EMOTIONS AND STRESS SYNDROME. NOTION ABOUT PSYCHOACTIVE DRUGS
Role of
emotional and volitional processes in forming bechavior
Theories
of Emotion
Emotion is made up of three components; physiological arousal,
expressive behaviors, and conscious experience. One of the oldest theoretical
controversies regarding emotion focuses on the timing of our feelings in
relation to the physiological responses that accompany emotion. William James
and Carl Lange proposed that we feel emotion after we notice our physiological
responses. Walter Cannon and Philip Bard believed that we feel emotion at the
same time that our bodies respond. A third, more recent, theory, the
Schachter-Singer two-factor theory, focuses on the interplay of the emotions
rather than the timing of the emotions. It states that there are only two
components of emotion, physical arousal and a cognitive label.
Embodied Emotion
Emotions and the Autonomic Nervous System
Emotions are both psychological and physiological. Much of the
physiological activity is controlled by the autonomic nervous system’s
sympathetic (arousing) and parasympathetic (calming) divisions. Our performance
on a task is usually best when arousal is moderate, though this varies with the
difficulty of the task.
Physiological Similarities Among
Specific Emotions
Three emotions—fear, anger, and sexual arousal—produce similar
physiological responses that are nearly indistinguishable to an untrained
observer. However, the emotions are felt differently by those experiencing
them.
Physiological Differences Among
Specific Emotions
Emotions stimulate different facial muscles. Additionally, scientists
have discovered subtle differences in activity in the brain’s cortical areas,
in use of brain pathways, and in secretion of hormones associated with
different emotions.
Cognition and Emotion
A spillover effect occurs when our arousal response to one event spills
over into our response to the following event. Arousal fuels emotion; cognition
channels it. Emotional responses are immediate when sensory input goes directly
to the amygdala via the thalamus, bypassing the cortex, triggering a rapid
reaction that is outside our conscious awareness.
Expressed Emotion
Nonverbal Communication
Much of our communication is through the body’s silent language.
Psychologists have studied people’s abilities to detect emotion, even from thin
slices of behavior. Research has found that women are typically more sensitive
to nonverbal clues than men.
Detecting and Computing Emotion
Discerning lies
from truth is difficult for the untrained eye. There are certain professionals
who are more skilled at detecting emotion. Researchers are studying the role of
nonverbal communication during job interviews. In E-mail communications,
nonverbal cues are missing which can lead to misinterpretation.
Culture and Emotional Expression
Although some
gestures are culturally determined, facial expressions, such as those of
happiness and fear, are common the world over. In communal cultures that value
interdependence, intense displays of potentially disruptive emotions are
infrequent.
The Effects of Facial Expressions
Expressions do more
than communicate emotion. They also amplify the felt emotion and signal the
body to respond accordingly. Emotions, then, arise from the interplay of
cognition, physiology, and expressive behaviors.
Experienced Emotion
Among various human emotions, we looked closely at how we experience
three: fear, anger, and happiness.
Fear
Fear is an adaptive emotion, but it can be traumatic. Although we seem
biologically predisposed to acquire some fears, what we learn through
experience and observation best explains the variety of human fears.
Anger
Anger is most often evoked by events that not only are frustrating or
insulting but also are interpreted as willful, unjustified, and avoidable.
Blowing off steam may be temporarily calming, but in the long run it does not
reduce anger. Expressing anger can actually make us angrier.
Happiness
A good mood boosts people’s perceptions of the world and their
willingness to help others. The moods triggered by the day’s
good or bad events seldom last beyond that day. Even significant good events,
such as a substantial rise in income, seldom increase happiness for long. We
can explain the relativity of happiness with the adaptation-level phenomenon
and the relative deprivation principle. Nevertheless, some people are usually
happier than others, and researchers have identified factors that predict such
happiness.
Perspectives on
Motivation
Motivation is the energizing and directing of behavior, the force behind
our yearning for food, our longing for sexual intimacy, our need to belong, and
our desire to achieve.
Instincts and Evolutionary Psychology
Under
Drives and Incentives
Drive reduction theory states that most physiological needs create
aroused psychological states, driving us to reduce or satisfy those needs. The
aim of drive reduction is internal stability, or homeostasis. Thus, drive
reduction motivates survival behaviors, such as eating and drinking. Not only
are we pushed by our internal drives, we are also pulled by external
incentives. Depending on our personal experiences, some stimuli (for example,
certain foods) will arouse our desires.
Optimum Arousal
Rather than reducing a physiological need or tension state, some
motivated behaviors increase arousal. Curiosity-driven behaviors, for example,
suggest that too little as well as too much stimulation can motivate people to
seek an optimum level of arousal.
