Modafinil - A Lifestyle Drug for Students, Soldiers and Young Professionals

Modafinil (marketed as Provigil in the U.S. and Alertec in Canada) is a psycho-stimulant used to stay awake and alert throughout the day. Modafinil is chemically different than amphetamines and caffeine, which have traditionally been used and abused by anyone desperate to stay awake.

What are the side effects?

Because Modafinil acts on a different part of the brain than amphetamines, people who take Modafinil to stay awake for long periods of time don't get the jitters, nervousness, or shakes. There is no "crash" when Modafinil wears off, so a person taking Modafinil should be able to sleep normally.

Minor side effects include limited effectiveness of hormonal birth control (the Pill) while taking Modafinil. And for some reason, you're not supposed to eat grapefruit.

Supposedly, Modafinil is not addictive because it does not produce a "high," but rather releases slowly throughout the day. Modafinil takers do not build up a tolerance to the drug over time, and the same dose should indefinitely produce the same results. As a lifestyle drug, though, I imagine the feelings of alertness and productivity would be highly psychologically addictive.

Who takes Modafinil?

Modafinil is used to treat narcolepsy, sleep apnea, and shift work sleep disorder. Experimentally, Modafinil can be prescribed to treat everything from Alzheimer's disease, attention deficit disorder, and depression. Basically, any disease or disorder that causes fatigue can be treated with Modafinil.

Modafinil has also been used by American military personnel (mainly pilots) in the Gulf War and the current war in Iraq. Because it causes high levels of productivity associated with alertness and few if any side effects, it is becoming a lifestyle drug for students and young professionals in high pressure situations.

What are the long-term consequences?

Modafinil has only been on the market for about ten years, and it is unknown what the effects of long-term use are on the body. Modafinil is certainly a million times easier on the body than amphetamines, but doctors agree that no matter how wonderful a drug seems on the surface, the body needs sleep to be healthy. Long-term lack of sleep leads to a weakened immune system and hormone imbalance.

The long-term consequences of Modafinil are not necessarily health concerns, but lifestyle concerns. As more and more doctors prescribe Modafinil for "fatigue," anyone who claims depression can get a prescription. While folks suffering from depression should have the right to any drug that improves quality of life, it's disturbing to think about how many people are abusing the system for a pick-me-up.

With the military expecting longer and longer periods of wakefulness from its soldiers, and corporations expecting longer workdays and higher productivity from everyone, Modafinil seems like a short term solution to a much bigger problem. The consequences of the availability of Modafinil could lead to a world where the best students are not those who have the highest levels of discipline, but the best access to prescription pick-me-ups. If getting that promotion means putting in 18-hour days at the office, the guy with the pills is going to win the prize. And as lifestyle drugs like Modafinil make our frantic pace of life easier to bear, we can expect more and more demands being placed on our time. Time that we should be spending asleep, that is.