Depressants are drugs that slow down brain activity and include sedatives, tranquilizers, and hypnotics. They are commonly used to treat anxiety, panic, stress, and sleep disorders. Benzodiazepines are the most commonly prescribed depressants and include drugs like Valium, Xanax, and Klonopin. Depressants can cause side effects like impaired coordination and judgment at lower doses but higher doses can lead to coma and death from overdose. Long term effects include addiction, weight gain, and other health problems. Alcohol is also a depressant that is commonly abused and causes both stimulating and sedative effects by enhancing the neurotransmitter GABA.

1. Depressants
Laviña, Micaela Joy R.

2. What are depressants?
• Depressant are medicines that include sedatives, tranquilizers, and
hypnotics. These drugs can slow brain activity, making them useful for
treating anxiety, panic, acute stress reactions, and sleep disorders.
• Sometimes called “downers,” these drugs come in multicolored
tablets and capsules or in liquid form.
• It comes in multicolored tablets, capsules, powder or in liquid form.
• They can affect concentration and coordination. They slow down the
person’s ability to respond to unexpected situations. In small doses
they can cause a person to feel more relaxed and less inhibited.

3. How are they used?
They can be swallowed, drunk as a beverage, injected, snorted or
inhaled.

4. Facts about depressants
• Alcohol is most widely commonly used depressant.
• Benzodiazepines are the most widely prescribed
depressants.
• Prescription drugs that treat anxiety and insomnia are
depressants too.
• Overdose of these drugs lead to coma and death.
• The majority of depressants drugs carry a risk of
withdrawal symptoms when you stop using them.

5. Effects of depressants
In general, when small to low doses of
depressants are taken, the following
effects may be experienced:
• reduced inhibitions
• enhanced mood
• reduced anxiety
• slowed reaction time
• impaired judgement
• slowed breathing
• increased risk of accident or injury

6. Higher doses can result in:
• impaired judgement and coordination
• vomiting
• irregular or shallow breathing
• blackouts and memory loss
• unconsciousness
• coma
• death

7. Short-term Effects
• Slow brain function
• Slowed pulse and breathing
• Lowered blood pressure
• Poor concentration
• Confusion
• Dizziness
• Slurred speech
• Fever
• Sluggishness
• Visual disturbances
• Lack of coordination
• Depression
• Addiction
Long-term Effects
• Weight gain
• High blood sugar
• Diabetes
• Suicidal thoughts
• Heart problem
• Liver failure
• High body temperature
• Hallucinations
• Panic attack
• Craving
• Coma
• Death

8. Benzodiazepines

9. Generic name:
DIAZEPAM

10. Brand name:
VALIUM

11. Indication:
Valium is indicated for the management of anxiety disorders or for the shortterm relief
of the symptoms of anxiety. Anxiety or tension associated with the stress of everyday
life usually does not require treatment with an anxiolytic.
In acute alcohol withdrawal, Valium may be useful in the symptomatic relief of acute
agitation, tremor, impending or acute delirium tremens and hallucinosis.
Valium is a useful adjunct for the relief of skeletal muscle spasm due to reflex spasm to
local pathology (such as inflammation of the muscles or joints, or secondary to
trauma), spasticity caused by upper motor neuron disorders (such as cerebral palsy
and paraplegia), athetosis, and stiff-man syndrome.
Oral Valium may be used adjunctively in convulsive disorders, although it has not
proved useful as the sole therapy. The effectiveness of Valium in long-term use, that is,
more than 4 months, has not been assessed by systematic clinical studies. The
physician should periodically reassess the usefulness of the drug for the individual
patient.

