Dr. Samoon Ahmad is a practicing psychopharmacologist and psychiatrist. Ahmad explains what happens to someone's brain and body if they take Adderall recreationally. Following is a transcript of the video.

Dr. Samoon Ahmad: When you give Adderall to somebody who doesn't require it and they do not have ADD, in those patients you will see almost like a cocaine-like effect.

When you take Adderall, the dopamine is released. Eventually, this dopamine starts to run out. And when the dopamine starts to run out there's a constant need to replenish it. And that constant need to replenish leads to the addictive potential.

Seven to eight hours approximately it will last in your system.

Business Insider: Last where you're feeling the effects?



Ahmad: Yes, you're feeling the effects correct.

For somebody who's using it in a regular form they can continue to function quite well without any adverse effects on the brain. However, someone who starts to abuse medication more than necessary, in those particular people you will see long-term effects, which is almost a burnout where you may start to see irritability, depression, dysphoria, despondency, agitation. And those are just the so-called central nervous system effects.

And then there is a whole section of the overall impact on the body. It can have numerous cardiovascular implications. So it can increase your blood pressure. It can increase your pulse. It can — when people start to abuse it or are using high dosages it can cause cardiac arrhythmias in people. It can cause stroke. It can cause heart attacks. It can cause stomach problems, nausea. Those are the most common ones that people experience.



Produced by Eames Yates



EDITOR'S NOTE: This video was originally published on February 20, 2017.