Ask HN: Should I keep using stimulants?

If you think small doses of Adderall make you more productive, you should talk to a good psychiatrist and get a prescription. And then you should re-evaluate with them frequently, watching out for the downsides. The downsides vary between people, and it can be hard to see them yourself, so you need an expert to help you evaluate.

Productivity is important, but so is your personal life. Stimulants make some people more prone to anger in interpersonal relationships, which can really hurt people around you. So keep an eye on any changes in your behavior. It can help to keep a log of daily mood, productivity, and relationship drama. They can affect sleep, so you end up stimulated but sleep-deprived and less productive after a while. And they can be habit-forming, which means that you'll have trouble being honest with yourself about their effects. So go to a good psychiatrist.

I'm just about to graduate from a top 10 computer science program myself so I can say that I've been in your shoes.

The first year adds a lot of pressure and challenge because of the transition to higher-level academics. In fact I often failed my own expectations (and literally failed a couple times too) at the beginning of my collegiate academic career.

I can assure you that if you start to take stimulants without a prescription or diagnosis as early as your first year, your situation will not improve. 3rd and 4th year classes are harder than intro classes or 2nd year classes, and stimulants will not change your mindset, approaches to studying, or priorities in a way that will accommodate you for higher difficulty courses.

You need to take a huge step back from academics and look at what is affecting your performance. Summer vacations and even internships are the best times for that because the stakes are not as high so you have time to reflect on who you are and what you want out of life.

In my first year summer, after a brutally tough semester, I worked a full-time + daily overtime job at a backalley convenience store in downtown Seattle to discover "my bottom line". I wanted to see the kind of life I would lead if I didn't get my act together. Looking back, I was exceedingly hard on myself. But that summer I learned a few things: 1) I never want to be so poor that I can't buy daily essentials, 2) I never want to fall prey to addiction, 3) I want to fall in love with my work so I never have to actually "work hard" ever again, 4) I need to develop strategies to get my behavior together so I can follow through on all these ideals.

When I came back to school, although the transition wasn't immediate I completely changed my lifestyles and approach to college. I went from being a sub-2.0 student to mostly consistently receiving grades in the high 3's.

I also developed actionable strategies to be more diligent about my work and treat myself with more care. You have to eat right, sleep right, and know your brain and yourself if you expect to succeed. Truthfully, although I was diagnosed with ADHD in 11th grade, I have done mostly fine without stimulants because of the ways in which I live my life (it can't be denied that some people definitely need them).

Feel free to PM me if you need any help or advice on figuring things out. I always like to provide assistance where I can.

When I made this comment the title of this post was "Should I keep abusing stimulants." I think that if you are classifying the behavior as abuse yourself, there is absolutely no question, you should stop that behavior.

I believe the line between use and abuse is different for everyone, but asking/letting other people draw that line for you is asking for trouble.