Mood-altering drugs

All barbiturates have essentially die same mode of action. Depending on the dose given, tiiese drags are capable of producing central nervous system (CNS) depression and mood alteration ranging from mild excitation to mild sedation, hypnosis (sleep), and deep coma These drugs also are respiratory depressants the degree of depression... 

In addition to the aetions of MDMA and other derivatives at 5-HT2 serotonin reeeptors. some of the effeets on serotonergic systems could be mediated via S-HTja reeeptors, at whieh MDMA has a moderate affinity. Direct agonist effects at this site might eontribute to the mood-altering and calming effects of the drug, sinee similar effects have been reported for novel anxiolyties sueh as ipsaperone and buspirone, which interact with 5-HTia serotonin reeeptors. 

While brain serotonin systems may play a key role in mediating some of the effects of MDMA on analgesia and body temperature as well as in the reported anxiolytic-like and mood-altering subjective effects of the drug, additional neurotransmitter systems may contribute to some of the unique subjective experiences reported for MDMA and other drugs in this class. 

Psychoactive A drug that alters mood, cognition, and/or other aspects of behaviour. 

Physicians who have drug problems sometimes use a process called harvesting in order to obtain the medications for their own personal use. Harvesting occurs when a physician (seemingly innocendy) asks a patient to return any unused pain or other type of mood-altering medications to the physician. The physician will tell a patient that this is for his or her protection to take away the threat of accidental use of the medicines by someone in the household. The physician will offer to dispose of the medicine properly so that it is out of the household. However, the medicines will likely be used by the physician instead of being wasted. Patients should understand that since they have paid for (or their insurance has paid for) those medicines, it is unethical for a physician to ask for them in the first place, and such a request should warn of a problem. 

Because of this range of symptoms, people with PTSD find it very difficult to maintain jobs or relationships. They often abuse alcohol or other mood-altering drugs to help them deal with their symptoms. 

Breggin, Peter. Medication Madness A Psychiatrist Exposes the Dangers of Mood-Altering Medications. New York St. Martin s Press, 2008. The psychiatrist author describes how psychiatric medicines can cause suicide, violence, crime, and emotional breakdowns. He argues that the FDA, pharmaceutical industry, and medical establishment encourage overuse of psychiatric drugs and fail to adequately protect the consumer. Breggin... 

The compulsive use of drugs for non-medical purpose. It is characterised by a craving for mood-altering drug effects, not painrelief. Addiction refers to a dysfunctional behaviour as opposed to the improved function and quality of life that result from pain relief. In cancer patients who use opioids for long-term pain relief addiction is extremely rare. 

In summarizing the relationship between availability and abuse, we need to recognize that there is no formula to predict exactly how much abuse will occur, and that the relationship may wax and wane over time, as discussed below in the case studies. Still, there are a few rules of thumb. Given equal availability, drugs that produce more positive mood effects are more likely to be abused than those with less positive effects. However, all psychoactive drugs, even those with minimal positive mood effects, have the potential for abuse, even if only for their mood-altering effects. 

Tolerance to the mood-altering effects and psychological dependency develop as with cocaine, and symptoms of withdrawal appear when the drug is stopped. Laboratory animals who have learned to self-administer amphetamines have been observed to choose drugs instead of food and water they die from exhaustion in their frantic efforts to feed their high. —... 

Caffeine from chocolate is a popular mood-altering food, and craving for chocolate is common. Some people have difficulty getting through a whole day without eating chocolate in some form or other. People who binge on chocolate do not realize that they have a drug habit. 

Multiple sites in the CNS are affected by LSD. The drug shows serotonin (5-HT) agonist activity at presynaptic receptors in the midbrain, binding to both 5-HT and 5-HT2 receptors. Activation of the sympathetic nervous system occurs, which causes pupillary dilation, increased blood pressure, piloerection, and increased body temperature. Taken orally, low doses of LSD can induce hallucinations with brilliant colors, and mood alteration occurs. Tolerance and physical dependence have occurred, but true dependence is rare. Adverse effects include hyperreflexia, nausea, and muscular weakness. Sometimes high doses produce long-lasting psychotic changes in susceptible individuals. Haloperidol (see p. 127) and other neuroleptics can block the hallucinatory action of LSD and quickly abort the syndrome. 

Throughout history, doctors have relied on mood-altering drugs to deal with difficult patients. Psychoactive drugs change the way people feel, satisfy patients desires for medicine, and make doctors feel they have been useful — or at least make the patients go away. A hundred years ago, opium and alcohol were the mainstays of medical treatment along with cannabis (marijuana), At the turn of the century, cocaine was doled out for all sorts of complaints. Today, Valium and Xanax are some of the... 

Fix Slang term for a dose of a mood-altering drug, especially an intravenous dose of an opiate, as m, "I need a fix." Also used as a verb, as in, "When did you fix last "... 

Tolmetin Sodium, USP. Tolmetin sodium. I-methyl-5-(p-toluoyl)pyrrule-2-acetate dihydrate sodium. McN-25.<9 (Tolectin). is an arylacetic acid derivative with a pyrrole a- the aryl group. This drug is absorbed rapidly, with a lela-tivcly short plasma half-life (I hour). It is recommended for use in the management of acute and chronic RA. It shm- similar, but le.ss frequent, adverse effects with aspirin. Il doe-not potentiate coumarin-like drugs nor alter the Mood levels of sulfonylureas or insulin. Like other drugs in this class, it inhibits prostaglandin synthetase and lowers PCE blood levels. 

Al-Tfetrahydrocannabinol (THC) (Formula I) is the major psychoactive constituent of marijuana (Hollister, L.E. Science, 172 21-29,1971 Isbell, H., Gorodetsky, C. W., Jasinski, D., Claussen, V., von Spulak, F. and Korte, F. Psychopharmacologia, 11 184-188,1967 Mechoulam, R., Science, 168 1159-1166, 1970). The initial metabolites of THC are monohydroxy derivatives active as mood-altering agents. It is believed that these monohydroxy derivatives of THC contribute to the overall effects of the drug, but their presence is not required for the psychotropic action of cannabis (Harvey, D. J. and Paton, W. D. M. Rev. Biochem. Toxic. 6 250, 1984). 

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