A Hierarchy of Motives
Maslow’s hierarchy of needs expresses the idea that, until satisfied,
some motives are more compelling than others. It indicates that physiological
needs must first be met, then safety, followed by the
need for belongingness and love, and finally, esteem needs. Once all of these
are met, a person is motivated to meet the need for self-actualization. This
order of needs is not universally fixed but it provides a framework for
thinking about motivation.
Hunger
The Physiology of Hunger
Hunger’s inner push
primarily originates not from the stomach’s contractions but from variations in
body chemistry, including hormones that heighten or reduce hunger. For example,
we are likely to feel hungry when our glucose levels are low or when ghrelin is
secreted by an empty stomach. This information is integrated by the
hypothalamus, which regulates the body’s weight as it influences our feelings of
hunger and satiety. To maintain weight, the body also adjusts its metabolic
rate of energy expenditure.
The Psychology of Hunger
Our preferences for
certain tastes are partly genetic and universal, but also partly learned in a
cultural context. The impact of psychological factors, such as challenging
family settings and weight-obsessed societal pressures, on eating behavior is
dramatic in people with anorexia nervosa, who keep themselves on
near-starvation rations, and in those with bulimia nervosa, who binge and purge
in secret. In the past half-century a dramatic increase in poor body image has
coincided with a rise in eating disorders among women in Western cultures. In
addition to cultural pressures, low self-esteem and negative emotions (with a
possible genetic component) seem to interact with stressful life experiences to
produce anorexia and bulimia.
Sexual Motivation
The Physiology of Sex
Physiologically,
the human sexual response cycle normally follows a pattern of excitement,
plateau, orgasm, and resolution, followed in males by a refractory period,
during which renewed arousal and orgasm are impossible. Sex hormones, in
combination with the hypothalamus, help our bodies develop and function as
either male or female. In nonhuman animals, hormones also help stimulate sexual
activity. In humans, they influence sexual behavior more loosely, especially
once sufficient hormone levels are present.
The Psychology of Sex
External stimuli
can trigger sexual arousal in both men and women. Sexually explicit materials
may also lead people to perceive their partners as comparatively less appealing
and to devalue their relationships. In combination with the internal hormonal
push and the external pull of sexual stimuli, fantasies (imagined stimuli)
influence sexual arousal. Sexual disorders, such as premature ejaculation and
female orgasmic disorder, are being successfully treated by new methods, which
assume that people learn and can modify their sexual responses.
Adolescent Sexuality
Adolescents’ physical
maturation fosters a sexual dimension to their emerging identity. But culture
is a big influence, too, as is apparent from varying rates of teen intercourse
and pregnancy. A near-epidemic of sexually transmitted infections has triggered
new research and educational programs pertinent to adolescent sexuality.
Sexual Orientation
One’s heterosexual
or homosexual orientation seems neither willfully chosen nor willfully changed.
Preliminary new evidence links sexual orientation with genetic influences, prenatal
hormones, and certain brain structures. The increasing public perception that
sexual orientation is biologically influenced is associated with increasing
acceptance of gays and lesbians and their relationships.
Sex and Human Values
Sex research and
education are not value-free. Some say that sex-related values should therefore
be openly acknowledged, recognizing the emotional significance of sexual
expression. Human sexuality at its life-uniting and love-renewing best affirms
our deep need to belong.
The Need to Belong
No one is an island; we are all, as John Donne noted in 1624, part of
the human continent. Our need to affiliate—to feel connected and identified
with others—boosted our ancestors’ chances for survival and is therefore part
of our human nature. We experience our need to belong when suffering the
breaking of social bonds, when feeling the gloom of loneliness or the joy of
love, and when seeking social acceptance. For people experiencing ostracism,
stress and depression can result. On the other hand, people who feel a sense of
belongingness are happier and healthier.
Notion “emotions”
Emotions are aspect of higher
nervous activity that characterize subjective attitude of person to various
stimuli arousal in surroundings. Emotional status reflects actual needs of man
and helps in its realization.
Classification of emotions
According to subjective status there are positive and
negative emotions. Negative emotions are sthenic (aggression, affect) that
stimulate human activity and asthenia (horror, sadness, depression) that
inhibit behaviour. Lower or elementary emotions are caused by organic needs of
man or animal as hanger, thirst and survival, so on). In humans even lover
emotions undergo to cortical control and are brining up. Social, historical and
cultural customs cause also formation of higher emotions that regulates public
and private relations in society. Higher emotions appear due to consciousness
and may inhibit lower emotions.
