Columbia University Neuroscientist Professor Has Been Recreationally Taking Heroin for 5 Years.

I thought Ritalin was used for people with ADHD/ADD to calm them down? It seems like Cocaine would have the opposite effect.
I have ADHD & I take adderall for it, and I don't react to it the same way someone that doesn't have ADHD react. I've given someone a pill b4 b/c she wanted to see what it was like b/c I act "the same, but different" on it. To make a short story short, she wasn't calm and ranted A LOT. The rants were kinda inspiration though. She kinda turned into like a squirrel or some **** that doesn't stop moving.
 
underlying trauma. every time.

of course there is recreational drug use, but if somebody is doing something over and over, they're doing it to mask something
Yeah, I do feel like me thing w/ sneakers/clothes is mixture of loving them and trying to fill in some kind of void.
 
underlying trauma. every time.

of course there is recreational drug use, but if somebody is doing something over and over, they're doing it to mask something
Absolutely. They can have what they want on the outside but their entire day is devoted to either controlling their addiction or getting a fix. To me, that’s not what I would label “just fine”.
 
Interesting thing is, people will say and do anything in order to justify their addictions, in order to make what they are using seem normal.

It isn't.

People who are prescribed anti depression meds like Paxil, often need to take another drug in order to detox. If self medicating, many people do not even realize that they are indeed addicted to their drug of choice, because they've normalized the side effects, thinking that they will simply get by until they get that next fix. At this point, you are addicted. This even happens with caffeine withdrawal, and people who drink coffee every morning. They often lose their minds if they don't get their morning fix.
 
The thing about drugs that a lot dont realize is that it isnt the drugs that are getting you high, its the drugs affecting your own internal system of biological stimulants, neurochemicals. From an evolutionary perspective, this biological reward system is what helps us survive both individually and as a species. Back in the day when people had to constantly hunt for food, a high calorie meal would produce a stimulant which would help wear a nueral pathway in your brain, helping you remember how you obtained the high calorie meal and motivate you to do it again. We dont need to hunt for food any more but the same reward system is still active, you feel good when you eat a good meal. We now deal with obesity, addiction to fast food or other high calorie snacks. Sex feels good because it produces a chemical response designed to motivate you to reproduce. We aren't in danger of going extinct due to lack of reproduction but we still seek out sex. We have problems with infidelity, pornography and sexual abuse. These are survival mechanisms that, in the absence of a daily need to survive, we then take to extremes. Why? Because like all drugs, we build tolerance. What once was exciting and enjoyable becomes mundane after time and repetition. See, we are all just living life seeking stimulation of one sort or another. We are addicted to life. It can be sex, food, entertainment, material wealth, religion, exercise, skydiving etc.... and for some its drugs and alcohol. Its all just toying with your physiological reward system. These chemicals form ruts in the neural pathways you build and just like riding a bike through a rut in the grass, the deeper you wear it, the hard it is to turn yourself out of that behavioral path. So we seek stimulation more and more, we plot ways to obtain our own personal pleasures, we fall into ego, we become selfish, we exploit, we murder. We get ourselves into all kinds of trouble when we are led around by our internal chemical reactions we call "feelings". Our desires are the root of our suffering.
 
