Have you ever heard of the “Freshman Fifteen”? According to urban legend–and supported by my own experiences–people will gain about fifteen pounds during their first year in college. It makes sense, if you think about it. High school is all about sports and exercise–activities replaced in college by binge-drinking and late-night visits to Steak ‘n Shake.

When I was in college in the early ’00s there was a popular supplement available at GNC called Xenadrine. It was a diet pill marketed to teens and twenty-somethings and I knew a lot of kids who got skinny by taking it. Nearing the end of my freshman year I became apprehensive about all the weight I’d gained. Pretty soon I would return home where many of my high school friends remained, most of whom had stayed in shape by getting blue-collar jobs working in warehouses or cutting down trees. I knew they’d take one look at my newly acquired beer gut and laugh their asses off. So I went down to GNC and picked up some Xenadrine.

Not only did I shed the weight, but I also aced my finals that semester. Xenadrine proved to be a much better “study buddy” then Pepsi cans from the vending machines. The following year I began to take Xenadrine whenever I had to study for a big test. Nobody thought it was all that weird, because at the time Xenadrine was a legal supplement marketed and distributed by “General Nutrition Center.”

But the active ingredient in Xenadrine was ephedrine, a stimulant. Eventually the FDA took the product off the market when high school kids started overdosing on it in pursuit of perfect bodies and grades. Xenadrine tried to rebound with an ephradine-free placebo but, predictably, the drug tanked without its franchise chemical.

Without ephedrine, my grades went back to the toilet junior year. My advisers were concerned, especially because I’d aced harder classes as a sophomore than the ones I made D’s in as a junior.

It turned out I had been “self-medicating” with Xenadrine. This is a common practice among teens with AD/HD, many of whom self-medicate with much more harmful substances such as speed or cocaine. Unlike most people, who get “high” when they take such substances, A.D.D. people experience a heightened sense of focus and concentration on stimulants–even cocaine.

Unfortunately, the so-called war on drugs clouds our emotions. So when a kid becomes addicted to stimulants, many adults assume rehab is what he or she needs. Instead of recognizing teenagers’ cries for help, many of these rehab centers encourage kids to call on their “higher power” for closure and protection. We overlook that perhaps that’s exactly what the higher power was doing by helping him or her to self-medicate in the first place.