Conceptualizing Addiction

Type of Drug and Class

Effects on the brain

Effects on the body

How it is likely to influence behavior

Effects of long term use

LSD: other names Acid, Blotter, Blue Heaven, Cubes, Microdot, Yellow Sunshine is a hallucinogen

Emotional swings, distortion of a person perception of reality, difficulty in communicating with others and cannot think rationally

Individuals may experience raised blood pressure, heart rate, body temperature, dry mouth, loss of appetite, sweating numbness, weakness, tremors, dizziness and insomnia

LSD effects each person different really it depends on your mood when you take it. So it can cause paranoia and fear. other to laugh and prompting some to engage in dangerous and violent behavior.  

Frightening flashbacks (called Hallucinogen Persisting Perception Disorder (HPPD)); ongoing visual disturbances, disorganized thinking, paranoia and mood swings, can even cause a person to go crazy and end up in a mental hospital.

Ketamine: Cat, Valium Vitamin K, and Special K it is a legal prescription anesthetic for both people and animals

Problems with attention, memory, confusion, learning, they individual can feel disconnected from their body and environment

Cannot move and to the point where the person is immobile, raised blood pressure, unconsciousness and slowed breathing that can result in death.

Very likely because it disrupts a person’s ability to think and communicate rationally, and then again, some people may recognize reality which can sometimes result in bizarre or dangerous behavior.

After years of taking the drug can cause respiratory depression, heart rate abnormalities, and withdrawal syndrome.

PCP, (also known as Phencyclidine): Angel Dust, Love Boat, Hog this is a dissociative drug/intravenous anesthetic

Delusions, hallucinations, paranoia, problems thinking, a sense of distance from one’s environment and anxiety

Low doses: cause slight increase in breathing, increased blood pressure and heart rate; shallow breathing, face redness and sweating; numbness of hands and feet plus problems with movement.

High doses: lowered blood pressure, pulse rate, breathing rate, nausea, vomiting, blurred vision, flicking up and down of the eyes, drooling, loss of balance, dizziness, violence, suicidal thoughts, seizures, coma and death

Very Likely they misinterpret calm confrontations Keand respond with violence. The person can become aggressively or violently against others or themselves. Such behaviors can be because the individual may have mental illness. Thinking they themselves cannot be harmed (example: thinking they can cross the street quickly enough to avoid the traffic but they really are not and get hit by the car.

Memory loss, problems with speech and thinking, depression, weight loss and anxiety. This drug has been linked to self - injury

Kratom: other names are Herbal Speedball, Biak-Biak, Ketum, Kahuam, Ithang, Thom.

Two compounds in Kratom leaves are mitragynine and – hydroxymitragynine interact with the brain, producing sedation, pleasure, and decreased pain especially when users consume large amounts of the plant. When its taken in small amounts the receptors in the brain produce stimulants causing increased energy, sociability, and being alert instead of sedated.

The effects on the body are sensitivity to sunburn, nausea, itching, sweating, dry mouth, constipation, increased urination, loss of appetite

Psychotic symptoms have been reported in some users.

Since kratom is like other opioid drugs individuals may cause dependence and having physical withdraw symptoms. Individual that become addicted have withdrawal symptoms such as: muscle aches, insomnia, irritability, hostility, aggression, emotional changes, runny nose, jerky movements. `

Synthetic Cathinones (Bath Salts); other names Bloom, Cloud, Nine, Cosmic, Blast, Flakka, Ivory Wave, Lunar Wave, Scarface, Vanilla Sky, White Lighting. This is a stimulant.

Researchers found that synthetic cathinone’s are chemically like amphetamines, cocaine and MDMA. Brain affects are like cocaine but at least 10 times more powerful. The effects this drug produces are:

Paranoia-extreme and unreasonable distrust of others

Hallucinations-experiencing sensations and images that seem real though they are not

Increased sociability

Increased sex drive

Panic attacks and suicidal thoughts, cloudy thinking, depression, anxiety and psychotic behavior.

Things that can happen to an individual’s body are nosebleeds, sweating, and nausea. People that experience excited delirium suffer from dehydration, breakdown of skeletal muscle tissue and kidney failure, reduced motor control, increased heart a Intoxication from synthetic cathinone has resulted in death associated from snorting and needle injection.

Heavy usage will can cause paranoia, panic attacks, anxiety and depression and it increases sociability. It also makes people angry and violent.

Breaking down of skeletal muscle tissue, kidney failure, death