Appearance of emotions in
ontogenesis.
In newborns emotions of horror, anger, pleasure, are
revealed just after birth. Hunger, pain, getting cool, wet bedclothes cause in
newborn child negative emotions with grimace of suffering and crying. Sudden
new sound or loss equilibrium causes horror and loss of free movement causes
anger. Final formation of human emotions develops gradually with maturation of
nervous and endocrine regulatory systems and needs up brining.
Biological importance of emotions
Emotions are important element
of human behaviour, creation of conditioned reflexes and mentation. Negative
emotions give fusty evaluation of current situation does it useful or not.
Mobilizing of efforts helps then to satisfy current needs of person. Positive
emotions help to put in memory scheme of behaviour, which was useful and have
lead to success.
Animal experiments have shown
that a sensory experience causing neither reward nor punishment is remembered
hardly at all. Electrical recordings from the brain show that newly experienced
types of sensory stimuli almost always excite wide areas in the cerebral
cortex. But repetition of the stimulus over and over leads to
almost complete excitation of the cortical response, if the sensory experience
does not elicit a sense or either reward or punishment. That is, the
animal becomes habituated to the sensory stimulus and thereafter ignores
it. If the stimulus causes either reward or punishment rather then
indifference, the cortical response becomes progressively more and more intense
during repeated stimulation, and the response is said to be reinforced. An
animal builds up strong memory traces for sensation that are either rewarding
or punishing but, conversely, develops complete habituation to indifferent
sensory stimuli.
External manifestations of emotions are revealed in
motor acts, effects of autonomic and endocrine regulation. Motor manifestations
of emotions are mimic, gesticulation, body posture and walk. Emotional
excitation usually is followed by autonomic reactions as blush, dilation of
pupils; increase of arterial pressure, rate of heartbeat and breathing. Level
of catecholamines in blood and 17-oxycetosteroides in urine rises also.
Positive emotion may activate parasympathetic division of autonomic nervous
system. Severe emotional excitation may result in visceral disorders because of
circulatory disturbances and excess hormones in blood.
Nerve substrate of emotions
Several limbic structures are
particularly concerned with the affective nature of sensory sensations – that
is whether the sensations are pleasant or unpleasant. The major rew3ard centres
have been found to be located along the course of the medial forebrain bundle,
especially in the lateral and ventromedial nuclei of the hypothalamus. Less
potent reward centres are found in the septum, amygdala, certain areas of the
thalamus, basal ganglia, and extending downward into the basal tegmentum of the
mesencephalon. The most potent areas for punishment and escape tendencies have
been found in the central grey area surrounding the aqueduct of Sylvius in the
mesencephalon and extending upward into the periventricular zones of the
hypothalamus and thalamus. Less potent punishment areas are found in some
locations in the amygdala and the hippocampus. Electrical recording from the
brain show that newly experienced types of sensory stimuli almost excite areas
in the cerebral cortex.
Theories of emotions
Biological theory of emotions (P.K. Anochkin)
considers that life course includes two main stages of behavioural act: 1)
formation of needs and motivations that results from negative emotions and 2)
satisfaction of needs that leads to positive emotions it case of complete
accordance of image and result of action. Incomplete compliance of suspected
and real result of action cause negative emotions and continues behavioural
act.
Information theory of emotions
(P.V. Simonov)considers that emotions reflect strength human of need and
possibility of its satisfaction in current moment. In absence of needs emotions
can’t arise. There is also not emotional excitation, if getting excess
information about mode of satisfaction this need. Lac of information already
causes negative emotions that help to recall to mind life experience and to
gather information about current situation.
Neurotransmission of emotional excitation
Emotional excitation is spread
in the brain due to variety of neurotransmitters (noradrenalin, acetylcholine,
serotonin, dopamine and neuropeptides including opioides. Positive emotions may
be explained by revealing catecholamines and negative emotions, aggression
result from production acetylcholine in the brain. Serotonin inhibits both
kinds of emotions. Decrease of serotonin in blood is followed by groundless
anxiety and inhibition of noradrenergic transmission results in sadness.
Structure of behavioural act
According to theory of functional systems (Anochkin)
there are such stages of behavioural act: 1) afferent synthesis; 2) taking of
decision; 3) acceptor of result of action; 4) efferent synthesis (or
programming of action); 5) performing of action; 6) evaluation of final result
of action. Due to converging and processing of both sensory information and
memory traces afferent synthesis in the brain is performed. Taking of decision
is based on afferent synthesis by choosing optimal variant of action.
Neuronal mechanisms of
behaviour.
