Objectives- the Student Will
• Describe psychoactive drugs their history:
including animal examples
• Analyze the 4 categories of psychoactive drugs
and give examples of each
• Analyze the difference between physiological
and psychological addiction
Psychoactive drugs
• Drugs change feelings, perception, motivation
and other body and mind functions
chapter 5
Classifying drugs
Psychoactive drug
Substance capable of influencing perception, mood,
cognition, or behavior
Types
Stimulants speed up activity in the CNS.
Depressants slow down activity in the CNS.
Opiates relieve pain.
Psychedelic drugs disrupt normal thought processes.
Different cultures= different practices
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Jerusalem
Hasidic men
Completion of holy Torah
dancing for hours in the streets
Religious ecstasy
Culture
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South Dakota
Lakota(Sioux) adults
naked
in the darkness
crushing heat of the sweat lodge
Euphoria, transcendence of pain, connection
with Great Spirit
Culture
• Amazon Jungle
• Young man training to be shaman (religious
leader)
• takes whiff of hallucinogenic snuff
• from virola tree bark
• Trance and communicate with animals, spirits
and supernatural forces
Early drug states
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All aimed at release of ordinary consciousness
Cultures different
Such practices=Religious connection
HOWEVER attempts to alter mood and
consciousness are universal
• William James and Nitrous oxide (laughing gas)
• Waking consciousness and different
consciousness
Altered states of Consciousness
• 1960’s attitudes changed
• Altered states of consciousness- Psychology
and physiology of psychoactive drugs
• Psychoactive drugs- a drug capable of
influencing perception, mood, cognition, and
behavior
• Changes body chemistry
• Reasons for taking them vary- Decrease pain
Psychological escape, comfort, religion
Humans aren’t only ones getting
high…psychological research shows
• Baboons ingest tobacco
• Elephants love alcohol in fermented fruit
• Rabbits seek hallucinogenic mushrooms
Classifying Drugs= 4 groups
• 1st STIMULANTS
• speed up C.N.S. activity
• Intense pleasure, self confidence,
• Cocaine, crack, speed (amphetamine),
MDMA ( ecstasy)
• Legal ones- caffeine, nicotine
Dangers with stimulants
• Frightening hallucinations, paranoid delusions
• Increase frequency and dosage
• Addictive, effect heart, blood signaling to the
brain
2nd Depressants
• Slow mental and physical activity of the body
by inhibiting the central nervous system
• Alcohol, Barbiturates (sedation-sleeping
pills),benzodiazepines (antidepressants-minor
tranquilizers)
• Inhibits C.N.S. as a results slows down mental
and physical activity
Examples of Alcohol
Alcohol effects
• Loose inhibitions- loose self-monitoring
• Talkative, quiet, abusive, friendly
• Combination of alcohol Ecstasy= problem=
why?
• motor skills diminish- D.U.I.
3rd Opiates
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Mimic endorphins
Morphine, heroin, codeine- made from poppy
Highly addictive
Analgesic- pain relief
Started out as Bayer aspirin
Euphoria but can think clearly, cognitive
Take through needle or orally
Example Opiate
4th Drug classification• Psychedelic- TIME AND SPACE
• Produce change by altering perceptions,
creating hallucinations, and blurring the
boundary between self and the external
world.
• Most use NEROTRANSMITTER Serotonin
• LSD (acid)-PCP( angel dust)- psilocybin
(mushrooms), Marijuana- mild stimulant or
sleep
Emotional reactions vary= Trip
82% OF Americans have tried
marijuana
chapter 5
Your turn
What kind of drug is alcohol?
1.
2.
3.
4.
Stimulant
Depressant
Opiate
Psychedelic
chapter 5
Your turn
What kind of drug is alcohol?
1.
2.
3.
4.
Stimulant
Depressant
Opiate
Psychadelic
Physiology of Drug effects
• Tolerance- need more and more to get the
same effect
• Withdrawal- uncomfortable physical and
mental symptoms that occur when drug usage
stops
chapter 5
Physiology of drug effects
Psychoactive drugs work by acting on
neurotransmitters. They can. . .
Increase or decrease the release of neurotransmitters
Prevent the reabsorption of excess neurotransmitters by
the cells that release them
Block the effects of neurotransmitters on receiving cells
Bind to receptors that would ordinarily be triggered by a
neurotransmitter or neuromodulator
chapter 5
Cocaine’s effect on the
brain
Blocks the brain’s
reuptake of dopamine
and norepinephrine,
raising levels of these
neurotransmitters.
Results in over-stimulation
of certain brain circuits and
a brief euphoric high
When drug wears off,
depletion of dopamine may
cause user to “crash.”
Reactions to drugs vary
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Body weight
Metabolism
Initial state of emotional arousal
Physical tolerance of the drug
Number of times a person has taken it
Environmental setting
Mental set- expectations for taking it
Think-drink effect- Men more belligerent when
thought drinking tonic water
chapter 5
Psychology of drug effects
Reactions to psychoactive drugs depend on
several factors.
Physical factors such as body weight, metabolism, initial
state of emotional arousal, and physical tolerance
The number of times a person has used a drug
Environmental factors such as where and with whom
one uses a drug
Mental set or expectations of a drug’s effects
Summary
• 4 classifications of drugs
• Examples of effects
• Physiology vs. psychology off drugs