Drugs & consciousness ch 4

States of Consciousness

Facts about Substance Abuse In 2006, about 24,000 people died in the

U.S. from accidental drug overdoses, a 100% increase from 2000.

The biggest rise in these accidental poisonings is among men and women of working age, 20 to 64, and is mainly due to abusing prescription pain medicines such as oxycodone, methadone, hydrocodone, fentanyl, and buprenorphine

Facts about Substance Abuse… 1 of 4 surveyed Americans of the age

range 26-34 has already taken drugs.

About 5.5% of 19-22 adults reported they have taken ecstasy this year.

Every year the number of cocaine addicts has been gradually growing. For 1975 this number was 30,000. In 1986 it has grown to 300,000 and to 361,000 in 2000.

Facts about Substance Abuse… Alcohol-related traffic fatalities accounted

for 41% of all traffic deaths in 2006, that is, on average someone was killed in an alcohol-related traffic crash every 30 minutes in the U.S. (2006 -17,602 people.)

46% of college students reported in the 2006 National Survey on Drug Use and Health that they had engaged in binge drinking, and 19% reported episodes of heavy drinking, that is, binge drinking on five or more occasions in the past month.

The U of I campus survey showed that before sexual assaults 80% of the male

assailants and 70 % of the female victims had been drinking (Camper,

1990). Another survey of 89,974 American collegians found alcohol or drugs involved in 79% of unwanted

sexual intercourse experiences. (Presley & others, 1997). Textbook, page 294.

Psychoactive Drugs:

Drugs that alter thinking, perceptions and memory.

Basic motive for taking these drugs….

CHANGE MOOD

Addictions

1. Substance Addictions

2. Process (or behavior) addictions

Substance Addiction

Compulsive drug craving and use

A craving for a substance despite adverse consequences and often with physical symptoms such as aches nausea, and distress following sudden withdrawal.

Tolerance

The diminishing effect with regular use of the same dose of a drug, requiring the user to take larger and larger doses before experiencing the drug’s effect.

Physical dependence

A condition occurring when a person’s body becomes unable to function normally without a particular drug.

Substance dependence vs. substance abuse?

Psychological dependence The feeling that a drug is needed to

continue a feeling of emotional or psychological well-being.

Withdrawal

The discomfort and distress that follow discontinuing the use of an addictive drug.

Physical symptoms can include nausea, pain, tremors, crankiness, and high blood pressure, resulting from a lack of the addictive drug in the body systems.

Classifications of Drugs

1. Depressants: drugs that decrease the functioning of the nervous system.

2. Stimulants: drugs that increase the functioning of the nervous system.

3. Hallucinogens: psychedelic drugs that distort perceptions and evoke sensory images in the absence of sensory input.

1. Depressants Alcohol

Barbiturates—or tranquillizers. Sedative effects. Used as sleep aids and anxiety relievers.

Opiates (narcotics)—Opium and its derivatives, morphine and heroin. Narcotics are a class of drugs that suppress the sensation

of pain by bind to and stimulating the nervous system’s natural receptor sites for endorphins, the neurotransmitters that naturally deaden pain sensations. (Textbook makes narcotics its own category.)

2. Stimulants

Caffeine Nicotine Cocaine

extracted from the leaves of the coca plant.works by tapping into the reward system

and triggering the release of dopamine.extremely addictive, psychologically and

neuro-chemically.

Stimulants….. Amphetamines

synthetic psycho-stimulant drugs that speed up the workings of the brain.

increase alertness (reduce fatigue), heighten concentration, decrease appetite, and enhance physical performance. They may induce a feeling of well-being, euphoria, and disinhibition.

Ecstasy (MDMA) Methamphetamine (Speed)

3. Hallucinogens

LSD

Marijuana—sometimes listed as a depressant as well as an hallucinogen.

Bio-psych-social influences of drug use