The Wikipedia article about amineptine to which Roko linked doesn’t seem to support the claim he’s quoting; it says that its regulatory troubles were because of an immediate stimulant effect—which is not the same thing as its antidepressant effect, or at least so says the article and it seems plausible to me. (Depression is not the same thing as unhappiness; stimulants are not the same thing as antidepressants.)
I was rather hoping that someone who knew what they were talking about would clarify this; amineptine is of course one possible antidepressant to consider, but there are hundreds of them. What is the situation? Do there exist antidepressants that can help people to motivate themselves beyond the normal level of human motivation?
Considering that there exists a tradition within the medical community to draw a fairly arbitrary distinction between “treatment” and “enhancement”, and to only spend time researching and administering “treatment” but to shun “enhancement”, I would not be surprised if there were some low hanging fruit here.
Regrettably, I know a lot about general relativity and category theory, but virtually nothing about psychopharmacology so I cannot really add much.
If you can find any antidepressants that actually reliably cure depression without making a lot of people have unacceptable side-effects, ranging from suicide to short-term memory loss, please tell me.
Most of the people I know who’ve been in the mental healthcare system (including me) have had to try several medication before one (if any) actually helped their symptoms, which were/are often debilitating. A very good reason for drawing the line between “treatment” and “enhancement” is that a lot of the time you’d only put up with psychopharmacology if you were utterly miserable and unable to function without it. And even then it’s only a bet.
The effect you’re looking for does seem to be one that people often go to stimulants looking for, so perhaps you should be looking for the best stimulant for you.
And I do not think the distinction between “treatment” and “enhancement”, as you say, is arbitrary. A focus on enhancement may be profitable—and is for the regrettably mostly pseudoscientific or downright dishonest supplement and self-help industries—but mental illness is friggin’ terrible. I know: I’ve had it for 16 years and I’m only 18 years old. There’s a huge difference between being disappointed with yourself because you procrastinate a little and hearing voices and having the impression that they’re surrounding you and stabbing you as you twitch and shudder and try to focus on responding to someone speaking to you with at least grunts or flat, simple answers—which can also be caused by procrastination, or, rather, part of a vicious cycle of depression and anxiety that centers around procrastination and disbelief in one’s own ability to accomplish anything. I know: I’ve been there.
The Wikipedia article about amineptine to which Roko linked doesn’t seem to support the claim he’s quoting; it says that its regulatory troubles were because of an immediate stimulant effect—which is not the same thing as its antidepressant effect, or at least so says the article and it seems plausible to me. (Depression is not the same thing as unhappiness; stimulants are not the same thing as antidepressants.)
I was rather hoping that someone who knew what they were talking about would clarify this; amineptine is of course one possible antidepressant to consider, but there are hundreds of them. What is the situation? Do there exist antidepressants that can help people to motivate themselves beyond the normal level of human motivation?
Considering that there exists a tradition within the medical community to draw a fairly arbitrary distinction between “treatment” and “enhancement”, and to only spend time researching and administering “treatment” but to shun “enhancement”, I would not be surprised if there were some low hanging fruit here.
Regrettably, I know a lot about general relativity and category theory, but virtually nothing about psychopharmacology so I cannot really add much.
If you can find any antidepressants that actually reliably cure depression without making a lot of people have unacceptable side-effects, ranging from suicide to short-term memory loss, please tell me.
Most of the people I know who’ve been in the mental healthcare system (including me) have had to try several medication before one (if any) actually helped their symptoms, which were/are often debilitating. A very good reason for drawing the line between “treatment” and “enhancement” is that a lot of the time you’d only put up with psychopharmacology if you were utterly miserable and unable to function without it. And even then it’s only a bet.
The effect you’re looking for does seem to be one that people often go to stimulants looking for, so perhaps you should be looking for the best stimulant for you.
And I do not think the distinction between “treatment” and “enhancement”, as you say, is arbitrary. A focus on enhancement may be profitable—and is for the regrettably mostly pseudoscientific or downright dishonest supplement and self-help industries—but mental illness is friggin’ terrible. I know: I’ve had it for 16 years and I’m only 18 years old. There’s a huge difference between being disappointed with yourself because you procrastinate a little and hearing voices and having the impression that they’re surrounding you and stabbing you as you twitch and shudder and try to focus on responding to someone speaking to you with at least grunts or flat, simple answers—which can also be caused by procrastination, or, rather, part of a vicious cycle of depression and anxiety that centers around procrastination and disbelief in one’s own ability to accomplish anything. I know: I’ve been there.