Brain Candy
Ever wonder how it is possible to function smoothly while carrying Starbucks coffee in one hand, texting maniacally with the other and simultaneously delegating to your staff? How do New Yorkers multi task? Well, a few years back, New York magazine ran a story about how all young aspiring New Yorkers were on drugs. Unlike the 80s, todays yuppies and hipsters prefer legally prescribed drugs: benzodiazapines, sleep aids, mood stabilizers. Recently the online gossip magazine, Gawker, published a snippet on the same trend, and asks you all to pick your preferred buzz pill.
We’ve been chronicling the drugs of the creative underclass-from the “I love my orange pills Adderall to benzos to psychotropics. hell is everybody getting through their workday? It depends on your personality. For those with wandering attention spans, Adderall usually does the trick. For anxiety-prone neurotics, Adderall feels like a hit of crack combined with a bucket of Dunkin’ Donuts coffee. I’ve relied on Xanax for special occasions and party reporting (all that excitement sends me straight to the wall), but recently—after totally casual anecdotal investigation on this website suggested that Klonopin was the current drug of choice for the creative underclass—I procured a prescription for Klonopin. (After all, they love it at to benzos to psychotropics. How the downtown fashion mag Nylon!)
Kloni is better than Xanax, my friends. Why?
First of all, they’re both benzos, with similar molecular structure. But: Klonopin gives you less of a buzz, is much longer lasting (sometimes it seems like Xanax only lasts two or three hours), and is less habit-forming.
(Those who take Xanax and Kloni regularly and don’t taper off can put themselves at risk for seizures, however. R&B singer Sean Levert, who recently died in jail, wasn’t allowed to take the Xanax he brought in jail. According to UPI, “prison staff allegedly took the bottle away and didn’t give him his medication during the six days he was there, even though he asked for it numerous times and suffered terrifying delusions due to withdrawal from the medication.”)
I experimented with Klonopin recently while doing some freelance work; I found its effect smoother and less buzzy than Xanax. And that was just half a milligram! It also increased concentration: words flowed freely onto my keyboard, absent the usual wrenching procrastination which we all know comes from fear of failure. Had I taken I Xanax, I imagine I would have slept for the next nine hours instead.
Which is the best for you: Adderall or benzos like Klonopin? It all comes down to your personality type. For anxiety-prone people, benzos quiet the mind, shushing the paralyzing background noise and leaving you to do your work unmolested. Of these, Klonopin gives the smoother ride.
Yes, this is pretty much how we function these days; And these drugs are fairly easy to get. Recently I went to get myself some sleep aid and the doctor’s waiting room was full of young professionals. They looked healthy, shiny, fashionable and were texting on their blackberries. I was trying to see if anyone was sleep-deprived like me, but nope…all eyes wide open and full of life. They were probably there for klonopin or xanax.
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