What can very large doses of a depressant do to you?

By Kathleen Korman, MSN, RN, ACNS-BC, Director of Nursing, Recovery Works Merrillville , a detox and residential treatment center in Northwest Indiana

One of the most commonly abused substances is depressants.

People who struggle with this addiction will oft show astringent symptoms that put a serious strain on their daily life, including:

• Lack of coordination
• Dizziness
• Fatigue
• Slowed pulse and breathing issues

To help yourself or your loved ones, it's crucial to know the alarm signs of addiction. Here is everything yous need to know nigh depressants, including their dangers and what substances count as depressants.

What Is a Depressant Drug?

Depressants are drugs that touch on the central nervous system and encephalon activity.

These drugs exercise not make people experience depressed. Rather, depressant drugs are meant to reduce the post-obit in patients:

• Arousal
• Stimulation
• Anxiety
• Stress reactions
• Slumber disorders

Types of Depressant Drugs

Depressants come up in many forms, whether it exist a pill, syrup, or an injectable substance. Sedatives, tranquilizers, and hypnotics are all forms of depressants.

Most prescription depressants tin can be grouped into one of three drug classes.

Barbiturates

Barbiturates are highly addictive. All the same, people can quickly build a tolerance to them, which ways patients will accept to accept college doses to feel similar effects, leading to hazardous side effects.

Barbiturates can reduce center rate, regulate breathing, and destabilize blood pressure. Most usually, they are used to treat indisposition, headaches, and seizures.

Examples of barbiturates include:

• Luminal (phenobarbital)
• Mebaral (mephobarbital)
• Nembutal (pentobarbital sodium)

Benzodiazepines

Benzodiazepines were created to replace barbiturates because of their addictive side effects. All the same, benzodiazepines retain some of the aforementioned hazardous side effects seen in barbiturates.

Still, benzodiazepines can care for a lot of the aforementioned health bug every bit barbiturates, in add-on to panic disorders, booze withdrawal, and premenstrual syndrome.

Common types of benzodiazepines include:

• Halcion (triazolam)
• Klonopin (clonazepam)
• Prosom (estazolam)
• Valium (diazepam)
• Xanax (alprazolam)

Non-Benzodiazepine Allaying-Hypnotics

Non-benzodiazepine sedative-hypnotics are psychoactive drugs that are very similar to benzodiazepines in use, side effects, and addictive potential. They are just referred to as non-benzodiazepine because the molecular structures of the drugs are completely different from benzodiazepines.

These types of depressants are generally used for brusk-term handling of sleep disorders, similar insomnia.

Normally used non-benzodiazepine depressants include:

• Ambien (zolpidem)
• Lunesta (eszopiclone)
• Sonata (zaleplon)

Is Alcohol a Depressant?

Although many people utilise alcohol as a way to improve their mood or give them a shot of charisma, alcohol is a depressant that tin can negatively affect your mental and physical health.

As yous drink alcohol, a portion of what you drinkable volition become into your bloodstream to eventually be delivered to all parts of your body, including the brain. At that point, your encephalon releases chemicals similar dopamine and serotonin to offering a sense of euphoria while also depressing your reflexes and speech capabilities.

Illegal Depressant Drugs vs. Legal Depressant Drugs

At that place are both illegal and legal forms of depressant drugs. Here's a chart to aid y'all sympathise the legality and limitations of common depressants.

Depressant	Legality
Barbiturates	Discontinued (formerly legal with prescription)
Benzodiazepines	Legal with prescription
Cannabis	Legal or illegal, depending on the country
Alcohol	Legal for those age 21+
Opioids	Legal with prescription
Heroin	Illegal
GHB	Illegal
Sleeping Pills	Legal, over the counter

Effects of Depressant Drugs

The main effect of depressant drugs is slowed brain activity. This is done by increasing gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) activity, which is a chemical that slows brain activity. This chemic procedure makes these drugs highly effective for treating anxiety disorders.

