Chess related: Does Zoloft help your chess game? [ back to forum ]
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 Does Zoloft help your chess game?
started taking Zoloft six months ago due to depression and anxiety. Today, my rating is higher
than it's ever been. Maybe it's a coincidence . . . maybe I'm just happier and calmer and have
more time to focus on chess. But I wonder if my brain might just be working more effectively. I
do feel sharper mentally, not just in chess.
Does anyone else have experience with this? What about Adderall? I read in the paper that Ivy
League college students are taking it without a prescription in the belief that it will help their
performance in school.
Are some drugs considered performance-enhancing in the world of chess? Ritalin? Have there
been any doping scandals in chess yet?
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hortstu
05-Sep-09, 17:46
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When I was taking the LSATs I know a lot of people were using adderall in order to stay sharp under pressure. I think it may help but the biggest advantage is probably when you're being timed. It wont make you "smarter" but it will make you come to the right conclusions faster.
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crossquill, rating points pale in consideration if the reason you started taking Zoloft has made you happier and calmer and solved the issues that were troubling you...these drugs (zoloft @ adderall @ ritalin must be stimulants because when I've had issues in my life and used depressants and alcohol to soothe, my chess desire and play suffered also... I guess everyone is different because I heard Tal and Alkehine played well while dealing with their demons in their own way.....probably down the road ( if not already) the major chess tourneys will have drug testing and a list of banned substances...I was just reading about a GM that played a 500 game simul and you would think he had to be on something ...
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As you get older, sometimes you have to take drugs merely to stay alive or at least stay cogent. There are lots of drugs being taken for completely legit reasons that can have a drastic impact on thinking ability. What do you ban and for what circumstances?
I know I have to take drugs for the rest of my life. If I don't take them, my body deteriorates and I become a blathering idiot...not crazy, just cannot think clearly. Would it be fair for me to be forced to not take my medication? I wouldn't be able to compete without them. (I don't compete anyway, so it probably wouldn't matter for me.)
Performance enhancement drugs for athletes have been banned for a long time, but we know some take them anyway. There are drugs that can improve critical thinking ability. The chess world may have to deal with such a problem; but some people need them just to be normal. How strict do you want to be?
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chessnovice
07-Sep-09, 17:14
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Honestly, I think Zoloft helps only when used as prescribed. Your anxiety is probably something that was holding your game back.
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shema_yisrael
09-Sep-09, 12:54
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I agree with chessnovice. It's likely that anxiety and depression simply didn't allow you to play
at your full potential. Now, with the Zoloft, you are simply playing at the level that would have
been natural for you if you had never experienced anxiety and depression.
*
My game improves when I'm taking my anti-depressants, but so does my reading
concentration, work performance, etc.
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Sure, it's hard to do anything well if you don't feel good or are distracted by any kind of worry or sadness. But I think there's an interesting question posed by all this: if antidepressants do actually improve someone's mental functioning, then shouldn't "healthy" people be allowed to take them too? Wouldn't it be better or fairer even if all people functioned better? This is just a philosophical question, of course; I know everyone in the world couldn't or wouldn't take antidepressants, but according to Wikipedia, "In 2007, it (Zoloft) was the most prescribed antidepressant on the U.S. retail market, with 29,652,000 prescriptions." 29 Million in the US alone! And that's just Zoloft (Sertraline). What about Prozac, Wellbutrin, Effexor, Celexa, Lexapro, and all the others?
There's a wonderful book, "Listening to Prozac" which muses about all the interesting questions these amazing drugs do. It's very balanced, and elegantly written too.
And I just won two more games. My rating is going into uncharted territory (for me).
Thanks for sharing your thoughts.
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ganstaman
09-Sep-09, 20:33
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I'd have to think really hard or do some research, but just because medication X can help someone with depression doesn't mean that a non-depressed person would get an elevated mood by taking medication X. Likewise, a fully rested person without ADD should not get any mental benefits from taking ADD meds.
The brain isn't as simple as you'd think. And plus, which of those meds don't have side effects?
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I'm always depressed when I come home from work.I drink an espresso with my games,no zoloft,prozac ect.and i'm at around 2400.Try an espresso,lots of secret mind altering ingredients and puts hair on your chest!Works for me,right?Less side effects.
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My wife was prescribed an anti-depressant which a number of people had committed homicides after they took it. My wife asked the her doctor if the drug might make her homicidal. The doctor replied, no the people who committed homicide were homicidal before; but they just couldn't get organized enough to commit a homicide before they took the drug.
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dena
14-Sep-09, 19:09
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caffeine is the closest thing to a drug with minimum down side
but i think the adderall like drugs can be beneficial in improving concentration even in people without add and pretty well tolerated ,
think it would be interesting to have a chess tourny with some good players on different drugs and see what the results would be , any one interested in my mini tourny :) ?
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Drug mini tournament
I like that idea very much, Dena! Let's do it! Of course, if Tactical Abyss (rated 2400) joins,
he'll slaughter everyone and claim victory for espresso. :-) But I'll play on behalf of Zoloft
takers.
I've always been interested in the effect of drugs on human behavior. I want to do a study
about drug abuse and music. I think it would be fascinating to explore the relationship
between certain drugs and certain forms of music (pot and reggae, ecstasy and techno, LSD
and jam bands, coke and . . . . hmm, what music goes with coke? Rick James? Whitney
Houston? or Meth and dirt rock. Beer and country. Seriously though, I think there must be
some real connections happening between the substance, its effect on people, and the music.
If you've ever been to a rave, you can't deny it. Imagine being on ecstasy at a Lynyrd Skynrd
concert. Or seeing Brooks and Dunn on LSD. Or drinking a 12 pack of Bud at an Aphex Twin
show. I think you'd short circuit in a potentially dangerous way. :-)
And your comment about Adderall is wise too; I don't think people at Ivy League colleges
would be abusing it if there weren't some benefit.
I'm a big believer in caffeine too. It is one of the best drugs ever, with fewest undesirable
side effects (other than the occasional jitters and anxiety if you overdo it). That's why
caffeine and Mountain Dew are so popular among college students too. It always amazes me
if I meet someone who made it through grad school and doesn't drink coffee.
Let's do the mini-tourney! I wonder if we can find people to represent all the different drugs.
Any potheads out there? (I'm guessing pot would be terrible for one's chess game! :-)
Heroin users? Meth heads? People on Xanax, Prozac, Wellbutrin. Nicotine? Alcohol? It could
be a real bragging rights tournament.
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hortstu
14-Sep-09, 23:20
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interesting idea...
but for it to really mean anything I think the study would have to compare the play of an individual while on the drug and play while not on the drug. Then how would we evaluate the play? Especially if a wide variety of skill levels enter?
I think adderall would be the place to start since so many college students believe it helps. It would have to be a blitz tourny or an OTB tourny because we can't expect the subjects to use the substance for months straight... that could get financially, mentally, and physically expensive.
Then again caffeine would be the easiest for everyone to acquire.
As to Cannabis I imagine any regular user would play better when stoned. A regular user may require it to get into "the zone..." I could see it having a wide variety of effects on the play of non users.
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