First Page Preview View Large. Access through your institution. Add or change institution. Save Preferences. Privacy Policy Terms of Use. Access your subscriptions. Free access to newly published articles. Purchase access. Rent article Rent this article from DeepDyve. Access to free article PDF downloads. Save your search. Mixing stimulants and depressants puts the body under immense pressure.
The cardiovascular, respiratory and central nervous systems are put into a frenzy with the simultaneous mixed messages to speed up and slow down. The consequences of this are severe and can result in one or more of the following situations:. While heavy drug users have mixed stimulants and depressants for years, the activity has caught on by more social and episodic users.
A new trend has emerged: mixing stimulants or energy drinks with alcohol. This deadly combination is a popular drink choice at bars and can even be picked up at a gas stations and convenient stores. Alcohol is a depressant, and its interaction with a stimulant is no less dangerous than other narcotic depressants. The appeal behind the combination is that one can pump or liven themselves up with the stimulant and feel less drowsy, depressed or impaired from the alcohol.
In reality, energy drinks combined with alcohol only numb people to how intoxicated they really are, which allows them to believe they can drink more. Mixing drugs is serious drug abuse. They also change the levels of the neurotransmitter dopamine in your brain, which is why a person experiences a sense of reward and pleasure from abuse.
According to NIDA:. Using these drugs for prolonged periods of time can create a sense of paranoia and hostility in users, as well as delusions, insomnia, and radical mood swings. There are both illicit stimulants and those which are prescribed for medical reasons.
The latter is often diverted and used illicitly as well, for their speed-like effect. Commonly abused prescription stimulants which have an amphetamine-effect include:. Stimulants are highly addictive, and for that reason doctors strive to refrain from using them, except when medically necessary.
This places a supreme burden on your heart and respiratory functions. When this happens, the following signs of a stimulant overdose may occur:. Overdose can accelerate rapidly and happen on an acute basis, or occur over time, as explained by MedLine Plus.
In the latter instance, the term is used to describe the cumulative, adverse health effects caused by habitual use. Barbiturates are most known for inducing a sleepy and relaxed state.
They are prescribed for seizures or for use during surgery. Once used heavily for sleep and anxiety, many physicians stray away from these uses due to the potential for overdose. When used frequently, and in large doses, barbiturates form dependence and addiction quickly. Within situations of abuse, barbiturate pills or capsules may be swallowed in excessive amounts, while others choose to inject the drug. Highly addictive, these drugs form intense physical dependencies which can lead to deadly withdrawals, if not supported by a medical detox.
These drugs create a sleep-inducing effects similar to benzos. They are purported to have a lower potential for physical dependence when compared to benzos, as well as less side effects. But, despite this, they can still be abused in a manner which leads to dependence, addiction, withdrawal, and even overdose. But these three classes of medications are not the only drugs which cause CNS depression.
Both alcohol and opioids have massively strong depressant effects. This is referred to as alcohol poisoning, or an overdose from alcohol. The opioid drug class consists of drugs which are naturally derived from opium referred to as opiates and those which seek to mimic the opiate effect. Opioid is a term used to include all drug types.
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