Altering Consciousness Through Drugs

1. Altering Consciousness Through Drugs

2. Drugs • Substances that distort perceptions and change mood • Drugs can make you feel up, down, and move you all over the place • Alcohol is the most popular drug on high school and college campuses • Stimulants • Depressants

3. Substance Abuse • Persistent use of a substance even though it is causing or compounding problems in meeting the demands of life.

4. Tolerance • Habituation to a drug, with the result that increasingly higher doses of the drug are needed to achieve similar effects

5. Abstinence Syndrome • A characteristic cluster of symptoms that results from sudden decrease in an addictive drug’s level of usage • Ex: Alcohol • Anxiety, tremors, restlessness, weakness, rapid pulse, high blood pressure

6. Causal Factors • Psychological View: • Control or express unconscious needs and impulses • Positive effects on mood and reduction of unpleasant sensations (anxiety, fear) • Those who are physiologically dependent will avoid withdrawal symptoms • Escape from boredom • Peer pressure

7. Causal Factors • Biological View: • Genetic predispositions • Inherited tendency toward alcoholism may involve a combination of greater sensitivity to alcohol (enjoyment and tolerance)

8. Depressant • A drug that lowers the rate of activity of the nervous system • Alcohol most popular • Sedative: a drug that soothes or quiets restlessness or agitation

10. Alcohol • Used as a sedative, social facilitator, celebration, kill germs, tranquilizer, sign of maturity • 85-88% of high school population has used it occasionally

11. Alcohol • Most abused drug • 10-20 million Americans are alcoholics • Drug of choice among adolescents (more than marijuana)

12. World of Diversity • Men are more likely than women to become alcoholics (social constraints, less enzyme to metabolize in stomach) • Ethnic factors: • Native Americans and Irish • Jewish Americans • Asians “flushing response”

13. Effects of Alcohol • Our interpretations of drug’s effects are influenced by our expectations • Beliefs: reduces tension, free from worry, enhances pleasure, increases social ability, and transforms experiences for the better

14. Effects of Alcohol • Depends on dose and duration of use • Low doses: stimulating • High doses: sedative effect depressant • Short term use: lessen depression • Long term: increase depression

15. Effects of Alcohol • Relaxes and deadens minor aches and pains • Intoxicates: impairs cognitive functioning,slurs the speech, reduces motor coordination • Connected with drop off in sexual activity • Inhibits impulses-less likely to foresee the consequences of their behavior

16. Effects of Alcohol • Liberated social role “it’s the alcohol, not me” • Alcohol is fattening: high in calories but lacks nutrients such as vitamins and proteins • Cirrhosis of the liver-impedes the circulation of blood • Drinking while pregnant can harm embryo

18. Opioids • A group of narcotics (relieve pain and reduce sleep) derived from the opium poppy, or similar in chemical structure, that provide a euphoric rush and depress the nervous system

19. Opioids • Morphine: introduced during Civil War • Deaden pain from wounds • Heroin: “cure” for morphine addiction • Provides euphoric rush • Illegal: inject or snort • High doses cause drowsiness, stupor, altered time perception, impaired judgment

20. Withdrawal Symptoms • Narcotics:distressing abstinence symptoms • Flu-like symptoms • Tremors • Cramps • Chills alternating with sweating • Rapid pulse • Vomiting and diarrhea • Insomnia • High blood pressure

21. Barbiturates • Addictive depressant that relieves anxiety or induce sleep • Can treat epilepsy, high blood pressure, and insomnia • Street drug: relaxes muscles and produce mild euphoric state • High doses: motor impairment, slurred speech, poor judgment, irritability

22. Stimulants • A drug that increases the activity of the nervous system • Contribute to feelings of euphoria and self-confidence • Amphetamines • Cocaine • Cigarettes (nicotine)

23. Amphetamines • Often used for euphoric rush especially in high doses • Called: speed, uppers, dexies • May stay awake and “high” for days • “Crash” down can cause depression or deep sleep (suicide often occurs during crashing) • Known among students, dieters, truck drivers

24. Amphetamines • Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder • Ritalin: increases attention span, decreases aggressive and disruptive behavior, and can lead to academic gains • Spurs cortex to exercise control over more primitive centers in the lower brain

25. Amphetamines • Psychologically dependent especially when coping with depression • High doses: restlessness, insomnia, loss of appetite, hallucinations, paranoid delusions, irritability

26. Cocaine • A stimulant that produces state of euphoria, reduces hunger, deadens pain, and increases self-confidence • Popular in 1980’s • Now 1% use it regularly:majority believe it is harmful

27. Cocaine • Brewed from coca leaves • Snorted in powder form • Injected in liquid form constricts blood vessels in nose, drying which exposes cartilage and perforating septum cosmetic surgery

28. Cocaine • “Snow” or “Coke” • Sudden rises in blood pressure • Decreases oxygen supply to heart • Quickens heart rate • Respiratory or cardiovascular collapse • Overdoses: insomnia, tremors, headaches, nausea, convulsions, hallucinations, delusions

29. Cigarettes (Nicotine) • 420,000 Americans die from smoking related illnesses a year • More than car accidents, suicide, alcohol, homicide combined • Every cigarette steals about 7 minutes of a person’s life • Carbon monoxide impairs blood’s ability to carry oxygen causing shortness of breath

30. Cigarettes • Passive smoking (secondhand smoking): connected with respiratory illnesses, asthma, and other diseases • 50,000 deaths per year

31. Cigarettes • Nicotine: incites discharge of the hormone adrenaline • Enhance attention, improve performance on simple, repetitive tasks, enhance mood,, and reduce stress

32. Cigarettes • Does not improve memory or functioning on complex tasks • Depresses the appetite and raises the metabolic rate • Very addictive: withdrawals headaches, fatigue, irregular bowels, cramps, tremors, sweating • Habit rather than an addiction

35. Hallucinogenic • Produce hallucinations-sensations and perceptions in the absence of external stimulation • Relaxes the individual, euphoria, or panic

36. Marijuana • Helps people relax and elevate their mood • Produces mild hallucinations • Impairs motor coordination and perceptual functions, short term memory, and slows learning, instances of anxiety and confusion • Increases heart rate up to 140-150 beats per minute

38. Psychoactive Effects • Intoxication levels • Early: calmness • Fair: increases in self-insight, creativity, empathy of others • Strong: time passes slowly, heightens sexual sensations, disorientation

39. Psychoactive Effects • Does not cause physiological dependence • Usage often needs less than more to achieve same effects • Substances in marijuana takes long time to metabolize in body

40. LSD • Lysergic acid diethylamide “acid” • Expands consciousness and opens new worlds • Great insights • Produces vivid and colorful hallucinations • 6% of high school population • 2% college population

41. LSD • Flashbacks:distorted perceptions or hallucinations that occur days or weeks after LSD usage but mimic the LSD experience • May stem from chemical changes in the brain or ability to allow one’s thoughts to wander