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 Got a monkey on your back? Read about mine.
Addiction: Reasons and Denial We live in a drug oriented society. Problems tend to get solved by taking one drug or another. When drug taking changes from taking drugs for a medical or mental reason and they begin to be taken for their pleasurable effects that addiction comes into play. Drugs can cause physical and mental addiction. Physical dependency means the body gets so used to the drug that the body chemistry is actually changed. When the drug is withdrawn there can be quite severe physical symptoms that last until the body adjusts to being without the drug. Gradually the need to increase the drug grows as the bodies tolerence level is increased. In order to maintain the pleasurable effects and to stave of the unpleasant ones the addict must continue his addiction until his body is satisfied. Otherwise he will go through withdrawl and that can have harmful and even fatal results. The people most likely to become addicted are those who turn to drugs to escape their problems. Whatever the drug of choice is for the addict, seeming to provide a temporary solution to the problems, it will be needed to be taken more and more often until it becomes a central part of the indiviual's life. | |||
| Type of Drug of Abuse | What it does | Outward signs of use | Some long term effects |
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Central Nervous System Stimulents
Amphetamines, often called pep pills, uppers, or diet pills, Cocaine, Crack, Benzedrine, Methamphetamine (Desoxyn), Ice, Phenmetrazine (Preludine), Ritaline, etc. MDMA (ecstasy) | Speeds up physical and mental processes, produces extreme energy and unusual excitement, Behavioral Changes: Euphoria, grandiosity, hypervigilance, fighting, psychomotor agitation, impaired judgment, impaired social or occupational functioning. | Weight loss, dilated pupils, insomnia, diarrhea, trembling, elevated blood pressure; perspiration or chills; nausea or vomiting. | Paranoia and violent behaviour. Possible death from overdose, the hallucination of bugs or vermin crawling in or under the skin (formication) can lead to scratchy and extensive skin damage. These delusions can linger for a week or more but occasionally last for over a year. With use of this class of substance syncope or chest pain may occur. There may be seizures following large doses. Death may result from cardiac arrythmia or respiratory paralysis. |
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Central Nervous System Depressants
Barbituates, often called downers, Hypnotics, Sedatives, Minor tranquilizers, nembutal, seconal, amytal, phenobarbital-luminal , Quaalude, chloral hydrate, etc., Benzodiazepams like Xanax, valium, librium, tranxene, dalmane, serax, etc. | Produces extreme lethargy and drowsiness | Blurred vision and confused speech, lack of coordination and balance, unsteady gait, impairment in attention or memory. | Disruption of normal sleeping pattern; possible death from overdose, especially with alcohol. Often ulcers at injection site. Nausea or vomiting, malaise or weakness, tachycardia, sweating, anxiety or irritability, hypotension, coarse tremor of hands, tongue, and eyelids, marked insomnia, possibility of grand mal seizures. |
| Cannabis, including marijuana and hashish, often called pot, grass hash, weed | Relaxes the mind and body, heightens perception, and causes mood swings, euphoria; feeling of relaxation; sleepiness; heighten sexual arousal; anxiety; suspiciousness or paranoid ideation; sensation of slowed time; inappropriate laughter; social withdrawal; impaired judgment. | Red eyes, dilated pupils, lack of physical coordination, lethagry, increased appetite, tachycardia; dry mouth. | Long-term physical effects include short-term memory loss, lung (accumulation of impuritites from the smoke). Decreased motivation. |
| Cocaine, often called coke or snow | Stimulates nervous system and produces heightened sensations and sometimes hallucinations, Initial euphoria followed by apathy, dysphoria, psychomotor retardation, impaired judgment, impaired social or occupational functioning. | Trembling, apparent intoxication, agitation, | Ulceration of the nasal passages, generalized itching, damage to the heart and lungs, |
| Opiates, including opium, morphine, heroin and methadone as well as synthetic painkillers, Codeine, Darvon, Demerol, Fentanyl (China White), | Relieves physical and mental pain and produces temporary euphoria, pupillary constriction (if severe overdose resulting in anoxia - pupillary dilation); drowsiness; slurred speech; impaired attention or memory. | Weight loss, lethargy, mood swings, sweating, slurred speech, sore eyes, craving for opiates; nausea or vomiting; muscle aches; lacrimation (wet eyes) or rhinorrhea (runny nose); pupillary dilation; piloerection; sweating; diarrhea; yawning; fever; insomnia (these are all typical influenza symptoms) | Loss of appetitie, extreme susceptibility to infection, absence of periods, Possible death from overdose, |
| Psychedelic drugs, including, LSD, mescaline, as well as designer drugs MDA, Psilocybin (Mushrooms), shared with Amphetamines |
| Dilated pupils, sweating, trembling, sometimes fever and chills, tachycardia; palpitations; blurring of vision; incoordination, delusional conviction that the disturbed perceptions and thoughts correspond to reality. | Possible irresponsible behaviour, although not addicting a single dose may cause long-term psychological upset, feelings of self-reproach or excessive or inappropriate guilt, accompanied by fearfulness, tension, and physical restlessness. Flash back. Reexperiencing the symptoms of hallucinogen taking without actual taking any of these substances. The disturbance causes marked distress. Complications of this disorder include suicidal behavior, Major Depression, and Panic Disorder. |
| Volatile substances such as inhaled fumes of glue, cleaning fluids etc.Aerosol sprays, Glues, Paint, Paint Thinners, other Petroleum Products, Nail Polish Removal, Lighter Fluids, Paints and Paint Thinners; Gasoline | Produces hallucinations, giddiness, temporary euphoria, and sometimes unconsciousness, begins within minutes and lasts a quarter to three quarters of an hour, during which the user feels giddy and light-headed. The symptoms of mild to moderate intoxication by these class of substances are very similar to those of Alcohol and Sedatives or Hypnotic Intoxication. | Obvious confusion, dilated pupils, flushed face, belligerence, assaultiveness, apathy, impaired judgment, incoordination, slurred speech; lethargy; depressed reflexes; tremor; blurred vision; stupor or coma, generalized muscle weakness, and psychomotor retardation. | Risk of brain, liver, or kidney damage, possible suffocation from inhalation |
| Alcohol, beer, wine, spirits | relaxes mood, produces drowsiness | Agitation, mood swings, blurred speech, impaired vision | Risk of liver disease |
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Over the counter drugs
Contain: Atropine, Scopolamine, Weak Stimulants, Antihistamines, weak analgesics | |||
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Others
Phencyclidine (PCP), MDMA (Ecstasy), Designer Drugs, Meprobamate (miltown, equnil). Effects may last for several days and even years. Death from respiratory depression can occur following a high dose. The symptoms begin within one hour of oral use of PCP; if smoked, snorted or taken intravenously, onset may be within five minutes. belligerence; assaultiveness; impulsiveness; unpredictability; psychomotor agitation. Involuntary spasmodic motion of the eyeball, increased blood pressure and heart rate; numbness or diminished responsiveness to pain; inability to coordinate voluntary muscle movements; muscle rigidity and seizures. Intoxication may be accompanied by repetitive motor movements, facial grimacing, muscle rigidity on stimulation, and repeated episodes of vomiting. There may be also hallucination, paranoid ideations and bizarre and violent behavior. | |||