Chapter 3 - Consciousness: Drugs & Addiction

Clemson, PSYCH 2010, Mary Taylor

Psychoactive Drugs

Alter perception, mood, thinking, memory or behavior by altering your biochemistry. Ex: Stimulants, depressants, and psychedelics/hallucinogens

Stimulants

Cocaine, nicotine, & caffeine. Speeds up your Central Nervous System (CNS), may make you FEEL energetic, but they don’t improve your reserves, makes you feel cranky and irritable as your body tries to recover.

Nicotine

Stimulant, in cigarettes causes 10,000 deaths daily, and half of all individuals who have smoked in the past have quit.

Depressants

Alcohol, tranquilizers/barbiturates, and opiates

Alcohol

The most abused depressant, hereditary component to the addiction ( Begleiter), addicts have this addiction because they overrespond to stimuli because of a slowed neural processing, and reduced self-awareness and self-control. This depressant also inhibits memory do to inhibited REM sleep.

Begleiter

There is a hereditary component in alcoholism, and alcoholics have a P3 brave wave deficiency, and the children of an alcoholic might inherit the same P3 deficiency, which is a gentle “marker” for a predisposition to alcoholism.

P3 Brain Waves

Brain waves that occur when you have a sudden shift in attention.

Tranquilizers / Barbiturates

A type of depressant, they depress the CNS, ex: Nembutal and Seconal, and the total depressive effect can be lethal.

Opiates

A type of depressant, ex: heroin and morphine, causes euphoria or an exaggerated sense of well-being, very addictive physically and psychologically, we have _____ that are produced in our body, and the use of _____ can interfere with the natural production of endorphins, our own _____ , and this class of drug actually bonds to the same receptor sites as endorphins.

Psychedelics / Hallucinogens

LSD or mescaline, causes sensory distortions or flashbacks, causes synesthesia, most commonly with LSD.

Synesthesia

A sensory crossover, experienced most commonly on LSD, makes you feel like you can “hear colors”.

Marijuana

Sometimes classified as a mild psychedelic, moderate doses interfere with transfer of information to long term memory, influences reaction time and concentration, and THC, or the active ingredient in _________ , lingers in the body for a week or more.