I took modafinil for years, through college and my first few years of work. I realized once I stopped that my pretty-intense social anxiety was basically 90% caused by modafinil, and I think I am a more effective person now. YMMV.
Modafinil was a bandaid for me when I had neglected what I had to do. Paired with the fact it seriously depressed social awareness and made me an unfeeling robot for 12-16 hours at minimum, I don't miss it. There are no wonder drugs better than good eats, good sleeps, good work time, and good breaks. Do all those things and you'll realize that (unless you're clinically in need of e.g. ADHD meds) you just haven't been treating your body right.
People tend to view drug use as a lazy alternative to healthy living, but I think it might be better to flip it around and say that drug use (ranging all the way from caffeine and nicotine through to heroin and meth) is a symptom of something wrong. Schizophrenics, for example, are known to self-medicate with nicotine prior to their diagnosis.
I think it's important to remember the hidden underlying problem won't go away just because the visible coping mechanism does. A severely depressed person using modafinil as a crutch has to treat the depression first and foremost.
