Chapter 6: Psychoactive Drugs Flashcards
Six categories of psychoactive drugs
Narcotics, sedatives, stimulants, hallucinogens, cannabis, and alcohol
What is a psychoactive drug
A chemical substance that modifies mental, emotional, or behavioural functioning
What are narcotics or opiates? What are the main drugs in this category? Why are they dangerous?
- Drugs derived from opium that are capable of relieving pain. Overwhelming euphoria
- Heroin and morphine, codeine, Demerol and methadone, fentanyl and carfentanil
- Oxycodone abuse and fentanyl and carfentanil- Originally to sedate large animals, overdoses
What are sedatives? What are the common sedatives? Why are they desirable?
- Sleep inducing drugs, decrease central nervous system activation and behavioural activity “downers”
- Historically barbiturates, recently benzodiazepine sedatives
- Relaxed, state of intoxication, lose inhibitions
What do stimulants do? What are some common stimulants? What are the side effects of stimulants? How are cocaine and amphetamines used? What are the desired effects?
- Increase central nervous system activation and behavioural activity, Increased alertness
- Caffeine and nicotine, cocaine and amphetamines
- Restlessness, anxiety, paranoia, insomnia
- Freebasing: extract pure cocaine.
Crack: chips of pure cocaine, smoked.
Amphetamines: crank: snorted or injected.
Crystal math: methamphetamine smoked. - Elation excitement increased alertness increased energy reduced fatigue
What are hallucinogens? What are some common hallucinogens? What history does the use of hallucinogens have with Psychotherapy?
- Distortions in sensory and perceptual experiments, powerful effects: Euphoria, increased sensory awareness, dream like state.
- LSD, masculine, and psilocybin
- Timothy Leary, LSD for personal growth and development at Harvard university. Nixon declared “most dangerous man in America”
>Used in religious ceremonies, counter culture in 1960s
What is cannabis? What effect does it have? Why do people use it?
- Hemp plant, marijuana hashish and THC are derived from the plant
- Mild relaxed euphoria and Century awareness, side effects include anxiety sluggish mental functioning and impaired memory
- Youth colon fitting in, ready availability, coping with stress.
What affects is the category alcohol of psychoactive drugs characterized by? What are the side effects? What are the dangers? What can be said about the prevalence and patterns of binge drinking in the population of North America?
- Relaxed euphoria, boosts self-esteem, diminished inhibitions.
- Mental impairments, motor functioning, mood swings, quarrelsomeness
- Social influence, arguments, physical violence, unwanted sexual advances. Impaired neural functioning in adolescent brain.
- Undergraduates, 80% students drink, 49% men, 41% women engage in bed drinking.
What is ecstasy or MDMA or Molly? What sensations are pursued? What are the side effects?
- Compound drug related to amphetamines and hallucinogens, especially mescaline
- Feeling warm friendly euphoric sensual insightful empathetic, but alert and energetic.
- High blood pressure muscle tension sweating blurred vision insomnia and transient anxiety. Long-term effects: sleep and memory problems, high blood pressure, liver problems.
Medical uses for narcotics
Pain relief
Medical uses for sedatives
Sleepimg pill, anticonvulsant
Medical uses for stimulants
Treatment for hyperactivity, narcolepsy, local anesthetic (cocaine only)
Medical uses for hallucinogens
None but some experimentation in psychotherapy
Medical uses for cannabis
Treatment of glaucoma chemotherapy induced nausea and vomiting other uses are currently being studied
Side effects of hallucinogens
Dilated pupils, nausea, emotional swings, paranoia, so my thought processes, impaired judgment, anxiety, panic reaction,
Side effects of stimulants
Increase blood pressure and heart rate, increased talkativeness, restlessness, air irritability, insomnia, reduced appetite, increased sweating in urination, anxiety, paranoia, increased aggressiveness, panic
Side effects of sedatives
Lethargic, drowsiness, severely impaired coordination, impaired mental function, emotional swings, dejection
Explain the multi factorial causation in relation to the effects of drugs
Users age, mood, motivation, personality, previous experience with the drug, bodyweight, physiology. Potency of the drug, method of administration, setting. Placebo effect- expectations
What is tolerance? How can this lead to binging?
Progressive decrease in persons responsiveness to a drug. Tolerance leads to larger consumption to attain same affects.
