Exclusive | Gen Z women abuse stimulants, binge-drink more than any other group, studies find

Gen Z women are abusing stimulants and binge drinking more than their male counterparts — and any other age group, new studies have found.

Nearly 37% of women ages 18 to 25 reported excessively popping uppers such as Adderall and Ritalin in the past year, more than double that reported by women older than them, according to a study published last month in JAMA Psychiatry.

Only 25% of women ages 26 to 34 reported improper use, according to the study. Women 35 to 64, who researchers said have seen largest rise in stimulant prescriptions, are abusing them the least — 13.7%.

Men were not far behind women in abuse of the drugs, which have become so increasingly popular since 2020 that there have been national shortages. Among men ages 18 to 25 who are prescribed the medication, 36.1% reported misuse compared to 36.3% of men aged 26 to 35 and 22% of men ages 35 to 64.

Of the 83,762 men and women ages 18 to 64 included in the study, only a quarter of them reported misusing the drugs, including taking them without being prescribed or taking higher or more frequent doses than ordered.

While older women often pop the pills to manage daily life with families, many younger women suffer “feelings of inadequacy” for not meeting social, physical, career and relationship standards, experts say.

“There’s pressure to have the perfect grades, perfect body, be super popular on social media, and appear to have it all figured out,” Stacey Ross, a mental health specialist at AddictionResource.net, told The Post.

“Some feel like they need to be ‘on’ constantly, and that the misuse of stimulants seems like a quick solution to stay there,” Ross said.

The study’s authors said the findings highlight a need for prevention and intervention.

They looked at the two types of drugs most commonly used to treat ADHD and help with concentration and alertness: amphetamines, which include Adderall and Vyvanse, and methylphenidates like Ritalin and Concerta. Amphetamines, which stimulate the dopamine reward system more than methylphenidates, were found to be abused three times higher.

Women were historically misdiagnosed and underdiagnosed with ADHD but the gender gap has been closing, especially since the pandemic, according to experts.

The alarming findings follow reports that young women are also out-drinking men for the first time.

A study published last week in JAMA of 267,843 men and women 18 and older found that 31.6% of women ages 18 to 25 reported binge drinking — consuming four or more drinks on one occasion — more than any other group.

The study compared men’s and women’s habits over two time periods, 2017 to 2019 and 2021 to 2023. It found that men’s binge-drinking levels plummeted nearly 8 percentage points, from 37.7% to 29.9%. But women didn’t see such a drop, falling only 4.8 percent from the prior years.

Experts say heavy alcohol use has become more acceptable for women and that they are increasingly targeted through marketing and social media campaigns, especially those with higher socio-economic status.

“For females, there continues to be pressure to be ‘fun,’ ‘cool,’ or ‘relaxed,’ and too often, that means drinking,” Ross said.

The disturbing findings come amid an increase in alcohol-related liver disease and mortality among young- and middle-aged women than men.