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In my personal case, using opiates, specifically, heroin, was the only thing that let me keep my job (well, until I quit my job to get off of that shit). Workin
by mruts 8y ago
In my personal case, using opiates, specifically, heroin, was the only thing that let me keep my job (well, until I quit my job to get off of that shit). Working 12 hour day, 6-7 days a week in a brutal and miserable work environment (finance), the only thing I could do to survive was heroin. I would get like 4-5 hours a night and just felt like shit and really depressed everyday. Consequently, I started doing heroin for that extra "pep" (it's a common misnomer that heroin makes you fall asleep, it actually wakes you up). With heroin, I could work non-stop, sometimes for even 24 hours at a time while feeling sort of okay, provided I had a steady supply of heroin.
I do however think that heroin/opiates use decreases the ability to rejoin the workforce. I fortunately was making a great salary so I could afford an expensive heroin habit ($200-$300 a day). But your average blue-collar worker probably isn't making as much money, and therefore, there state is much more unstable. Oscillating between getting high, going into withdrawals, running out of money, etc etc. When you are in this state, it is very hard to plan for the future (the only thing you are thinking about is how to not go into horrible pain in 3-4 hours) and, therefore, get a job.
- zanmat0 8y agoThanks for sharing, I didn't know it was used in those circles/circumstances.
- exolymph 8y agoEye-opening threads on the same topic, from a while back: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16465762 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16465762 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14776864 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14776864
- bsder 8y agoI always presumed that cocaine was the "drug" (edit: originally used "opioid") of choice for finance. Heroin always seemed as for the "hardcore" or "musician" crowd.
- opportune 8y agoCocaine is not an opioid
- bsder 8y agoYou are quite correct. I should have said "drug" of choice.
- xkcd-sucks 8y agoHmm I've heard some people say that stimulants are good for awareness and quickness, while opiates are good for simply making a large chunk of work seem attainable and enjoyable. For example, "I can sit here writing this code forever because it feels so nice to sit here and eat Dilaudid and write code". Getting real utility out of it, though, seems to be up to self-awareness, experience and luck.
- mruts 8y agoI think that’s a good way to put it. When coked out, you get all these grandoise plans and might start to rewrite the entire codebase. With heroin, it’s more like you can just keep on chugging for a long-time. This is in fact what makes heroin so dangerous. As long as you have the money, you can keep on chugging, while feeing chill and relaxed at the same time. The problem is when you run out.
- mruts 8y agoThe problem with stimulants is that you get cracked out really easily and it is very hard to maintain. Physically it takes a toll: you can’t sleep, your muscles’ feel sore, you mind races. Heroin, provided you have the money, is much more sustainable. You can feel fine, day after day, on heroin (provided you don’t run out). Moreover, it’s hard for people to notice. If you snorted some coke everyday, people might think you were overly enthusiastic and eventually, people would notice your disjointed and cracked out thoughts. Things like: “we need to replace all of our code because it was garbage!! Fuck that shit!! Lets get it done!! Lets fuck our competition up boyz!” With heroin it’s more like: I can get this done, and more, I’m just going to work through it. Ans it’s okay, because I feel great while I’m doing it.
- ahmedalsudani 8y agoMan, that sounds like a real dark time. Glad to hear you left that job--hope you're doing better now. Thank you for sharing your story!