Nov 20, 2014 12:37 PM EST By J Baulkman, UniversityHerald Reporter

Between academics, work and maintaining a social life, college students are turning to prescription drugs to keep up with the demands of college life.

Researchers from the Partnership for Drug-Free Kids found that one in five college students report abusing prescription drugs at least once in their lifetime.  Students use these drugs as a way to manage the daily stresses of college life, not to hurt themselves.

"If I have an exam, I will study late into the evening," Kenny Clark, a fourth-year student at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, told news8000.com.

Like many college students, Clark is trying to keep his head above water while juggling his social life, work and academics. And when it comes to crunch times, he has pulled all-nighters to complete papers and study for exams.

"I've definitely closed the library down. The library is open till one," Clark said. "Some of the time I will drink coffee, later at night if I have to be up late, I will sometimes have an energy drink."

However, more and more students are starting to skip the coffee and energy drinks. They are going straight to prescription stimulants.

"They get over-stimulated, they can stay up all night, cram for studies on exams and things like that," Dr. William Bucknam, director of addiction services at Gundersen Health System, told news8000.com.

Twenty-five percent of students at the Wisconsin university responded to the 2014 National College Health Association survey. Of that 25 percent, 12.6 reported use of a prescription stimulant that was not prescribed for them, according to Kate Noelke, the wellness coordinator for the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse.

New research found that 20 percent of college students report abusing prescription drugs and nearly 50 percent say they use it to improve academically.

"The most commonly abused is Adderall and Ritalin," Bucknam said. "More and more it seems to be a normalized thing. Especially the youth and college that feel themselves under a lot of pressure to perform academically and have to work on top of that."

The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse offers a wide-range of resources to help students deal with the demands of college life.

"We really want to focus on providing our students with ways to learn to balance all the incredible activities they commit themselves to," Noelke explained.

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