Epidemiology Work Group (CEWG) recently discovered that the abuse of methylphenidate (Ritalin) has been reported in Baltimore, Boston, Detroit, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Phoenix, and Texas. According to the Drug Abuse Warning Network, which records drug abuse data for federal health authorities, Ritalin-related emergency room visits skyrocketed from just 271 in 1990 to 1,478 in 2001.

"Teens might be obtaining Ritalin from a family member for whom the drug was prescribed, over the Internet, or from a drug dealer," says Snyder. They might use Ritalin to "create a high or to get more energy and try to do better in school" by crushing, inhaling, or taking the drug orally, Snyder adds.

Abusing Ritalin is like abusing any other drug. You'll need more to get you high and can develop a dependence on the drug. If a Ritalin abuser suddenly stops taking the drug, they'll likely experience withdrawal, including severe depression, exhaustion, abnormal sleepiness, having a huge appetite, and drug craving.

Studying Drug-Free

The best approach is to stay away from "study aids." Instead, keep your schedule manageable. Ask yourself: Do I really need to join that extra club? Can I do without a job or work fewer hours? The key is to manage your workload so you can give yourself plenty of time to study for a test or complete a complicated assignment.

"Do your homework early and avoid procrastinating," advises Miguel.