Diagram of psychoactive drugs

Opioids are pain-reducing drugs, such as heroin, morphine, methadone, and codeine, that can mimic the body's endogenous opioid painkilling system. Because this system reduces pain and can produce euphoria, opioids have a high potential for abuse.

Opioids

Stimulants are drugs that send more messages throughout the body. You feel more awake, energetic, and alert. Simulants are also a type of psychotropic medication that can be prescribed for ADHD. Common brand names are Adderall and Ritalin. They work by improving the individual's ability to focus on tasks and maintain attention. Some of the side effects include lack of appetite, sleeping probelms, stomachache, and headache.

Stimulants

A cannabinoid is any substance that attaches to the cannabinoid receptors in the brain. There are three types of cannabinoids include; recreational, medicinal, and synthetic.

- Cannabis
- Hemp
- THC

Cannabinoids

Empathogens increase a persons feeling of empathy through the release of dopamine and serotonin. Through the release of serotonin, there is an increase in mood, appetite, and sleep.

- Ethylone
- MDMA

Empathogens

Psychedelics, another name being hallucinogens, are a class of drug that changes perceptions and mood. They affect a persons thinking, emotions, and sense of time.

Psychedelics

A class of psychoactive drugs that is often characterized with symptoms of distorted perceptions and detachment.

- PCP
- Ketamine

Dissociatives

Hallucinogens are a category of psychoactive drugs known for causing significant distortions in a user's sensory and perceptual experiences, affecting how a person sees, feels, and perceives the world. This class of drugs is notably diverse, impacting a variety of different neurotransmitter systems.

Hallucinogens

* Opioids
* Depressants
* Hallucinogens
* Stimulants

Psychologically Addictive Psychoactive Drugs

Depressants, also known as sedative-hypnotics, are a class of psychoactive drugs that suppress the activity of the central nervous system. Due to their quieting effect on the brain, they are often prescribed by medical professionals to manage conditions such as anxiety and insomnia.

Depressants (Sedative-Hypnotics)

The effects produced by all psychoactive drugs are a result of their interactions with the body's natural, or endogenous, neurotransmitter systems.

Psychoactive Drugs' Interaction with Neurotransmitter Systems

The human body possesses an endogenous opioid neurotransmitter system. This system naturally produces small amounts of opioid compounds that bind to opioid receptors, resulting in pain reduction and feelings of euphoria.

Endogenous Opioid System

The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) is an organization that provides informational resources, such as the 'Commonly Abused Drugs Chart' and the 'Commonly Abused Prescription Drugs Chart,' for individuals seeking to learn more about frequently misused prescription and street drugs.

National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) Resources

An individual is observed to have constricted pupils, slurred speech, and a significantly slowed breathing rate. They appear drowsy and disoriented. This specific combination of physiological and behavioral effects is most characteristic of which class of psychoactive substances?

- Psychotherapeutics

- Opioids

- Depressants

- Marijuana

- Hallucinogens

- Stimulants

- Nicotine


University of South Florida

Google

Psychopharmacology is the study of medications as a treatment for mental disorders. This includes understanding:

1. Protein binding

2. Half-life

3. Polymorphic genes

4. Drug - to - drug Interactions

Psychopharmacology

Spielman, R. M., Jenkins, W. J., & Lovett, M. D. (2020, April 22). Psychology (2nd ed.). OpenStax. https://openstax.org/books/psychology-2e/pages/1-introduction

OpenStax Psychology (2nd ed.) Textbook

Antipsychotics are a drug class used to treat psychosis and other related disorders, such as schizophrenia. There are two types of antipsychotics: first-generation or typical antipsychotics include drugs like haloperidol, and second-generation or atypical antipsychotics include drugs like risperidone. Common brand names include Haldol, Mellaril, Prolixin, and Thorazine.

Antipsychotics

Antidepressants are psychotropic medications prescribed to alleviate symptoms of mood disorders like depression and anxiety. They work by addressing chemical imbalances of neurotransmitters in the brain. Different types of antidepressants target different neurotransmitters; for example, selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) increase the availability of serotonin, while serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (SNRIs) elevate the levels of both serotonin and norepinephrine. Common SSRIs include Prozac and Zoloft, while tricyclics include Tofranil and Elavil.

Antidepressants

A type of psychotropic medication prescribed for anxiety and agitation that occur in OCD, PTSD, panic disorder, and social phobia. Common brand names include benzodiazepines such as alprazolam (Xanax) and lorazepam (Ativan), and diazepam (Valium).  They work as GABA agonists. GABA is a neurotransmitter responsible for the suppression of brain activity which assuages anxiety. Other medications such as buspirone (Buspar), antihistamines, and beta-blockers can also be used as anxiolytics to treat the physiological symptoms of anxiety such as racing heart.

Anxiolytics/Anti-Anxiety Agents

Drug-Drug interactions are when two different/similar types of drugs interact with one another. This can cause unpredictable side effects. 

Drug to drug interactions

Psychoactive Drugs

A Microdose is a medication given at less than 1/100th of a dose to yield an effect. Studies on this are safe because they are in such limited amounts.

Microdosing

Antidepressants are a kind of drug that works to alleviate symptoms of depression. They come in multiple different classes, such as SSRIs, SNRIs, MAOIs, TCAs, and NaSSAs, most of which work on increasing the efficacy of serotonin or norepinephrine. Most antidepressants take a few weeks in order to reach full effect.  

What are Antidepressants

The classic definition: A compound that has clinical antipsychotic efficacy while producing minimal catalepsy. 
Now: An atypical agent is now seen as an agent that 

1. decreased propensity to produce catalepsy or other movement disorders, 

2. does not elevate prolactin concentrations, 

3. significantly reduced positive and negative symptoms of schizophrenia.

Atypical Antipsychotics - What is an atypical Antipsychotic?

Low threshold responders are individuals who experience a type of drug hypersensitivity that causes amplified or abnormal effects from medications and psychoactive substances which are caused by biological and genetic sensitivities. These individuals have abnormal responses to antidepressants, antipsychotics, stimulants, sedatives, and recreational substances like caffeine, alcohol, cannabis, and psychedelics. Unlike general adverse drug reactions which can be sudden and unexpected, low threshold responders have a predictable pattern of intolerance to multiple substances due to neurotransmitter imbalances, slowed metabolism, or receptor sensitivity. 

The biggest cause of this is due to mutations in specific genes that regulate dopamine, serotonin, or other neurotransmitter responses, especially when given anything that changes the levels of neurotransmitters in the brain. These individuals are often mislabeled as treatment resistant as they may develop an intolerance to substances that impact neurotransmission or may have a heightened response to these substances.

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