#PsychUp Avenue - Stimulants

 Substance- related disorders - Stimulants

Last week, we mentioned or touched on substance-related disorders and touched on four major groups. This week, we will be focusing on stimulants, the type of stimulants we have and their effects. One should note that some stimulants may seem more harmful than others and other stimulants may seem more addictive than others. With all types of drugs that are taken, there will always be individual differences to the extant of how these drugs affect us based on our unique difference. 

Let's jump straight into it. We already explained that stimulants are drugs and substances that gives a person a sort of high, a boost of energy, alertness or confidence. Large doses of stimulants can cause over-stimulation, causing anxiety, panic, seizures, headaches, stomach cramps, aggression and paranoia. How many of us have stomach cramps or increased heart rate after drinking lots of coffee?

Caffeine is probably the most commonly used drug in the world, which is generally by people to maintain increased levels of alertness or arousal. One of the reasons why caffeine is the most commonly used drug is that it is found in basically every type of product, from weight loss drugs to cosmetics. Though it is considered a safe drug, high dosses of caffeine may result in insomnia, agitation, muscle twitching, nausea and irregular heartbeat. Believe it or not caffeine is as addictive as cocaine. 

Cocaine is also a stimulant and has similar effects as caffeine. People usually snort cocaine, but it can also be ingested by means of injecting it into one's body. side effects of cocaine are increased body temperature or high fever, rapid heart rate or irregular heart rate, high blood pressure, sudden aggression, extreme paranoia and increased risk of a heart attack. An overdose may lead to sudden death by cardiac arrest. 

Most stimulants have withdrawal symptoms when one tries to quit or goes for a long time without taking them. A great example would be that of nicotine, people that are addicted to cigarettes experience withdrawal symptoms when they go for some time without a smoke. 

There are a lot more other substances that are stimulants, but let's hold it here for now.