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.
southsamurai@sh.itjust.works 2 weeks ago
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.
lousyd@lemmy.sdf.org 2 weeks ago
WhiteOakBayou@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
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.
southsamurai@sh.itjust.works 2 weeks ago
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.
scarabic@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
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.
HelixDab2@lemm.ee 2 weeks ago
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. Boldenone in particular will sharply increase red blood cell 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 AAS will cause hair loss in men that are sensitive to DHT. AAS 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.