4. Depressants & Stimulants

Looking back the the student seminar, I'm actually not surprised that most people decided to discuss stimulants rather than depressants. I think this is because depressants are quite common, frequently abused, and stimulants are more likely to be "exciting" and taboo. I remember in highschool that OTC depressants like Vicodin were some of the most abused drugs, not to mention alcohol (which I realize gets a chapter to itself). The Vocodin / Hydrocodone drugs are so commonly abused I remember both teachers and students joking about it alike. When someone broke a leg, or got wisdom teeth pulled, at least they got the good pills.

Stimulants I recall hearing much less of in highschool. I do remember watching the kid next to me blow a line of cocaine in Math class (I assume my school was no worse than the others). The one thing that definitely was abused alot in school was Adderall. This is a drug I have alot of issues with. I almost regret not discussing this in the student seminar (I don't think the text went too in detail with this specific drug). I hate this drug. I have friends that have ADD and ADHD, and I watched many of them get put on this drug, and saw its affects. To the person with ADD, Adderall turns them into a emotionless zombie. Unable to feel or joke, they would effortlessly go through massive amounts of work without being a "distraction" to the class. Watching this zombification made me very angry. This is a useless drug, it shuts kids up, thats why its prescribed... OVERLY prescribed. Its all over. And furthermore, my friends with ADD who were forced to take the drug hated taking it, because they knew it "stole them of their soul" and so I watched them begin instead to sell it to the student population. Adderall when you DON'T have ADD is like cheating on a test. Its virtually speed. Everyone loved to talk about the 'magic drug' that was totally responsible for their loving to cram ten hours of work before the due date. Adderall - Prescribed to cover up and not cure a mental disorder, to zombify young energetic children, and eventually to be sold as student-crack. Great work psychiatrists!

I think I knew most of the information in this module, including all the caffeine information and the various depressants and stimulants. I did learn an awful lot about cocaine history that I found quite interesting. And that sometimes very small amounts of cocaine get into Coca-Cola from the treated leaves! No wonder its the second most understood word in the world (following OK). I think my participation is acceptable this module, I didn't have too much personal information to contribute here.

Words I learned:

• Antihistamine - Drugs that cause CNS depression and treat allergies
• Hyperpyrexia - Elevated body temperature.
• Behavioral Stereotypy - Meaningless repetition of a single activity. (A fancy word for crazy!)
• Adulterated - Contaminating substances are mixed in to dilute drugs.