I remember the first time I used a specific industrial gas recreationally. I felt the arteries in my brain open up, and there was a sort of clarity that wasn't there before.

Then the benefits faded into the background, and I now don't notice the effect like I did the first few times.

I think remedial biology hacking works this way. If you're deficient in a specific area you'll notice a huge benefit right away. If you don't need a specific hack, you won't notice a benefit.

Another brain-hack that I noticed the first few times was Methylene Blue [0], a potent MAOI and general metabolism-booster. I started out with microgram-level doses, and I definitely noticed ... something.

But then it too faded into the background, and I don't notice the benefits so much anymore. I still use this one occasionally but this too doesn't have exactly the magic I'm looking for. (I use it on my dog though - she developed a tumor when my dad took care of her for a few months - he took her off all the supplements and fed her what I consider junk. He left for the summer and my dog is back on my supplement program; I think she's got her spunk back. [Edit: google scholar has some articles about methylene blue having anti-tumor activity]).

[0] Methylene blue, the cheapest cognitive enhancer: https://selfhacked.com/blog/methylene-blue-the-cheapest-cogn...

At the other end of the mind-hacking spectrum, the mainstream mental health industry takes cognitive decelerants and tells certain patients that they have a chronic condition that requires chemical lobotomization. Today these drugs are marketed by the prescription drug cartels as anti-psychotics, but originally they were known as major tranquilizers. Patients can't protest the side effects of their medications because the psychiatrist will use the complaint to claim that their patient "lacks insight" into their condition, which justifies the use of force to make them take the drugs the professional thinks they require. Psychosis is mostly a treatable metabolic problem, but patients are much more profitable to the industry by pretending they have chronic conditions.

Because the best cognitive enhancers are natural substances and safe patent-expired medications, profiteers swoop in to repackage these vitamins and other Over the Counter substances. Everyone has to figure out what they actually need on their own.

The best mind-hack I've had is certain kinds of body work, which helped me relax like nothing else. Sometimes massage/etc practitioners have the magic touch that gets my body to turn off, but they tend to not know what they did and I don't consistently get the effect. It's very frustrating.