Commonly Abused Drugs: A Summary Of Their Specific Mechanisms
The different kinds of drugs are used to alleviate symptoms in many kinds of disorders. They are extremely useful in today's stressful society, particularly the psychotropic drugs which often enable people to function normally on a day-to-day basis.
Some drugs, however, have the potential for drug abuse. They are powerful chemicals that alter chemical activity in the brain. When abused, these drugs can cause potentially fatal disruption of crucial brain functions and damage to the different systems of the body.
Here's a summary of how some of the most commonly abused drugs work:
Antianxiety drugs:
These are the minor tranquilizers such as Oxazepam (Serax), Chlordiazepoxide (Librium), Diazepam (Valium), and related benzodiazepines, and Meprobamate, which are used to treat anxiety neurosis. People with this condition experience waves of anxiety characterized by sudden fatigue, tension, apprehension, and a panic reaction.
The condition may be accompanied by palpitation, sweating, dizziness, weakness, and irritability, which are defenses set up by the brain to avoid the actual source of the anxiety. These drugs generally direct their activity at brain centers involved with emotion.
Antipsychotic drugs:
Also called the neuroleptics, these drugs alter the activity of dopamine, norepinephrine, and serotonin in the brain, with a profound effect on psychotic disorder, whether paranoid or schizophrenic. People with psychotic disorders show severe personality disintegration and distortion of their surroundings, have difficulty separating fantasy from reality, and often suffer from hallucinations and delusions.
Included in this group are the thioxanthenes (Thiothixene), butyrophenones (Haloperidol), and phenothiazines (Trifluoperazine, Chlorpromazine, and Thioridazine). All of these drugs tend to show more side effects than the antianxiety drugs and are reserved for the more severe situations.
Central nervous system (CNS) stimulants:
The drugs in this group include the amphetamines, cocaine, crack, and even the legal substances nicotine and caffeine. They are used by people who experience depression; the drugs are known to improve mental and physical functioning. It has also been noted that these drugs are used by hyperactive people to heighten, or at least maintain, their level of euphoria.
CNS depressants:
The sedatives (example, barbiturate) and alcohol (yes, this is considered drug) belong