In the very lowest animals olfactory cortex plays
essential roles in determining whether the animal eats a particular food,
whether the smell of a particular object suggest danger, and whether the odour
is sexually inviting, thus making decisions that are of life-or-death
importance. The hippocampus originated as part of olfactory cortex. Very early
in the evolutionary development of the brain, the hippocampus presumably
becomes a critical decision-making neuronal mechanism, determining the
importance of the incoming sensory signals. Once this critical decision-making
capability had been established, presumably the remainder of the brain began to
call on it for the same decision making. Therefore, if the hippocampus says that
a neuronal signal is important, the information is likely to be committed to
memory. Thus, a person rapidly become habituated to indifferent stimuli but
learns assiduously any sensory experience that causes either pleasure or pain.
It has been suggested that hippocampus provides the drive that causes
translation of short-term memory into long-term memory.
Motivation at Work
For most people, work is a huge part of life. At its best, when work
puts us in "flow," work can be satisfying and enriching. What, then,
enables worker motivation, productivity, and satisfaction? I/O psychology
studies behavior in the workplace through its primary subfields: personnel
psychology, organizational psychology, and human factors psychology.
Personnel Psychology/Harnessing Strengths
Personnel
psychologists aim to identify people’s strengths and to match them with
organizational tasks. Subjective interviews lead to quickly formed impressions,
but they also frequently foster an illusory overconfidence in one’s ability to
predict employee success. Structured interviews, pinpointing job-relevant
strengths, enhance interview reliability and validity. Personnel psychologists
also assist organizations in appraisal that boosts organizations, motivates
individuals, and is welcomed as fair.
Organizational Psychology: Motivating Achievement
People who excel
are often self-disciplined individuals with strong achievement motivation. To
motivate employees to achieve, smart managers aim to create an engaged,
committed, satisfied workforce. Effective leaders build on people’s strengths,
work with them to set specific and challenging goals, and adapt their
leadership style to their situation.
Common Properties of Psychoactive Drugs
Addiction is a
broad term that refers to a condition in which a person feels psychologically and
physically compelled to take a specific drug. People experience physical
dependence when their body and brain chemistry have physically adapted to a
drug. Many physically addictive drugs gradually produce drug tolerance, which
means that increasing amounts of the drug are needed to gain the original,
desired effect.
For people who are physically dependent
on a drug, abstaining from the drug produces withdrawal symptoms. Withdrawal
symptoms are unpleasant physical reactions to the lack of the drug, plus an
intense craving for it. Withdrawal symptoms are alleviated by taking the drug again.
Often, the withdrawal symptoms are opposite to the drug’s action, a phenomenon called
the drug rebound effect.
For example, withdrawing from stimulating drugs, like the caffeine in
coffee, may produce depression and fatigue. Withdrawal from depressant drugs,
such as alcohol, may produce excitability. Each psychoactive drug has a
distinct biological effect. Psychoactive drugs may influence many different
bodily systems, but their consciousness-altering effects are primarily due to
their effect on the brain. Typically, these drugs influence brain activity by
altering synaptic transmission among neurons. Drugs affect synaptic
transmission by increasing or decreasing neurotransmitter amounts or by
blocking, mimicking, or influencing a particular neurotransmitter’s effects
(see p. 00). The biological effects of a given drug vary somewhat from one
person to another. The person’s weight, gender, and age may influence the
intensity of the drug’s effects.Whether the drug is taken on a full or empty
stomach or in combination with other drugs also plays a role. Racial and ethnic
differences may affect how a drug is metabolized. For example, African-Americans
seem to absorb more nicotine from cigarettes than do European-Americans or
Mexican-Americans, and they metabolize the nicotine more slowly (Caraballo
& others, 1998; Pérez-Stable & others, 1998).
Psychological and
environmental factors can also influence the effects of a drug. The response to
a drug can be significantly affected by personality characteristics, mood,
expectations, experience with the drug, and by the setting in which the drug is
taken (Marlatt & others, 1988; Stacy & others, 1990). Why do people
abuse drugs? There is no easy answer to that question. It’s difficult to draw a
hard-and-fast line between drug use and drug abuse, especially when
the drug in question is legal, such as alcohol. Most people would not consider having
a cold beer or two at a summer picnic an instance of drug abuse. Chug-alugging a
six-pack, however, is a different matter. In contrast to drug use, drug
abuse refers to recurrent drug use that results in the disruption of
academic, social, or occupational functioning, or in legal or psychological problems
(American Psychiatric Association, 2000a). Some authorities widen the
definition of drug abuse to refer to any form of drug taking that results in harmful effects. Many factors influence what
is considered drug abuse. For example, determining what level of alcohol use
constitutes “abuse” varies from one culture to another (Tanaka-Matsumi &
Draguns, 1997). Even in the
The Depressants
Alcohol, Barbiturates, and Tranquilizers
The depressants are a class of drugs that
depress or inhibit central nervous system activity. In general, depressants
produce drowsiness, sedation, or sleep. Depressants also relieve anxiety and
lower inhibitions. All depressant drugs are potentially physically addictive.