For the six categories of psychoactive drugs: what is the speed of tolerance, risk of physical dependency, psychological dependence.
Narcotics Rapid high high Sedatives rapid high high Stimulants rapid moderate high Hallucinogens gradual none low Cannabis gradual none low to moderate Alcohol gradual moderate moderate
What are health risks for each category of psychoactive drug
Narcotics: infectious disease is, accidents, immune suppression, overdose
Sedatives: accidents
Stimulants: sleep problems, malnutrition, nasal damage, hypertension, respiratory disease, stroke, liver disease, heart attack, overdose
Hallucinogens: accidents, acute pain
Cannabis: accidents, lung cancer, respiratory disease, pulmonary disease, increased vulnerability to psychosis, cognitive deficits
Alcohol: accidents, liver disease, malnutrition, may bring damage, neurological disorders, heart disease, stroke, hypertension, ulcers, cancer, birth defects, overdose
How do, generally, all abused drugs affect the brain?
Increased activity in mesolimbic dopamine pathway. Runs from midbrain through nucleus accumbens to prefrontal cortex. Big quick release of dopamine in this pathway
How do you stimulants, amphetamines and cocaine, produce effects in the brain
Amphetamine: Monoamine disruption, of norepinephrine and dopamine, increase release of DA and NE by presynaptic neuron’s, interfere with reuptake of these from synaptic clefts
Cocaine: blocs re-uptake at dopamine norepinephrine and serotonin synapses
Both - Elevated activity in dopamine circuits
How does cannabis affect the brain
Interferes with endorphin receptors: THC hijacks cannabinoid receptors, Internally meant for Endo cannabinoid that influence GABA and glutamate synapse activity.
Increased release of endorphins, activation of dopamine circuits,
Common brands of benzodiazepines
Valium, Xanax,
How do THC and CBD differ
- CBD is non-psychoactive
- CBD has shown promise in treating anxiety
- THC has degenerative properties
- THC can increase anxiety as a side effect
- THC is a hallucinogen
- THC is for recreational use
What are benzos for?
Sedative used to treat: anxiety, muscle spasms, alcohol withdrawal, panic attacks, agitation,
Health risks for narcotics
infections, accidents, immune suppression, overdose
What is the fatal overdose potential of each of the psychoactive drug categories
Narcotics is high, sedatives high, stimulants moderate to high, hallucinogens very low, cannabis very low, alcohol Low to high
When does physical dependence occur
When a person must continue to take a drug to avoid withdrawal
What are some symptoms of withdrawal
Heroin barbiturates and alcohol: fever, chills, tremors, convulsions trauma vomiting, cramps, diarrhea, severe aches and pains
Stimulants: (subtle) fatigue apathy irritability depression, disorientation
How does conditional stimuli prompt withdrawal symptoms in drug addicts
Cues associated with drug injections function as conditional stimuli (not direct drug’s unconditional stimuli) a person experiences withdrawal of drug when getting conditional stimuli
- guys doesn’t do drugs in same room he usually does drugs in
What is classical conditioning and what is situational specificity of tolerance?
- A stimulus can creates response originally made by different stimulus
- situational cues elicit responses in user that help reduce the effects of the drug
What is psychological dependence? What appears to be the physiological connection?
Person taking drugs to satisfy intense mental + emotional craving
More subtle. Ex: cocaine
- Dysregulation of mesolimbic dopamine pathway
Which drug category has the highest fatal overdose risk?
CNS depressants, sedatives narcotics and alcohol
Many drug ODs are combos
Direct affects of alcohol on body
Liver damage, ulcers, hypertension, stroke, heart disease, neurological disorders, some types of cancer. Two times mortality men, four times mortality women.
What are some direct health risks of marijuana use
Increased risk of respiratory and pulmonary disease, trigger psychotic illness in vulnerable individuals, cognitive deficits: impaired attention, learning, and memory.
Myths: reduction in immune system, fertility, sexual functioning, pulmonary disease results inconsistent
Indirect effects of alcohol use
Are stimulants: eat or sleep properly
- Motor coordination and accidents, risky sexual behaviour unprotected sex, relationship conflict, physical abuse, aggression, impaired driving,
What is biofeedback
Biofeedback is the process of gaining greater awareness of many physiological functions of one’s own body, commercially by using electronic or other instruments, and with a goal of being able to manipulate the body’s systems at will.
