PSYB65H3 Lecture Notes - Constipation, Headache, Chemical Synapse
Document Summary
Alcoholics take up most beds in psychiatric wards; addiction of drugs = important. Prescription drugs (what"s a prescription drug in one country may not be another country codeine in canada doesn"t need to be prescribed, in us = must be prescribed) Social drugs = don"t have to get from pharmacy (alcohol, nicotine, caffeine) Not produced commercially (ex: marijuana, cocaine, lsd) or if they are produced commercially, it isn"t for their psychoactive effect (airplane glue) Tolerance: w/ most drugs, as you take them repeatedly, you get reduced behavioural effect w/ repeated use of a drug. When you repeatedly take drug, brain somehow compensates for the repeated intake of the drug by somehow changing either sensitivity or the # of receptors that are affected. Tones itself down, comes back to normal levels of functioning even though pre- synaptic cell fires at high rate due to psychostimulant. It"s what goes on post-synaptically that really counts!