Further, the effects of depressant drugs are additive, meaning that the
sedative effects are increased when depressants are combined.
Alcohol
A staple of the human diet for thousands of years,
alcoholic beverages provide a good example of the potential for a psychoactive
drug to be misused (Vallee, 1998). Used in small amounts, alcohol reduces
tension and anxiety. Evidence exists that light drinking reduces the risk of
heart disease, probably because of its beneficial effects on cholesterol
levels.Weddings, parties, and other social gatherings often include alcohol, a
tribute to its relaxing and social lubricating properties. But even though
alcohol is a legal and readily available drug for adults, it’s also a dangerous
drug with a high potential for abuse. Consider these facts:
Many drug experts believe that alcohol abuse has the
highest social cost of all drug addictions.
· Alcohol
is involved in at least 50 percent of all homicides, assaults, and highway
fatalities (American Psychiatric Association, 2000a; Caetano & others,
2001).
· Approximately
two-thirds of all cases of spousal abuse and violent child abuse involves alcohol use (Steele & Josephs, 1990).
· Drinking
by pregnant women is the leading cause of birth defects and mental
retardation—and the only preventable one (National Organization on Fetal
Alcohol Syndrome, 2002).
More than half of all Americans who are old enough to
drink legally do so at least occasionally. An estimated 14 million Americans
have serious alcohol problems. They drink excessively on a regular basis and
suffer social, occupational, and health problems as a result of their drinking (
How Does Alcohol Affect the Body? Generally, it takes
about one hour to metabolize the alcohol in one drink, which is defined as
Because alcohol is physically addictive, the person with alcoholism who
stops drinking may suffer from physical withdrawal symptoms. Alcohol withdrawal
causes rebound hyperexcitability in the brain. The severity of the withdrawal
symptoms depends on the level of physical dependence (Schuckit & others,
1998).With a low level of dependence, withdrawal may
involve disrupted sleep, anxiety, and mild tremors (“the shakes”). At higher
levels of physical dependence on alcohol, withdrawal may involve confusion,
hallucinations, and severe tremors or seizures. Collectively, these severe
symptoms are sometimes called delirium tremens, or the DTs. In
cases of extreme physical dependence, withdrawal can cause seizures,
convulsions, and even death in the absence of medical supervision (O’Brien,
1997).
What Are Alcohol’s Psychological Effects? People
are often surprised that alcohol is classified as a depressant. Initially,
alcohol produces a mild euphoria, talkativeness, and feelings of good humor and
friendliness, leading many people to think of alcohol as a stimulant. But these
subjective experiences occur because alcohol lessens inhibitions by
depressing the brain centers responsible for judgment and self-control. Reduced
inhibitions and self-control contribute to the aggressive and violent behavior
sometimes associated with alcohol abuse. But the loss of inhibitions affects
individuals differently, depending on their environment and expectations
regarding alcohol’s effects (Bushman, 1993).
Barbiturates and Tranquilizers
Barbiturates are powerful
depressant drugs that reduce anxiety and promote sleep, which is why they are
sometimes called “downers.” Barbiturates depress activity in the brain centers
that control arousal, wakefulness, and alertness. They also depress the brain’s
respiratory centers. Like alcohol, barbiturates at low doses cause relaxation,
mild euphoria, and reduced inhibitions. Larger doses produce a loss of
coordination, impaired mental functioning, and depression. High doses can
produce unconsciousness, coma, and death. Barbiturates produce a very deep but
abnormal sleep in which REM sleep is greatly reduced. Because of the additive
effect of depressants, barbiturates combined with alcohol are particularly
dangerous.
Common barbiturates include the prescription sedatives Seconal and
Nembutal. The illegal drug methaqualone (street name quaalude) is almost identical chemically to
barbiturates and has similar effects. Barbiturates produce both physical and
psychological dependence. Withdrawal from low doses of barbiturates produces
irritability and REM rebound nightmares. Withdrawal from high doses of
barbiturates can produce hallucinations, disorientation, restlessness, and
life-threatening convulsions.
