How do stimulants affect your ability to empathize?

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Let me say that I think I actually have a great ability to empathize with people. My problem lies in expressing it, I can't really show it without seeming artificial and sometimes it doesn't occur to me to show empathy at all when it probably should...it's just all focused inwardly and I feel like people know that I care about them, but I don't think they really do.

When I was on stimulants I had a much easier time socializing with people and I actually ENJOYED it, but I had no empathy, I really didn't feel it. Even though the drugs made me able to express myself more clearly and easily around people, I was like a robot inside. I could have told someone I loved them and had no issues with doing it but not mean it at all. Without medication I feel a lot for people, I just can't express it.

Anyone else?

Stimulants do that to NTs, too.....it's because they damp down certain areas of the brain.

All those kids hopped up on Ritalin are this close to the next Columbine.

I am really not sure how they affect my empathy at all...but I do think they might make it harder for me to bond with people. I guess I am not really sure of my empathy skills to tell one way or the other....I am reclusive and there are many people around who I can't talk to and I feel very separate from them and simply cannot bring myself to bond...I guess one could sort of relate that to something akin to empathy, but uh...

having trouble verbalizing at the moment

I always felt very flat on stimulants. I found Xanax would counter that a little, but going back and forth like that made me feel like a druggie, so I went off both of them, eventually. I really hate that flat/disconnected feeling.

When I used to drink energy drinks, they'd block all of my negative emotions, and I used to end up, talking, laughing and cracking jokes, for hours.

I wish energy drinks would do that for me..

I do not know.....Maybe ancedotal, but I've noticed so many Wrong Planet inhabitants are coffee drinkers (you know who you are). Caffeine is a powerful stimulant and especially for those who consume a lot. Caffeine is also relatively under-rated since, as a culture, we don't regard coffee as a "drug" per se.

But perhaps truth in that it may help, yes? For me, coffee makes me really nervous I am quite sensitive to the effects too.

I have to avoid caffeine completely. I think it makes me take in more, so I hit sensory overload pretty easily if I've had more than a cup of tea. It did make me more expressive, but it shot my nerves completely.

I seem to get a modest mood lift from coffee. I read somewhere that coffee may have anti-sudicidal properties, but I don't know how truly scientific that claim is. When I was younger (like pre-25) I was very sensitive to it; it would cause massive anxiety. Post-burnout I now seem rather insensitive to it, though.

Coffee is my stimulant of choice! I have to be careful, because it makes my voice control issues worse and I may unwittingly shout when I speak if I turn into my caffeine demon alter-ego. I don't know that it makes my capacity for empathy any better or worse, but I can see how it might lower inhibition for expression. I don't think I socialize any better with it. If I drink too much I start to get tired again.

Coffee makes me tired...adderall makes me tired...tired and angry..much of my anger stems from being overwhealmed.....
Oddly enough, expresso beer...can keep me up all night, even though I may not feel physically energized.

I will admit...I am a caffeine addict. I start the day with a hot cup of tea (coffee occasionally), and later on during the day I drink like 2-3 cans of soda a day, sometimes more. I especially drink a lot of soda when I am at school when doing homework or listening to a long, boring lecture. I find it takes the edge off somewhat and makes it easier for me to focus.

Seems to me empathy requires time. Slow down, look inside, feel.

Stimulants speed things up, so you quickly skim over the surface.

No time for true connection.

dp

MotownDangerPants posted: Let me say that I think I actually have a great ability to empathize with people. My problem lies in expressing it, I can't really show it without seeming artificial and sometimes it doesn't occur to me to show empathy at all when it probably should...it's just all focused inwardly and I feel like people know that I care about them, but I don't think they really do. When I was on stimulants I had a much easier time socializing with people and I actually ENJOYED it, but I had no empathy, I really didn't feel it. Even though the drugs made me able to express myself more clearly and easily around people, I was like a robot inside. I could have told someone I loved them and had no issues with doing it but not mean it at all. Without medication I feel a lot for people, I just can't express it. Anyone else? - Motown: I am ADHD Inattentive. I was surprised to find I have a positive reaction to caffeine - coffee. There are a number of FDA approved caffeine compounds (often contain 100 mg - caffeine) marketed as alertness aids. They all tend to temporarily improve aspects of the ability to pay attention for me (example, NoDoz) although one brand (Tirend), for me, not only improved attention a little (not a cure) it also noticeably improved my ability to empathize. I brought up both NoDoz and Tirend with my medical doctor and it was discovered that Tirend had an ingredient or two which, for me, slightly improved my ability to use my imagination (aka empathy) and attention span/sustained concentration - not a cure. I believe there are a few persons who have empathy but often may not express it unless directly asked to do so. The caffeine medicine actually allowed me to understand what empathy is. I tend to view empathy as being natural and helpful yet I am also aware that some persons can use empathy as a trick to increase sales of products of all kinds. In the world of politics, there are some politicians who can create the illusion of empathy yet they will often say one thing, then do another. Some politicians use empathy as a trick to keep their ratings high. There was a Star Trek episode titled "The Empath" which was good. - pgd

When I was in my 20s I had flu and had to do a music performance, so I swallowed a box of Beechams Hot Lemon Powders just to get me through it......I felt great by the time I was on stage, and performed better than usual. As those powders contain caffeine (can't see anything else in there that would do much), I figured that must be the active ingredient, so I started taking Pro-Plus. But I stopped that when I used it for a party and got palpitations. I started to feel paranoid and had to go home....luckily the guy I'd gone there with didn't think much to the party so he was happy to return home with me. Can't say I ever felt more able to empathise on caffeine.

I've been told that I perform better socially when I use cannabis - one lady said it was the only time I said what I meant. Don't know whether it was a direct psychoactive effect or if it was just the analgesic effect reducing my general bodily discomfort and calming me down. But cannabis isn't really a stimulant.

It's possible that alcohol helps slightly, though mostly it just seems to make me a bit more witty, it doesn't really make me feel that I understand people's feelings any better.

Psilocybin really did seem to enable my empathy......particularly one night when for the first time I could see my alcoholic girlfriend's plight from her own perspective, as if it were me. I suppose it could have been an illusion, I would also get feelings of oneness with nature, plants seemed sentient, and inanimate objects seemed alive....and it's not a stimulant as far as I know.

I've always felt right on the edge of a breakthrough with empathy, as if it's something I could do really well if I were to just find the right road. It's entirely possible that chemicals could make the necessary brain changes to get a person there, but I hope there's a less risky way. Drugs have a way of losing their usefulness if you make a habit out of them. I think with empathy it's probably more wholesome to just try and pay more attention to people, to unlock the secrets of what they might be feeling, and why, and how to respond. I'm often ashamed of the poor understanding I have of the emotional states of my friends. I care about them a lot, but they're like matchstick figures to me in many ways.

I have the same thing. If I'm a little depressed but not super tired a cup of coffee lifts my mood. However, when I literally haven't had enough sleep coffee can actually make me feel *more* tired or even put me to sleep. I'll also get an unpleasant tingly sensation that can make me feel irritable and untalkative. I can't rely on it to keep me alert and productive like some people can.

I also have insomnia after getting drunk. I'll might feel mentally sluggish, but at the same time my thoughts won't stop. I think it's the reduced inhibition.