The thing about drugs that a lot dont realize is that it isnt the drugs that are getting you high, its the drugs affecting your own internal system of biological stimulants, neurochemicals. From an evolutionary perspective, this biological reward system is what helps us survive both individually and as a species. Back in the day when people had to constantly hunt for food, a high calorie meal would produce a stimulant which would help wear a nueral pathway in your brain, helping you remember how you obtained the high calorie meal and motivate you to do it again. We dont need to hunt for food any more but the same reward system is still active, you feel good when you eat a good meal. We now deal with obesity, addiction to fast food or other high calorie snacks. Sex feels good because it produces a chemical response designed to motivate you to reproduce. We aren't in danger of going extinct due to lack of reproduction but we still seek out sex. We have problems with infidelity, pornography and sexual abuse. These are survival mechanisms that, in the absence of a daily need to survive, we then take to extremes. Why? Because like all drugs, we build tolerance. What once was exciting and enjoyable becomes mundane after time and repetition. See, we are all just living life seeking stimulation of one sort or another. We are addicted to life. It can be sex, food, entertainment, material wealth, religion, exercise, skydiving etc.... and for some its drugs and alcohol. Its all just toying with your physiological reward system. These chemicals form ruts in the neural pathways you build and just like riding a bike through a rut in the grass, the deeper you wear it, the hard it is to turn yourself out of that behavioral path. So we seek stimulation more and more, we plot ways to obtain our own personal pleasures, we fall into ego, we become selfish, we exploit, we murder. We get ourselves into all kinds of trouble when we are led around by our internal chemical reactions we call "feelings". Our desires are the root of our suffering.
I get all this, but some things cause irreversible harm while others might just make you feel uneasy. Not saying YOU are saying this, but an addiction to going to the gym is in NO WAY comparable to hard drugs.

We are creatures of habit, literally in our nature, but there’s levels to all this. Had a guy addicted to smoking tell me that if it wasn’t this it’d be something else. I said to him that if the something else wouldn’t lead to cancer, maybe he should make the switch. He sat there for a second and just kinda tipped his cap to me.
 
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I get all this, but some things cause irreversible harm while others might just make you feel uneasy. Not saying YOU are saying this, but an addiction to going to the gym is in NO WAY comparable to hard drugs.

me are creatures of habit, literally in our nature, but there’s levels to all this. Had a guy addicted to smoking tell me that if it wasn’t this it’d be something else. I said to him that if the something else wouldn’t lead to cancer, maybe he should make the switch. He sat there for a second and just kinda tipped his cap to me.

Oh for sure, I think theres definitely more healthy habits that you can form. For example, caring for your offspring is also something that can produce stimulants. Obviously thats a good thing. I think the idea, short of gaining complete control of your nature, is to develop those habits that are healthy and avoid those that are destructive. Unfortunately we live in a society where we are constantly being influenced to choose the latter. From music to movies to social media to advertising, they are all playing on those base instincts. Its almost like the default route is unhealthy behaviors and a person has to first develop an awareness of whats going on then put in effort on a daily basis to get out of or away from that default.

Ultimately, I think the objective is to completely break away from living for stimulation, whether its through healthy behavior or not. For example, working out you may consider healthy, but i know people with full time jobs and families who spend HOURS in the gym on a daily basis, to the detriment of other areas of their life. People put unhealthy substances in their bodies to aide their workout. People have literally died for their gainz. Again, its because we build tolerance and have to seek more and more stimulation. Its always more. On a long enough timeframe, it always leads to the extreme. Living for stimulation, no matter if you consider the behavior healthy or not, puts you in that mode of stimulus-reward, and the amount of unhealthy behaviors that can develop down the line are almost innumerable in this society. Now a lot of it can come down to the individuals level of self control or self moderation. Their upbringing, their cultural or family values, the influences they were exposed to during key developmental years. The point though, is that we are all susceptible to this addictive behavior based on the fact it is part of human physiology. It doesnt have to be hard drugs to **** up your life. Our desires, all of them, lead to our suffering.
 
Def some misinformation in this thread lol. People gotta understand, not everybody reacts the same way to any given drug

I was wild in high school, I have tried many different drugs. Luckily never fell into addiction. Many drugs to have positive use cases and most can also be abused enough to ruin your life

Never tried heroine, crack, nothing like that for the record.

And I truly believe that shrooms have a real future in the medical field for mental issues. Wish my fiance wasnt so grown, id still indulge once or twice a year if she was with it

Well yeah, genes play a role in everything. For a non-substance abuse example, I have (naturally) perfectly straight teeth, brush and floss regularly, go to the dentist regularly, yet I've had a thousand cavities in my life. Meanwhile, I have friends who don't take good care of their teeth at all and have never had cavities. I asked my dentist what I could do, and he said "sorry, dude, ultimately it's just genetics". Same applies to alcohol, drugs, etc.
 
