To each his own. I prefer drugs typically associated with decreased work ability and increased aptitude for fun.
Nootropic Brain Drugs Rise in Popularity for Today’s Corporate Climbers
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Re: Nootropic Brain Drugs Rise in Popularity for Today’s Corporate Climbers
#32I used a fairly popular, legal nootropic and set off a manic episode. Not hypomania (I'm cyclothymic, so I'm used to that and it's usually benign) but scary, saw-code-when-I-closed-my-eyes mania. (It was bad code but at least it wasn't Java.) Also, mania isn't usually "happy"; it's 15% euphoria but 35% anger and 50% anxiety. Based on one episode (eh, maybe two or three; before your mid-20s it is hard to tell) I give…
You could probably do a lot of good on a small scale just by naming the one you're talking about, even if that reaction is rare.
Re: Nootropic Brain Drugs Rise in Popularity for Today’s Corporate Climbers
#33Massive, massive potential for the placebo effect. This needs to be tested in a randomised double blind trial with standardised testing of the purported cognitive enhancements. Until then it's snake oil.
On the scale of the individual it doesn't make much difference if the impact is via placebo or not. To extrapolate from the experience would be unwise. Yet for any one person to live only through population-wide statistical significance robs that person's life of the joy of figuring out what works, even if sometimes it only works for them.
Re: Nootropic Brain Drugs Rise in Popularity for Today’s Corporate Climbers
#34people who want to get ahead will do their best to cheat without getting caught, and will take unreasonable risks... doing whatever it takes to succeed. this is not new.
personally i prefer to dumb myself down with a bit of weed... :)
Re: Nootropic Brain Drugs Rise in Popularity for Today’s Corporate Climbers
#35Earlier quoted context omitted.
That's gotta be the most American thing ever. A .com website that sells you drugs so you can work harder. And the website is designed to look like they are selling you lollies.
I can't say being marketed nootropics with an almost LSD-esque site really inspires confidence in me.
I really expected to see nyan cat bouncing across the screen while waiting for that site to load. I'm not sure if that would have been better or worse.
Re: Nootropic Brain Drugs Rise in Popularity for Today’s Corporate Climbers
#36The one thing that really interests me about this is the long-term damage you are doing to yourself. There appear to be two types of stimulants. There are the legal ones like caffeine that have a moderate effect and are not significantly unhealthy unless consumed in extreme quantities. And there are the illegal ones like amphetamines that have a significant effect, but will also cause a great deal of harm the more yo…
> And there are the illegal ones like amphetamines that have a significant effect, but will also cause a great deal of harm the more you use them. So, there seems to be a clear correlation between the size of the effect and the harm done.
There's definitely legal amphetamines, non-amphetamine stimulants (modafanil, methylphenidate if you want to put it there), and lots of literature statistics about what is and isn't a dose which can perform harm, and often a classification for the older drugs as GRAS. There's things which may behave like a stimulant or can replace a stimulant, but aren't really stimulants (bupropion, atomoxetine).
If you're talking about Meth, well, then, yeah. It's illegal and often harmful. It's also not likely to be pure.
For the most part, anything which people consider a performance enhancing brain drug has probably been used or posited as a treatment for ADHD or Narcolepsy. It's often a stimulant or a reuptake inhibitor, usually relating to dopamine in some way. There's a ton of FDA-approved drugs out there that meet this description.
Re: Nootropic Brain Drugs Rise in Popularity for Today’s Corporate Climbers
#37Massive, massive potential for the placebo effect. This needs to be tested in a randomised double blind trial with standardised testing of the purported cognitive enhancements. Until then it's snake oil.
Some of them do have double blind studies like piracetam(mentioned in the article) related to cognitive decline not improvement.
Re: Nootropic Brain Drugs Rise in Popularity for Today’s Corporate Climbers
#38Why does this remind me so much of the multi-level marketing companies that are so prevalent in Utah, making bold unproven claims about their tropical fruit juices?
Because they're drugs. Someone just picked a different name for them so that daily use sounded more socially acceptable.
Re: Nootropic Brain Drugs Rise in Popularity for Today’s Corporate Climbers
#39The one thing that really interests me about this is the long-term damage you are doing to yourself. There appear to be two types of stimulants. There are the legal ones like caffeine that have a moderate effect and are not significantly unhealthy unless consumed in extreme quantities. And there are the illegal ones like amphetamines that have a significant effect, but will also cause a great deal of harm the more yo…
> And there are the illegal ones like amphetamines that have a significant effect, but will also cause a great deal of harm the more you use them. So, there seems to be a clear correlation between the size of the effect and the harm done. There's definitely legal amphetamines, non-amphetamine stimulants (modafanil, methylphenidate if you want to put it there), and lots of literature statistics about what is and isn't…
Methamphetamine is NOT illegal in the US (trade name Desoxyn). It's Schedule II, less harmful than LSD in the DEA's psuedo-think. Now, convincing a doctor to rx meth for ADD or weight loss may be difficult, but it's possible.