Psychoactive substances facts

Ancient secret

Well, psychoactive substances are not anything new given the fact that they have been used for ages, for the purpose of altering the regular functioning of the brain and the chemical balance, and behavior as well. The substances in question can be divided in two groups, mainly those that are considered to be legal and approved by the majority of health organisations, and on the other hand, those that are treated as illegal. Be it the former or the latter, it is a known fact that they can bring forth the damage to the person’s body in the form of either long term addiction, or partial severe damage to the nervous system, as well as to other vital bodily organs. Another downside is that they can initiate the occurrence of many contagious diseases.

Alongside meditation and hypnosis, which are known to be employed for the purpose of consciousness alteration, numerous medicines are also used for achieving exactly the same ends. And for thousands of years people worldwide have been using numerous drugs in numerous forms, for the purpose of either relaxing the body or as a stimulant, to induce and avert sleep, enhance the sensitiveness of the senses and induce hallucinations.

Psychoactive – the concept

What is also quite often used in this regard are various psychoactive substances that represent those substances that influence the overall behavior of a person, as well as the disposition and most of all, the person’s consciousness. A significant part of this group are not just those illegal substances such as heroin and cocaine, but sedatives, stimulants, alcohol, caffeine, nicotine as well. Important to mention is also the fact that, be it approved or not, substances belonging to both categories affect and bear numerous health related risks. For example, caffeine and nicotine are not regarded as illegal but are nevertheless extremely health damaging. The same could be said of alcohol, which, although it is constantly subjected to various regulations, it remains legal. And if we take an even closer look, we will be quick to conclude that the most dangerous of the three is actually nicotine, which takes away more than 360.000 lives peryear.

Influential factors

A serious cause for concern is, most certainly, the fact that the illegal substance abuse has increased immensely in the recent four decades. To add up to this is also the fact that great many people start taking the substances in question solely for the purpose of experimenting. But, unfortunately, what many are not aware of is that a great number of these substances does cause strong addiction, which is why once people get “hooked” on them, despite their will to stop, they are just not able to do so. Therefore, if you are of a curious nature, stop and think twice, and even trice before you embark on your experimental journey.