Drugs and the Mind


Book Description

This is a new release of the original 1957 edition.




Mind-Altering Drugs


Book Description

At least one of every three Americans has used an illicit drug. Drugs attract considerable attention in science, legislation, and the media. Nonetheless, many people develop attitudes about drugs and drug users based on limited information. Researchers often find themselves divided into camps based on the drug they study most often, which limits their ability to benefit from important work done on other drugs. As a result, government policies form without a complete understanding of the intoxication experience. What is the nature of intoxication? At first, this question appears to be simple and straightforward, but upon closer inspection, the dichotomous distinctions between everyday awareness and its alternatives grow fuzzy. An in-depth examination of the subjective effects of drugs and the pursuit of altered states soon leads to age-old questions about free will, heredity, environment, and consciousness. Mind-Altering Drugs is the first book to bring together chapters from leading researchers that present diverse, empirically based insights into the subjective experiences of drugs a nd their links to addictive potential. By avoiding simple depictions of psychoactive chemicals and the people who use them, these recognized experts explain how modern research in many fields reveals a complex interaction between people, situations, and substances. Their work demonstrates that only a multitude of approaches can show the nuances of subjective experience, and that each substance may create a different effect with every administration in each user. Simple references to physiological underpinnings or positive reinforcement fail to explain the diverse responses to drugs. However, research has progressed to reveal broad, repeatable evidence that the subjective effects of substances play an important role in our understanding of drug abuse, and so should inform our decisions about policy. This thorough and accessible review of the subjective effects of drugs and the dominant theories behind those effects will provide a wealth of information about the experience of intoxication for lay readers, and a road map to studies in other disciples for student and professional researchers.




Drugs, the Brain, and Behavior


Book Description

Explore the brain and discover the clinical and pharmacological issues surrounding drug abuse and dependence. The authors, research scientists with years of experience in alcohol and drug studies, provide definitions, historic discoveries about the nervous system, and original, eye-catching illustrations to discuss the brain/behavior relationship, basic neuroanatomy, neurophysiology, and the mechanistic actions of mood-altering drugs. You will learn about: • how psychoactive drugs affect cognition, behavior, and emotion • the brain/behavior relationship • the specific effects of major addictive and psychoactive drug groups • new definitions and thinking about abuse and dependence • the medical and forensic consequences of drugs use Drugs, the Brain, and Behavior uses a balance of instruction, illustrations, and tables and formulas that will give you a broad, lasting introduction to this intriguing subject. Whether you're a nurse, chemical dependency counselor, psychologist, or clinician, this book will be a quick reference guide long after the first reading.




Drugs, Addiction, and the Brain


Book Description

Drugs, Addiction, and the Brain explores the molecular, cellular, and neurocircuitry systems in the brain that are responsible for drug addiction. Common neurobiological elements are emphasized that provide novel insights into how the brain mediates the acute rewarding effects of drugs of abuse and how it changes during the transition from initial drug use to compulsive drug use and addiction. The book provides a detailed overview of the pathophysiology of the disease. The information provided will be useful for neuroscientists in the field of addiction, drug abuse treatment providers, and undergraduate and postgraduate students who are interested in learning the diverse effects of drugs of abuse on the brain. - Full-color circuitry diagrams of brain regions implicated in each stage of the addiction cycle - Actual data figures from original sources illustrating key concepts and findings - Introduction to basic neuropharmacology terms and concepts - Introduction to numerous animal models used to study diverse aspects of drug use. - Thorough review of extant work on the neurobiology of addiction




The Addicted Brain


Book Description

"The Addicted Brain" explains clearly and vividly what has been learned about how and why some people become addicted and abuse drugs or other substances, the relatively long-term changes these substances can make in the brain, and the progress being made on treatments.




Sensual Drugs


Book Description

Introduction, sensual drug abuse; The brain, the senses, and pleasure; Action of sensual drugs; Hazards of sensual drugs; Addiction and dependency; Sexual deprivation; Drug abuse among American soldiers in Southeast Asia; Rehabilitation; Mind expansion; Marijuana; Effect of drugs on mental state; Fate of Marijuana in the body; Some information about opiates; Drug use among patients in treatment clinics; Some observable signs and symptoms of drug use; Rehabilitation of sexual functioning as an incentive to stop drug use; US Senate hearings on world drug traffic; US Senate hearings on marijuana and hashish; THC: two animal studies; Cannabis seizures; Mortality rate and drug abuse.