Tranquilizers are depressants that relieve
anxiety. Commonly prescribed tranquilizers include Xanax, Valium, Librium, and
Ativan. Chemically different from barbiturates, tranquilizers produce
similar, although less powerful, effects.
The Opiates
From Poppies to Demerol
Often called narcotics, the opiates are
a group of addictive drugs that relieve pain and produce feelings of euphoria.
Natural opiates include opium, which is derived from the opium poppy; morphine,
the active ingredient in opium; and codeine, which can be derived
from either opium or morphine. Synthetic and semisynthetic opiates include heroin,
methadone, and the prescription painkillers Oxycontin, Percodan, and
Demerol. Opiates produce their powerful effects by mimicking the brain’s
own natural painkillers, called endorphins. Opiates occupy endorphin
receptor sites in the brain. The word endorphin literally means “the morphine
within.” When used medically, opiates alter an individual’s reaction to pain,
not by acting at the pain site but by reducing the brain’s perception of pain.
Many people recovering from surgery experience a wave of pain relief after
receiving narcotics such as morphine, Demerol, or Percodan. People who take
opiates in such circumstances rarely develop drug tolerance or dependence
(Jacox & others, 1994).
The most frequently used opiate is heroin. When
injected into a vein, heroin reaches the brain in seconds, creating an intense
rush of euphoria that is followed by feelings of contentment, peacefulness, and
warmth.Withdrawing from heroin is not life-threatening, but it does produce
unpleasant drug rebound symptoms (O’Brien, 1997). Withdrawal symptoms include
an intense craving for heroin, fever, chills, muscle cramps, and
gastrointestinal problems.
The Stimulants
Caffeine, Nicotine, Amphetamines, and
Cocaine
Stimulants vary in the strength of their
effects, legal status, and the manner in which they are taken. All stimulant
drugs, however, are at least mildly addicting, and all tend to increase brain
activity.We’ll first look at the most widely used and legal stimulants,
caffeine and nicotine. Then we’ll examine much more potent stimulants, cocaine
and the amphetamines.
Caffeine and Nicotine
Caffeine is found in
coffee, tea, cola drinks, chocolate, and many over-the-counter medications (see
Table 4.6). Most Americans consume caffeine in some form every day (DeAngelis,
1994b). In fact, caffeine is the most widely used psychoactive drug in the
world.
Caffeine stimulates the cerebral cortex in the brain,
resulting in an increase in mental alertness and wakefulness. Even a single cup
of coffee has a noticeable effect on the cerebral cortex. Yes, coffee drinkers,
caffeine is physically addictive. Regular coffee, tea, or cola drinkers
will experience withdrawal symptoms if they abruptly stop their caffeine
intake. Headaches, irritability, drowsiness, and fatigue may last up to a week.
Even just a few hours of caffeine deprivation can produce noticeable withdrawal
symptoms of sleepiness and fatigue (Phillips-Bute & Lane, 1997). At high
doses, caffeine can produce anxiety, restlessness, insomnia, and increased heart
rate—symptoms that are collectively called “coffee nerves.” When Mike, in the
Prologue, lit up a cigarette, he did so under the mistaken impression that smoking
would help him relax and fall asleep. But cigarettes contain nicotine, an
extremely addictive stimulant. Nicotine is found in all tobacco products,
including pipe tobacco, cigars, cigarettes, and smokeless tobacco. About 25
percent of American adults use tobacco regularly. The proportion of smokers is
much higher in
& others, 1995). Like
coffee, nicotine increases mental alertness and reduces fatigue or drowsiness.
Functional
MRI scans show that nicotine increases neural activity
in many areas of the brain, including the frontal lobes, thalamus, hippocampus,
and amygdala (Stein & others, 1998). Thus, it’s not surprising that smokers
report that tobacco enhances mood, attention, arousal, and vigilance. When
cigarette smoke is inhaled, nicotine reaches the brain in seconds. But within
30 minutes or so, nicotine has left the brain. Thus, the addicted pack-a-day
smoker will light a cigarette every 30 to 40 minutes to maintain a relatively
constant nicotine level in the brain. Over the course of a year, that averages
out to 70,000 “hits” of nicotine. Nicotine is highly addictive, both physically
and psychologically. People who start smoking for nicotine’s stimulating
properties often continue smoking to avoid the withdrawal symptoms. Along with
an intense craving for cigarettes, withdrawal symptoms include jumpiness, irritability,
tremors, headaches, drowsiness, “brain fog,” and lightheadedness (Shiffman
& others, 1995).
