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Do you actually feel that you've got dumber because of drug abuse?

I had a lot of research chemicals (mainly Methoxetamine) ever since then my cognitive abilities have decreased. Seriously did some damage to me, not a psychotic break but I found my memory had suffered and the damage has lasted years.
 
um, YESSS
so let me just tell you a story...

somedays i feel so so fuckin dumb. the other day i decided to dye my hair, touch up my highlights. so i mix the color... and stupid me, I FORGOT TO PUT ONE OF THE INGREDIENTS INTO THE FUCKIN BOTTLE. the box only came with TWO things you just had to put in and shake in the coloring bottle. so i was like damn why is the color BRIGHT ASS pink?? o well...i proceeded to put the bright pink color on my hair. ya, im dumb. my hair turned out an orange/copper/light pink. i only realized what i had done after the shit was on my hair.

i do stuff like this everyday. and i swear, i never used to be like this...i know for a fact my 7 year drug use has effected me and my brain. ive used everything. i mainly loved alcohol, heroin, benzos, weed, and meth. there's def permanent damage i have done. :[
 
Definitely dumber, lack concentration, communication skills, critical thinking skills, word recall, etc...kinda sucks, i got a 1450 on my SAT (im not bragging it's just the truth) and now i can barely speak a sentence without stuttering...it all started when i developed depersonalization from mushrooms...oh well, we plod on :D
 
I think that as we grow older and learn more about the world, we become a lot less confident in our own knowledge and ability. We feel dumber as we grow wiser. Depression can also be confused with cognitive impairment.

Since I've used recreational drugs, I've found it more difficult to entertain myself without them. It's easier to smoke a blunt and zone out than read a dense book or start a project. But it's important to remember how plastic the brain is. If you feel your cognition has suffered due to intellectual laziness, it's very much possible to regain your ability and then some. The biggest challenge is breaking out of complacency.
 
I wouldn't say "dumber", but I know what you mean. Due to my mental illnesses and crappy memory, etc, benzos and alcohol have played a big role in "changing who I am".
 
I'm not sure if my drug use has made me dumber but it has certainly affected my sense of humour.
Since school days I always had a very good sense of humour and was very quick witted.
Everyone used to say I should be a standup comedian because my brain was razor sharp as far as humour went.
After years of heroin abuse I no longer have that 'talent' to make people laugh like I used to. I really miss that part of my personality.
I really hope that if one day I finally kick my drug habit that my sharp wit would return as it made me so many friends at the time.
 
I wouldn't say that I've gotten dumber, but my memory has definitely suffered a bit...I also lose my train of though quite a bit :\
 
definitely not! BUT, people often perceive me as "burnt" or "fried" because I do act more ditzy, spacey, and am bad with names and have other short term memory problems.

but the answer is no.
 
i've been on them my entire adult life. earlier on i was kinda dumb with them and short term memory was fucked for the duration. but as i got older i matured more, became quicker, wittier, more of a cocky smart ass, more cynical, etc.

they kept me in a state where it was ok to be bored because i felt good. even suboxone kept me not wanting to learn or do much. since i got off i've been into politics a lot more, which i hated but now find it very interesting. i feel like i could go back to school now and do a lot better because i've matured.

so maybe they made my short term get crappy, but i've matured and recognized it and realized i cant sit around anymore. have to learn more and get smarter because knowledge is power. plus i love learning new things.
 
my social skills are shit to and im working on it, im a waiter and it definitly helps becAuse im forced to interact with people i dont know on a daily basis
 
Benzos especially made me dummer. I have stopped taking those and my memory has improved more than I could hope for.
 
i wonder this sometimes and can easily convince myself so if i let me, but i try not to think about it much

i do believe though that drugs (mostly weed) made me 'different'. it can be all in my head though. when i started wondering so i even asked my oldest close friends all the time if they had noticed anything different in me or something lately compared from back when i hadn't touched drugs, but they always denied.

i mostly relate this to weed and psychs though, which leaves constantly wondering about both my sanity and intelligence... with other drugs i don't really care much.

who knows really
 
I am still as smart at abstract thought and being able to see the world in an objective and logical manner, however, my short term memory sucks and my problem solving skills are definitely lacking. I believe that in my case anyway, if I wasn't on methadone and was getting the proper health support for my body that my intelligence would come back fully.
 