Blaming the Brain


Book Description

In Blaming the Brain Elliott Valenstein exposes the many weaknesses inherent in the scientific arguments supporting the widely accepted theory that biochemical imbalances are the main cause of mental illness. He lays bare the commercial motives of drug companies and their huge stake in expanding their markets. This provocative book will force patients, practitioners, and prescribers alike to rethink the causes of mental illness and the methods by which we treat it.




Memoirs of an Addicted Brain


Book Description

A gripping, ultimately triumphant memoir that's also the most comprehensive and comprehensible study of the neuroscience of addiction written for the general public. FROM THE INTRODUCTION: "We are prone to a cycle of craving what we don't have, finding it, using it up or losing it, and then craving it all the more. This cycle is at the root of all addictions, addictions to drugs, sex, love, cigarettes, soap operas, wealth, and wisdom itself. But why should this be so? Why are we desperate for what we don't have, or can't have, often at great cost to what we do have, thereby risking our peace and contentment, our safety, and even our lives?" The answer, says Dr. Marc Lewis, lies in the structure and function of the human brain. Marc Lewis is a distinguished neuroscientist. And, for many years, he was a drug addict himself, dependent on a series of dangerous substances, from LSD to heroin. His narrative moves back and forth between the often dark, compellingly recounted story of his relationship with drugs and a revelatory analysis of what was going on in his brain. He shows how drugs speak to the brain - which is designed to seek rewards and soothe pain - in its own language. He shows in detail the neural mechanics of a variety of powerful drugs and of the onset of addiction, itself a distortion of normal perception. Dr. Lewis freed himself from addiction and ended up studying it. At the age of 30 he traded in his pharmaceutical supplies for the life of a graduate student, eventually becoming a professor of developmental psychology, and then of neuroscience - his field for the last 12 years. This is the story of his journey, seen from the inside out.




From Chocolate to Morphine


Book Description

More than four million copies sold: the definitive guide to drugs and drug use from “America’s best known doctor” (The New York Times). Cowritten by one of America’s most respected doctors, From Chocolate to Morphine is the authoritative resource covering a wide range of available substances, from coffee to marijuana, antihistamines to psychedelics, steroids to smart drugs, and beyond. Dr. Andrew T. Weil provides the best and most unbiased information available, frankly discussing each drug’s likely effects, precautions for use, and suggested alternatives. Expanded and updated to include such drugs as Oxycontin, Ecstasy, Prozac, and Ephedra, this edition also addresses numerous issues from the growing methamphetamine and opioid epidemics to the push to legalize medical marijuana, and the overuse of drugs for children diagnosed with ADHD. Offering facts rather than advocacy, Weil’s trusted bestseller has become “a classic guide to psychotropic drugs” (U.S. News and World Report).




How to Change Your Mind


Book Description

Now on Netflix as a 4-part documentary series! “Pollan keeps you turning the pages . . . cleareyed and assured.” —New York Times A #1 New York Times Bestseller, New York Times Book Review 10 Best Books of 2018, and New York Times Notable Book A brilliant and brave investigation into the medical and scientific revolution taking place around psychedelic drugs--and the spellbinding story of his own life-changing psychedelic experiences When Michael Pollan set out to research how LSD and psilocybin (the active ingredient in magic mushrooms) are being used to provide relief to people suffering from difficult-to-treat conditions such as depression, addiction and anxiety, he did not intend to write what is undoubtedly his most personal book. But upon discovering how these remarkable substances are improving the lives not only of the mentally ill but also of healthy people coming to grips with the challenges of everyday life, he decided to explore the landscape of the mind in the first person as well as the third. Thus began a singular adventure into various altered states of consciousness, along with a dive deep into both the latest brain science and the thriving underground community of psychedelic therapists. Pollan sifts the historical record to separate the truth about these mysterious drugs from the myths that have surrounded them since the 1960s, when a handful of psychedelic evangelists inadvertently catalyzed a powerful backlash against what was then a promising field of research. A unique and elegant blend of science, memoir, travel writing, history, and medicine, How to Change Your Mind is a triumph of participatory journalism. By turns dazzling and edifying, it is the gripping account of a journey to an exciting and unexpected new frontier in our understanding of the mind, the self, and our place in the world. The true subject of Pollan's "mental travelogue" is not just psychedelic drugs but also the eternal puzzle of human consciousness and how, in a world that offers us both suffering and joy, we can do our best to be fully present and find meaning in our lives.