Amphetamines and Cocaine
Like caffeine and nicotine, amphetamines and cocaine
are addictive substances that stimulate brain activity, increasing mental
alertness and reducing fatigue. However, amphetamines and cocaine also elevate
mood and produce a sense of euphoria. When abused, both drugs can produce
severe psychological and physical problems. Sometimes called “speed” or
“uppers,” amphetamines suppress appetite and were once widely prescribed
as diet pills. Tolerance to the appetite-suppressant effects occurs quickly, so
progressive increases in amphetamine dosage are required to maintain the
effect. Consequently, amphetamines are rarely prescribed today for weight
control.
Using any type of amphetamines for an extended period of time is
followed by “crashing”—withdrawal symptoms of fatigue, deep sleep, intense
mental depression, and increased appetite. This is another example of a drug
rebound effect. Users also become psychologically dependent on the drug for the
euphoric state, or “rush,” that it produces, especially when injected. Benzedrine
and dexedrine are prescription
amphetamines. Methamphetamine, also known as meth, is an illegal
drug that can be easily manufactured in home or street laboratories. Providing
an intense high that is longer-lasting and less expensive than cocaine, meth
usage has spread from the western
A more concentrated form of cocaine, called crack, is
smoked rather than inhaled. Prolonged use of amphetamines or cocaine can result
in stimulant-induced psychosis, also called amphetamine psychosis or
cocaine psychosis. Schizophrenialike symptoms develop, including
auditory hallucinations of voices and bizarrely paranoid ideas.
Psychedelic Drugs
Mescaline, LSD, and Marijuana
The term psychedelic drug was coined in the
1950s to describe a group of drugs that create profound perceptual distortions,
alter mood, and affect thinking. Psychedelic literally means “mind
manifesting” (Tart, 1990).
Mescaline and LSD
Naturally occurring psychedelic drugs have been used
for thousands of years. Mescaline, which is derived from the peyote
cactus, has been used for centuries in the religious ceremonies of Mexican
Indians. Another psychedelic drug, called psilocybin, is derived from Psilocybe
mushrooms, sometimes called magic mushrooms. Psilocybin has been used since
500 B.C. in religious rites in
In contrast to these naturally occurring psychedelics,
LSD (lysergic acid diethylamide) is a powerful psychedelic drug
that was first synthesized in the late 1930s. LSD is far more potent than mescaline
or psilocybin. Just 25 micrograms, or one-millionth of
an ounce, of LSD can produce profound psychological effects with relatively few
physiological changes. LSD and psilocybin are very similar chemically to the
neurotransmitter serotonin, which is involved in regulating moods and
sensations. LSD and psilocybin mimic serotonin in the brain, stimulating
serotonin receptor sites (Aghajanian, 1994). The effects of a psychedelic
experience vary greatly, depending on an individual’s personality, current emotional
state, surroundings, and the other people present. A “bad trip” can produce
extreme anxiety, panic, and even psychotic episodes. Tolerance to psychedelic
drugs may occur after heavy use. However, even heavy users of LSD do not
develop physical dependence, nor do they experience withdrawal symptoms if the
drug is not taken. Adverse reactions to LSD include flashbacks (recurrences of
the drug’s effects), depression, long-term psychological instability, and
prolonged psychotic reactions (Smith & Seymour, 1994). In a psychologically
unstable or susceptible person, even a single dose of LSD can precipitate a
severe psychotic reaction.
Marijuana
The common hemp plant, Cannabis sativa, is used
to make rope and cloth. But when its leaves, stems, flowers, and seeds are
dried and crushed, the mixture is called marijuana, one of the most
widely used illegal drugs. Marijuana’s active ingredient is the chemical tetrahydrocannabinol,
abbreviated THC. When marijuana is smoked, THC reaches the brain in
less than 30 seconds. One potent form of marijuana, ha shish, is made
from the resin of the hemp plant. Hashish is sometimes eaten. To lump marijuana
with the highly psychedelic drugs mescaline and LSD is somewhat misleading. At
high doses, marijuana can sometimes produce sensory distortions that resemble a
mild psychedelic experience. Low-to-moderate doses of THC typically produce a
sense of well-being, mild euphoria, and a dreamy state of relaxation. Senses
become more focused and sensations more vivid. Taste, touch, and smell may be
enhanced; time perception may be altered. A little more than a decade ago,
researchers discovered receptor sites in the brain that are specific for THC.
They’ve also discovered a naturally occurring brain chemical, called anandamide,
that is structurally similar to THC and that binds to the THC receptors in
the brain (Devane & others, 1992). Anandamide appears to be involved in
regulating the transmission of pain signals and may reduce painful sensations
(Calignano & others, 1998;Walker & others, 1999).