Depressants tend to affect everyone differently. While a lot of factors make up one's mind how you volition react to depressants, here are a few of the nearly noteworthy variables:

• Size (weight and peak)
• A person's health
• A person's tolerance for the depressant
• Amount of the depressant taken
• Strength of the depressant
• Other depressants taken at the same fourth dimension

Curt-term Effects

Brusque-term effects from depressant drugs can happen as side effects from the drug's intended use or abuse. In other words, you lot could experience these side effects no affair how you use depressants:

• Slurred speech
• Dizziness
• Dilated pupils
• Lack of coordination
• Slowed pulse and breathing
• Lowered blood pressure
• Difficulty with concentration
• General fatigue

With college doses, depressant drugs could as well have some of the following short-term effects:

• Memory issues
• Impaired judgment
• Paranoia
• Irritability
• Suicidal thoughts

When someone takes depressants with other substances, they run a risk slowing down their heart rate and breathing enough to cause death.

Long-term Effects

If a person uses or abuses depressants for a long fourth dimension, they'll probable develop a tolerance for the drug, which is one path to addiction.

Long-term effects of depressants can include:

• Chronic fatigue
• Depression
• Breathing problems
• Sleep disorders
• Sexual problems
• Weight gain
• Increased risk of diabetes

Dangers of Depressant Drug Corruption

Although medical professionals prescribe many depressant drugs to care for disorders, they can be unsafe if misused or used for prolonged periods.

Why Exercise People Abuse Depressants?

Depressant corruption can exist intentional or unintentional.

Intentional corruption usually occurs when a person mixes multiple depressants, takes more than than the prescribed amount, or uses a depressant without a prescription. Unintentional abuse may happen when a person accidentally uses a depressant outside of its guidelines.

No matter the motive, abusing depressants is incredibly harmful to one's mental and concrete health. It can worsen the disorders people try to treat with the depressants, including anxiety disorders.

Are Depressant Drugs Addictive?

Depressants are addictive and can lead to substance use disorder (SUD) because people can build a tolerance to depressants after using them for long periods.

Drug tolerance means the body needs more of a drug to get the desired upshot. This leads people to take larger or more frequent doses of the depressant to become the same relief or euphoric feeling equally they did before their tolerance developed.

Tolerance can then lead to dependency, meaning the person cannot function normally without using the drugs. By and large, you can tell if a person is addicted to or abusing depressants if they exhibit any of the following behaviors:

• Mood swings
• Decreased social activity
• Depressive episodes
• Decreased work productivity
• Secretive beliefs

Additionally, once a person develops a dependence on depressants, they will experience withdrawal symptoms when not using the drugs. These symptoms may include:

• Nausea
• Muscle weakness
• Indisposition
• Agitation
• Fever
• Delirium
• Hallucination
• Convulsions

Stimulants vs. Depressants

Stimulants are another family of drugs that requite their users a sense of euphoria, like to depressants. Nonetheless, their means of creating that euphoric feeling are very dissimilar: while depressants slow your encephalon down, stimulants speed up brain action.

By speeding up brain activity, stimulants tin increase pulse and breathing rates and elevate your blood pressure. This causes some to feel more alert and energetic. Only with prolonged usage, stimulants can cause:

• Headaches
• Anxiety
• Paranoia
• Assailment

Common stimulant drugs include:

• Amphetamines
• Cocaine
• Khat
• Methamphetamine
• Nicotine (though information technology also works equally a depressant)

Are Stimulants or Depressants More Unsafe?

It's hard to say if stimulants or depressants are more than unsafe. Both have severe risks associated with their use, and abuse of both drugs can lead to debilitating dependencies.

It should be plenty to realize that abuse of either drug is harmful and should be avoided at all costs.

How to Seek Help for Depressant Abuse

If you lot or someone you know is currently struggling with depressant abuse or addiction, now is the time to expect for assist. And if you recognize y'all have a problem with drug abuse, y'all've already completed the first step towards recovery.

Because of the withdrawal symptoms, one can experience trying to get off of depressants and other drugs, people seeking treatment should check in to a rehab facility to detox. Rehab facilities will monitor detoxification and help ease the transitionary period.

Meridian Treatment Centers is ready to welcome anyone looking to travel the route to recovery. Our specialties include drug addiction and alcohol employ disorders, meaning we are well-equipped to manage depressant abuse. Don't hesitate to accomplish out and start your recovery as soon equally possible.

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Source: https://pinnacletreatment.com/blog/what-you-need-to-know-about-depressants/

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