Download Drugs and Consciousness

Drugs and Consciousness
 Psychoactive Drugs: chemicals that alters
one’s perceptions and mood
Drugs and Consciousness
 Continued use of psychoactive drugs can lead
to tolerance
 Diminishing effect with regular use of the same
drug requiring the user to take larger and larger
doses before discontinuing the use of an addictive
drug
Drugs and Consciousness
 Side effects of tolerance
 Lead to withdrawal
 Discomfort and distress that follow discontinuing
the use of an addictive drug
 Withdrawal can cause physical pain
Drugs and Consciousness
 Physical dependence
 Psychological dependence
Drugs and Consciousness
 Misconceptions about addictions
 Addictive drugs quickly corrupt
 Addictions can’t be overcome voluntarily; therapy
is a must
 We can extend the concept of addiction to cover
not just drug dependencies but a whole spectrum
of repetitive pleasure seeking behavior
Drugs and Consciousness
 Three types of psychoactive drugs
 Depressants
 Stimulants
 Hallucinogens
Drugs and Consciousness
 Depressants: drugs that reduce neural
activity and slow body functions
Drugs and Consciousness
 Alcohol
 Lowers inhibitions and judgment
 A person’s various attributes become stronger
 Helpful person= more helpful
 Aggressive person= more aggressive
 Etc.
Drugs and Consciousness
 Dosage:
 Lower doses relax the drinker by slowing the
sympathetic nervous system
 Larger doses can become problematic
 Denton and Krebs Bar Study
Drugs and Consciousness
 Side effects of alcohol:
 Effects memory
 Disrupts the processing of recent experiences into
long-term memories
 Studies also show problems transferring memories
from intoxicated mind to the sober mind
Drugs and Consciousness
 Suppresses REM sleep
Drugs and Consciousness
 Reduces self awareness
 Focus on immediate situation without looking at
the future
 50% of rapists acknowledge drinking prior to
committing the crime
Drugs and Consciousness
 Effects of alcohol also depends on
expectations
 Cultural expectations play a large role
Drugs and Consciousness
 Barbiturates
 Tranquillizers that mimic alcohol
 Can be used to induce sleep or lower anxiety
Drugs and Consciousness
 Opiates
 Morphine and Heroin
 Depress neural functions and communications
 Long term withdrawal symptoms with both
Drugs and Consciousness
 Stimulants
 Caffeine (most used drug), nicotine,
amphetamines, and cocaine are all examples
 Speed up body functions
 Used to stay awake, lose weight, boost mood
 Can be addictive
 Can lead to “crash”
Drugs and Consciousness
 Cocaine
 3% of the population have admitted to using
cocaine
 Rush depletes serotonin, dopamine, and
norepinephrine which leads to the “crash”
 Studies show cocaine leaves the neural reward
switch in the on position
Drugs and Consciousness
 Hallucinogens
 Distort perception and evoke images
 LSD
 Created in 1943 by Albert Hoffmann
 “…perceived an uninterrupted stream of fantastic
pictures, extraordinary shapes with intense,
kaleidoscopic play of colors”
Drugs and Consciousness
 Phases of hallucination
 Geometrical shapes
meaningful images
dreamlike scenes
Drugs and Consciousness
 Marijuana
 Leaves and flowers of the hemp plant (cultivated
for 5,000 years for its fiber)
 THC is the active ingredient
 delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol
Drugs and Consciousness
 Smoking marijuana gets THC to brain in 7 seconds
 Time varies for other methods
 Effects of marijuana
 Relaxes and produces euphoric high in subject
taking marijuana
 Mild hallucinations occur
 Amplified sensitivity to color, sound, tastes, and
smells
Drugs and Consciousness
 Side effects of marijuana
 Impairs motor coordination, perceptual skills,
reaction time
 Disrupts memory formation and recall abilities
Drugs and Consciousness
 Depresses sex hormones in males and lowers
sperm levels
 More lung damage than cigarette smoking
 Study followed 654 junior high students into
their 20’s
 Found heavy users developed more health
problems and family problems than their
counterparts
 Example of a longitudinal study
 Longitudinal study
 Scientific study that follows a group of people
throughout a period of time
 Typically used to study developmental trends
 Cross-sectional study
 Scientific study in which data are collected from
groups of participants of different ages and
compared so that conclusions can be drawn about
differences due to age