I’m a better person with Adderall. I feel more like myself, like I escape a frustrating fog. I’ve been on it for ~14 years. It doesn’t seem to have the same effects on everyone.
Everything in life is ultimately brain chemistry and addictions. Most of the drugs in our chemistry soup are the substances the human body synthesises on its own. Biology is a funny thing. It can handle immense complexity, but can struggle with precision.
If you have the self awareness to seek out and optimise your brain or body chemistry where it might be lacking, I’d argue that you are the better person than someone that suffers through the deficiencies of their natural biology.
However, humans have a very difficult time assessing their own brain chemistry objectively without biases. It is both harmful and unsafe to self diagnose or self medicate without the assistance of someone that is trained to objectively asses your situation and needs.
Would it make a difference if you were taking the drug to makeup for a deficiency, or if you were taking it to surpass normal ability?
The only normal people are people you have not taken the time to get to know yet.
Define better.
There’s people that think they’re better with a few drinks in them. There’s people that think they’re better when they’re on meth. Same with pretty much every drug.
But drugs are never, ever a one stop shop for self improvement. I’m not talking treating medical conditions here, that’s a different issue entirely.
It doesn’t matter if an a given drug helps, it never fully works in a vacuum. It takes some degree or another of willingness to change, and some degree of work.
Example: roids. Used appropriately, they can help improve your body. But if you just shoot them and stay at home, it’s a waste of money. That being said, I’ve seen way too many otherwise good people turn into wrecks by using them, so don’t unless it’s on a regimented and careful medical plan. So, while the drugs have benefits, they can only give you an edge, they don’t do the work for you.
If you go to something that isn’t as often abused, antidepressants are a great tool in dealing with depression and related illnesses. But they’re a bandaid. If you don’t do the work needed to fix the underlying issue that’s causing the depression, they aren’t any better than weed, or booze, or whatever because they do have side effects that can be just as problematic as use of recreational drugs (as opposed to abuse or dependency, which aren’t the same as having a toke or a drink after work to deal with the stress).
Afaik, there aren’t any drugs, legal or illegal, that improve the self without effort on the part of the patient. Again, this is not about treating an injury, infection, or whatever. It’s about self improvement in the general sense.
Example: roids. Used appropriately, they can help improve your body.
Correction: they can improve aspects of your body, at a very, very steep cost. Pretty much all oral anabolic steroids are C17α-alkylated, and they’re hepatotoxic (i.e., cause liver damage). All steroids will fuck up your lipid profile to one degree or another, and all of them can cause heart disease, specifically hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. While most AASs will increase red blood cell count, Boldenone in particular will sharply increase RBC production, which in turn increases blood pressure and can cause strokes. All of them will shut down the hypothalmus-pituitary-testicular axis (HPTA) feedback loop in men, leading to testicular atrophy. Most AASs will cause hair loss in men that are sensitive to DHT. AASs can fuck up your hormones enough that men can start lactating (!!!). High doses of testosterone can cause gynecomastia, because testosterone aromatizes into estradiol. In women, all AAS will cause some degree of virilization.
There are not very many IFBB pros that make it to 80; if you want your candle to burn brightly, it’s going to burn out fast.
ADHD drugs improve people’s ability to focus and concentrate even without effort on the part of the patient. So that’s a counter-example.
It just improves the ability to focus. It doesn’t really make one focus on the right thing. Also, the alteration in abilities isn’t free. The good effects of any drug are weighed against the side effects. There is always an opportunity cost to any drug. The poster above you was right on with his steroid comparison.
That’s not improvement though, it’s augmentation. It only works while on the drug, no lasting changes.
I mean, I get what you’re saying, but there’s a difference in that bit of semantics that matters.
Stuff like adderal is like using special fuels in a car. You’ll get benefits while on it, but it doesn’t change the engine itself. Something like steroids bores the engine out a cubic inch or so.
Antidepressants are closer to running a fuel with extra detergents. If you stop using the detergent fuel, and then go back to using the old fuels, you’ll just get clogged up again. But if you rebuild the engine piece by piece while using it, you end up with the engine running smoother no matter what fuel you put in.
But, you have a good point, some drugs can become your standard fuel for when you’re driving in the mountains and need better response. Or you can just run that fuel all the time and negate the drag from adhd that hinders your performance overall. Drugs like that, while they don’t actually improve or change the person, keeping them in your system amounts to the same thing when you’ve got an underlying issue that can’t be “rebuilt” in the first place.
They improve your ability to focus, but you still need to make the active decision to concentrate on whatever you need to do. No drug will make you automatically clean your room or do your homework.
I can’t define better. But I can tell you who can. The people around you that you trust can tell you when you’re better and when you’re not. They will not tell you you are better drunk or on meth. (unless they are also drunk and on meth - that’s codependency, not trust).
If you’re really, really lucky you will find a life partner who knows you top to bottom and will tell you when you’re better, and be patient enough with you when you’re worse to really know the difference.
Don’t take non-OTC drugs without consulting a physician first. You could really screw yourself up with some of them, the hard stuff especially. The potential ups of doing them aren’t worth the likely losses.