Well yeah, genes play a role in everything. For a non-substance abuse example, I have (naturally) perfectly straight teeth, brush and floss regularly, go to the dentist regularly, yet I've had a thousand cavities in my life. Meanwhile, I have friends who don't take good care of their teeth at all and have never had cavities. I asked my dentist what I could do, and he said "sorry, dude, ultimately it's just genetics". Same applies to alcohol, drugs, etc.
I’d argue environmental factors play a much larger role than genetics for the majority of things.
 
Very interesting dialogue here. I have never abused a substance before (smoked weed a handful of times but I have moderate/severe anxiety that caused almost all of my trips to be god awful roller coasters). However, I have always been intrigued with drug use and its effects - both positive and negative on people.
 
100%
My shroom experiences in my younger years were pretty transformative, as far as perspective is concerned.

I think shrooms can help with all kinds of things, even addiction.

lots of room to grow in this field, I really think it can do BIG things.
I agree. I consider shrooms my “favorite” drug, even though i smoke weed daily. The experience is just unmatched and i think back to memories i had 7+ years ago on shrooms and start laughing still lmao. I always describe my experiences as “being totally connected emotionally with those tripping with you”

like you said, as far as perspective, it is life altering

I’d argue environmental factors play a much larger role than genetics for the majority of things.
I disagree strongly, why do you say this?
 
Also, adderall and those ADD/ADHD drugs are nuts. I absolutely love it buts its not to be played with. In high school i ended up taking them for multiple days in a row (30 mg XR) and would be LIT, answering every question in class, telling everybody my life story. Didnt need it for school, was just in my experimental stage doing it for fun. Stopped as soon as i noticed the changes in my body (restricted vessels, eating, sleeping, etc all messed up. Was probably on the way to addiction after taking them for a week or so)

I always say that if i took an adderall every day, id be a millionaire by now. It gives me so much focus and motivation and brings my reasoning to a new level.

My fiance is prescribed (stopped taking them for years but got them back since it helps her with grad school). Has been an absolute life saver for me getting through these last few semesters of my undergrad. Ill take one on Sunday and do homework for 10 hours straight lol

at the end of the day its methamphetamine and not to be abused. If i wasnt in school still i wouldnt touch em
 
underlying trauma. every time.

of course there is recreational drug use, but if somebody is doing something over and over, they're doing it to mask something
That was certainly the case for me. Due to some incidents when I was little, I turned into an emotional flatline. I’m generally described as “warm, friendly and positive” or but I experience almost no emotion one way or the other. Signing a Do Not Reanimate form for my dad when he went into a coma and died the next day didn’t really feel any different to me from something trivial like a household task.
It’s a bit of a blessing and a curse depending on the situation.

The opioid high is the only thing that actually makes me truly feel something.

I think that’s what mainly drove me to abuse my opioids, not just to make my chronic pain from my chronic illness less painful.
I’m not confident I could resist a relapse so my mom keeps my daily opioids in a safe. My name is also on a blacklist at every nearby pharmacy, which states I can’t fill an opioid prescription unless the pharmacist gets my mom’s approval when I or they call her.
 
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That was certainly the case for me. Due to some incidents when I was little, I turned into an emotional flatline. I’m generally described as “warm, friendly and positive” or but I experience almost no emotion one way or the other. Signing a Do Not Reanimate form for my dad when he went into a coma and died the next day didn’t really feel any different to me from something trivial like a household task.
It’s a bit of a blessing and a curse depending on the situation.

The opioid high is the only thing that actually makes me truly feel something.

I think that’s what mainly drove me to abuse my opioids, not just to make my chronic pain from my chronic illness less painful.
I’m not confident I could resist a relapse so my mom keeps my daily opioids in a safe. My name is also on a blacklist at every nearby pharmacy, which states I can’t fill an opioid prescription unless the pharmacist gets my mom’s approval when I or they call her.
Crazy, im kinda an emotional flatline too. I def dont experience the same emotions as everybody else. I dont laugh at tv/videos, most stuff is just indifferent to me

hard to explain
 
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