Long, late-night rambling ahead. Be warned, haha.

Okay, so I think its wrong to automatically categorize 'nootropics' as "completely safe with barely any side effects" and more mainstream psychiatric medication as always being "toxic, harmful on the liver, with a great many side effects", etc. Both mess with your neurochemicals / mind - and I believe both have an equal opportunity for things to go south while taking them. If you read the Longecity Forum - there's definitely instances of forum members turning hypo-manic or full-blown manic /psychotic.

Furthermore, I think it's definitely a question of sample size - at most, probably few tens of thousands have taken these exotic research chemicals known as "nootropics" while millions have taken ssri's / ritalin / lithium / etc. So just by the numbers - you'll see more gnarly shit pop and be publicized when something wrong happens with an SSRI.

In fact, from your reported symptoms – it sounds as if you’d be best with a low to medium dose of Adderall and an SSRI to smooth out your anxiety issues. Maybe Provigil or Nuvigil if you’re feeling adventurous. But you shouldn’t take my advice at all (I’m not a doctor nor do I work in a field remotely close to medicine). But you should see a professional and give them a chance. Hell, it even sounds as if you may be narcoleptic – and you could easily get a simple sleep test to check up on that.

That being said, there really is no magic pill or 'nootropic stack" that's a panacea for all life's problems. Every little bit helps. Simple lifestyle changes – like sticking to a sleep routine and exercise schedule and doing something active outside of your house instead of sitting in your room self-loathing – can be truly helpful. Maybe go volunteer somewhere? Like a botanic garden or meditation center? Going to therapy can definitely be helpful – (but it takes time and finding a decent therapist is sometimes challenging) – they can help you recognize thought patterns that aren’t productive (like how you’re discounting the entire field of Psychiatry and saying nootropics are better; and discounting yourself and saying your brother is better etc.). And if the therapist is a cute chick – that’s even better cause you can work on talking with girls, etc.

There's also neurofeedback too! I personally wanna buy one of these machines: http://www.biocompresearch.org/