Researchers also suspect that anandamide may be involved in mood and memory.
There are very few THC receptors in the brainstem, the
part of the brain that controls such life support functions as breathing and
heartbeat. Thus, high doses of THC do not interfere with respiratory and
cardiac functions as depressants and opiates do.
Most marijuana users do not develop tolerance or
physical dependence. Chronic users of extremely high doses can develop some
tolerance to THC and may experience withdrawal symptoms when its use is discontinued (de Fonseca & others, 1997). Such symptoms
include irritability, restlessness, insomnia, tremors, and decreased appetite. Marijuana
and its active ingredient, THC, have been shown to be helpful in the treatment
of pain, epilepsy, hypertension, nausea, glaucoma, and asthma (Snyder, 1990).
In cancer patients, THC can prevent the nausea and vomiting caused by
chemotherapy. However, the medical use of marijuana is limited and politically
controversial. On the negative side, marijuana interferes with muscle
coordination and perception and may impair driving ability. When marijuana and
alcohol use are combined, marijuana’s effects are intensified—a dangerous
combination for drivers. Marijuana has also been shown to interfere with
learning, memory, and cognitive functioning (Pope & others, 2001).
Designer “Club” Drugs
Ecstasy and the Dissociative Anesthetic
Drugs
Some drugs don’t fit into neat categories. The “club
drugs” are a loose collection of psychoactive drugs that are popular at dance
clubs, parties, and the all-night dance parties called “raves.” Many of these
drugs are designer drugs, meaning that they were synthesized in a
laboratory rather than derived from naturally occurring compounds. In this
section, we’ll take a look at three of the most popular club drugs—ecstasy,
ketamine, and PCP.
The initials MDMA stand for the long chemical
name of the quintessential club drug better known as ecstasy. Other
street names are X, XTC, Adam, and the “love drug.” Ecstasy was developed
by a German pharmaceutical company in 1912 for possible use as an appetite
suppressant, but it was not tested on humans until the 1970s. Structurally
similar to both mescaline and amphetamine,MDMA has
stimulant and psychedelic effects. While the use of other illegal drugs has remained
stable or declined over the past decade, the use of ecstasy has sharply increased
in western Europe and the
The “love drug” effects of ecstasy may result from its unique effect on
serotonin in the brain. Along with causing neurons to release serotonin, MDMA
also blocks serotonin reuptake, amplifying and prolonging serotonin effects
(Braun, 2001). While flooding the brain with serotonin may temporarily enhance
feelings of emotional well-being, there are adverse trade-offs. First, the
“high” of ecstasy is often followed by depression when the drug wears off. More
ominously, animal studies have shown that moderate or heavy use of ecstasy can
lead to long-term, potentially irreversible damage to serotonin nerve endings
in the brain (Ricaurte & others, 1998). Several studies have shown similar
damage to serotonin neurons in the human brain (Croft & others, 2001;
Reneman & others, 2001a). Female users may be more susceptible to brain
damage than male users (see Figure 4.7).
Other studies have shown that serotonin levels become severely depleted
after long-term use, possibly causing the depression that follows when the drug
wears off (Kuhn & Wilson, 2001). Equally troubling are cognitive effects:
In one study, memory and verbal reasoning problems persisted up to a year after
the last dose was taken (Reneman & others, 2001b). Another class of drugs
that make their appearance at dance clubs and raves are the dissociative
anesthetics, including phencyclidine, better known as PCP or angel
dust, and ketamine (street name Special K). Originally
developed to serve as general anesthetics for surgery in the late 1950s, both
PCP and ketamine deaden pain and, at high doses, can induce a stupor or coma.
Because of their psychological effects, these drugs were largely abandoned for
general surgical use in humans.
Rather than producing actual hallucinations, PCP and ketamine produce marked
feelings of dissociation and depersonalization. Feelings of detachment from
reality—including distortions of space, time, and body image—are common. Generally,
the effects of PCP are more intense and of a longer duration than those of
ketamine.
PCP can be eaten, snorted, or injected, but it is most often smoked or
sprinkled on tobacco or marijuana. The effects are unpredictable, and a PCP
trip can last for several days. Some users of PCP report feelings of
invulnerability and exaggerated strength. PCP users can become severely
disoriented, violent, aggressive, or suicidal. High doses of PCP can cause
hyperthermia, convulsions, and death. PCP affects levels of the
neurotransmitter glutamate, indirectly stimulating the release of
dopamine in the brain. Thus, PCP is highly addictive. Memory problems and
depression are common effects of long-term use.