12. Contraindication:
Valium is contraindicated in patients with a known hypersensitivity to diazepam and,
because of lack of sufficient clinical experience, in pediatric patients under 6 months
of age. Valium is also contraindicated in patients with myasthenia gravis, severe
respiratory insufficiency, severe hepatic insufficiency, and sleep apnea syndrome. It
may be used in patients with open-angle glaucoma who are receiving appropriate
therapy, but is contraindicated in acute narrow-angle glaucoma

13. Half life:
The half-life of Valium is long and on average it takes 10 days for the
drug to be flush from the body.

14. Pharmacokinetics:
Absorption: When administered orally, drug is absorbed through the GI
tract. I.M. administration yields slow and erratic absorption. Drug is well
absorbed rectally and reaches peak plasma levels in 1 1/2 hours.
Distribution: Distributed widely throughout the body. About 85% to 95%
of an administered dose is bound to plasma protein.
Metabolism: Metabolized in the liver to the active metabolite
desmethyldiazepam.
Excretion: Most metabolites of diazepam are excreted in urine, with
only small amounts excreted in feces. Half-life of desmethyldiazepam is
30 to 200 hours. Duration of sedative effect is 3 hours; this may be
prolonged up to 90 hours in elderly patients and in patients with hepatic
or renal dysfunction. Anticonvulsant effect is 30 to 60 minutes after I.V.
administration.

15. Pharmacodynamics:
Anxiolytic and sedative-hypnotic actions: Diazepam depresses the CNS
at the limbic and subcortical levels of the brain. It produces an
antianxiety effect by influencing the effect of the neurotransmitter
gamma-aminobutyric acid on its receptor in the ascending reticular
activating system, which increases inhibition and blocks cortical and
limbic arousal.
Skeletal muscle relaxant action: Exact mechanism is unknown, but drug
may inhibit polysynaptic afferent pathways.
Amnestic action: Exact mechanism of action is unknown.
Anticonvulsant action: Diazepam suppresses the spread of seizure
activity produced by epileptogenic foci in the cortex, thalamus, and
limbic structures by enhancing presynaptic inhibition.

16. • Also known as minor tranquilizers, are most commonly prescribed by
doctors to relieve stress, anxiety and to help people sleep.
• They can also be used to treat alcohol withdrawal and epilepsy.
• Some people use benzodiazepines illegally to get high or to help with
the “come down” effects of stimulants such as amphetamines or
cocaine.

17. Benzodiazepines
diazepam (Valium®)
clonazepam (Klonopin®)
alprazolam (Xanax®)
triazolam (Halcion®)
estazolam (Prosom®)

18. Benzodiazepines are usually swallowed. Some people also inject them.
How are they used?

19. OTHER DRUGS

20. GHB (gamma hydroxybutyrate)

21. GHB (gamma hydroxybutyrate)
• is a depressant, which means it slows down the messages travelling between the brain
and the body.
• GBL (gamma butyrolactone) and 1,4-BD (1,4-butanediol) are chemicals that are closely
related to GHB. Once GBL or 1,4-BD enter the body, they convert to GHB almost
immediately.
• GHB usually comes as a colourless, odourless, bitter or salty liquid, which is usually sold
in small bottles or vials. It can also come as a bright blue liquid known as ‘blue nitro’, and
less commonly as a crystal powder.
• It is commonly referred to as a “club drug” or “date rape” drug. GHB is abused by teens
and young adults at bars, parties, clubs and “raves” (all night dance parties) and is often
placed in alcoholic beverages.

22. KAVA

23. Kava
is a depressant drug, which means it slows down the messages travelling
between the brain and the body. Kava is made from the root or stump of the
kava (Piper methysticum) shrub.
Kava comes in different forms including:
• brownish-coloured drink
• brown powder
• capsules
• extracts
• drops

24. ALCOHOL

25. Alcohol
• Alcohol is a depressant drug, which means it slows down the messages traveling
between the brain and the body.
• It is classified as a Central Nervous System depressant, meaning that it slows
down brain functioning and neural activity.
• It does this by enhancing the effects of the neurotransmitter GABA.
• Alcohol encompasses both stimulating and sedative effects.

26. Thank you!