Illustration: Peter C. Espina/GT

Can you really make yourself smarter with drugs? Currently, "smart pills" have gone viral on social media platforms. According to the adverts, the pills, costing about 10 yuan ($1.53) for each, can safely enhance people's memory and comprehension capability, and thus are the best present for students preparing for the gaokao, the national entrance examination. Lured by the "magic" pills, parents, hoping their children will do better in the exams, are anxiously queuing to buy these incredible elixirs. However, the myth of the pills has been mercilessly exploded by experts. "Smart pills" turn out to be ordinary medicine used for treating depression and other mental illnesses, and taking them for too long will result in anxiety, headache and even mental disorder. The popularity of such pills reflects parents' anxieties over the tensions of the gaokao. In fact, the examination is only a small part of students' life and doesn't play that big a part in determining their destiny. In the long run, mentally healthy students are more promising than drugged-up test takers.