"I think that as we grow older and learn more about the world, we become a lot less confident in our own knowledge and ability. We feel dumber as we grow wiser. Depression can also be confused with cognitive impairment."

This is a true phenomenon. Studies were done on peoples confidence toward a certain task. It was found that people who were completely newb at something were way more confident than people who had some or lots of experience doing it. The reason being that the newbs had no idea how tricky and complicated the task might be, and the more experienced people understood more of the complexities and variables.
 
Most of my brain has grown back or re-wired from some of the heavy-drinking heavy drug using days.

Tough to know if living life like that was an overall plus or minus in terms of smart/dumb scale...

Shit........ if life was a video game, and I could keep my knowledge from now and start over @ birth, I'd be a millionaire, and I would never choose to drink or use drugs.
All u can do is move from your current reality into the future.
 
Transcendence said:
I think that as we grow older and learn more about the world, we become a lot less confident in our own knowledge and ability. We feel dumber as we grow wiser. Depression can also be confused with cognitive impairment.

Since I've used recreational drugs, I've found it more difficult to entertain myself without them. It's easier to smoke a blunt and zone out than read a dense book or start a project. But it's important to remember how plastic the brain is. If you feel your cognition has suffered due to intellectual laziness, it's very much possible to regain your ability and then some. The biggest challenge is breaking out of complacency.
Click to expand...

Really good post. :)

I feel as sharp as I've ever been, though I was addicted to opiates and used mainly kratom and poppy tea, never abused meth or anything, etc. I do notice many differences in my thinking however. I've used a really large amount of psychedelics over the past 9 years or so, and it's changed me and my personality. I still feel like me, but so many of the things I think and believe and the way I see things has been permanently affected by my experiences. My friend told me once that I look like someone who has tripped a lot and I sometimes make strange movements. Of course I have always been weird like that and I make weird movements and sounds anyway, and he's only known me a year.

I will say though that during the last 3 years of my 10-year opiate addiction, I felt destroyed, like I wasn't even myself anymore, like my brain and emotions didn't work. Life sucked and I wanted to die, and I wasn't satisfied with what I was doing in my life. Then I got off opiates and got out of my toxic relationship and started filling my life with things that make me happy and interested, and I came back to life. The post I quoted is absolutely true. <3
 
I've done my share.
None the worse for wear.
It's what you think
That makes you swim or sink.

To stay sharp after 40+ years of copious self-medication, you need regular sleep, proper nutrition, and should maintain an engaged, thinking attitude throughout the day. Daily exercise and meditation are highly recommended to keep the brain in top performance, as well.

Don't overmedicate yourself. Allow your body and mind to fully recover before redosing. Be conservative, less is more and titriation should be internalized impulses. Use substances either for self improvement or as a reward for achieving a goal. Avoid blowouts and blackouts and you'll live a safer, smarter life.
 
In the first few months of 2013 I felt like damaged goods but given enough time to recuperate and live a healthy lifestyle I was able to go back to my old self again. I am proud to say that after all of the years of abuse I feel the same and smarter in many different ways, more cautious and conscientious.
 
Despite having learned some things about life in general,drug use definately made me more slow,maybe even awkward sometimes
around people,or at least thats how i feel.
I started as a teenager and now 7 years of heroin/benzo abuse later i feel that while a might have learned a stuff or two about life and how to
react/make decisions,my social skills and interest in socializing and meeting/chatting up with other people has obviously suffered.

In the past i would easily talk to someone i dont know and come up with topics to discuss while gracefully interacting.Was really easy to make friends
and "connect" with someone really quickly.
Now i feel like despite being in my mid 20s,i can hardly relate to people i meet,keeping or inducing conversation is hard and sometimes feels akward,
and most of the time im not even interested in meeting people i would find fascinating in the past.
Opiates used to alleviate all the second thoughts and unreasonable remorse but now they dont make a difference,and if they do its probably for the worst.

I defo feel drugs made it harder to communicate,limitted fantasy,made me dumber..
 
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