People who take aspirin or ibuprofen take it for a specific purpose, and when they no longer need it, they stop. With things like steroids, heroin, cocaine, and Adderall (if they don’t have specific conditions like ADHD), people frequently end up chasing a horizon that only gets further away the harder they run to catch it. It’s a miserable existence and it causes them, and often their friends and loved ones, endless pain.
You deserve the best from yourself. That includes self-care. You’re more than your flaws and disorders, whatever they may be. Don’t make those an excuse to wreck yourself in pursuit of a goal that probably isn’t real.
Better is better. Everything else is just silly pointless judgment
I’ve seen people go off their meds for no other reason than that they are ashamed to be on them and want to see if they can “make it on their own.” It’s always turned out badly.
I’ve also seen people find just the right meds for them and say they love their meds and owe their life to their meds. Those people are happy.
In short, yes, but it has to be carefully controlled, and on your terms.
I have adhd, I regularly take medication for it. It has a significant effect on my personality. I takes away the “excited labrador puppy” energy, which is replaced with a more calm and considerate version of me.
It’s worth noting that this change is something I wanted. The improvements for others is a nice side benefit. It’s also done with medical supervision.
It’s also worth noting that the change does become more permanent. Even when unmedicated, I can mode switch far more easily than before. My brain understands the new state better and so can recreate it, even without chemical support.
Man, I wonder how many people answering this question “need to” have coffee every morning
What a cracker of a question!
Short answer, yes.
Long answer, what sorts of side effects happen as a result of said medication? I don’t think there’s a single medication or even supplement out there that doesn’t have some sort of side effect (e.g., ibuprofen can cause gut bleeding, iron supplements can lead to constipation, grapefruit can screw with all sorts of medications), so balancing the cost benefit ratio is important.
It’s entirely okay to use medication to improve your mental health. There are serious things like depression, anxiety, and mania out there that are chemical in origin and there is nothing wrong with using chemistry to get rid of them.
You should do this with the help of a good doctor and trusted people who can help give you perspective on how you’re doing. When you say “take drugs to make yourself a better person” I can’t tell if you are looking for permission to get high or addressing the topic of mental health meds in earnest.
If your own neurotransmitters aren’t working right, store-bought is fine.
I think you answered your own question. If taking drugs actually makes you a better person, of course it’s OK. That’s true for both physical and mental considerations.
But look, you put everything into one definition. What is “better”, who decides, and how do they decide? If you don’t have anywhere to go, you probably won’t get there. Or maybe you will get there but you won’t realize it.
There is much debate on all kinds of drugs, but I can tell you that some of my friends have had various experiences that are relevant. For several friends, acid or shrooms helped them deal with some harsh trauma. For several other friends, various uppers helped them handle ADHD relatively effectively. But of course we all have different problems and goals, so the burden is right back on you to figure out what you want to do. There’s no way around this basic fact of life.
Which drugs?
It really depends on the drug and who gave it to you.
When a doctor gives you medication against high blood pressure its to keep you healthy.
When the guy from the gym gives you testosterone that he got from his friend its a very bad idea.
If its a drug you can buy yourself at the store, like caffeine, it really depends on the dosage cause you can get caffeine poisoning.
Regarding stuff like weed or LSD or similar. They shouldn’t be taken regularly because they can be mentally addictive and might further psychological issues or get you over the edge faster regarding psychosis.
And for harder drugs like Heroin, Meth… No. Just no.
What about little-a meth as a treat though?
No.
Yes.
Some people have to use pills their entire lives. I take some for my disability. They make me more patient and less excited/stressed. They also reduce episodes in which I might harm myself or do things I regret. I am not my disease. I am me, and the medicine is like using crutches for my mind.
I can not solve my issues by talking to a therapist, so medicine is a requirement.
I find it kinda idiotic not to accept medicine that will make things better for you. It’s irrational. I don’t blame you for feeling it this way, I am not sure if this is a gendered issue, but as a man I took it quite hard when I had to start taking meds, it was as if I had a weakness and was less than my peers. “Men are supposed to be stoic and tough” (I have since changed perspective)
Take your meds, no-one will give you a medal or appriciate it if you don’t. You are also not weaker if you take them. It just makes life easier, like a good bed or a good home. Is having a good home a weakness? “What? You can’t survive on the street? You pussy!” /s
See the irrational way of thinking? Any comfortable choice can be called some form of weakness. So then the queation becomes: Why choose to have difficulty when nobody gains from it?
It’s ok if you call then medicines instead of drugs. Otherwise maybe ok anyway.
Psylocybin is fucking medicine
Why do you want to be better? What is the problem?
I think so, yes. Always OK. Is it always the best possible way to go? Probably not.
And no, I don’t think it matters if it’s physical or mental, what matters is balancing the risk of the drug vs. the benefit. So for example my kid takes Adderall for ADD, I don’t, because I know how much I like speed and also have a (very far past) history of disordered eating and still occasional anxiety about eating - I judge the potential risk too high even if it would “fix” my mind in one way, and make me better in that way.
But yeah, if it will improve you overall why wouldn’t it be ok?
