Hello, I'm Kenna. I'm Koelle and welcome back to diagnosing a killer of the mental breakdown
The mental breakdown
Mindel breakdown
Wish they could have seen your face
So we're back today with another mental breakdown for you all I have something a little
different today it's not a typical mental breakdown like we do we usually pinpoint a specific mental disorder this doesn't have really much to do with mental disorders but it does have a lot to do with how drugs affect the brain and the body
So I decided to research the top 10 most dangerous drugs in the United States so these are all United States statistics and we're gonna count down from 10 to 1.
You know we like a good countdown. Oh love a good countdown.
Coming into the top one of the top 10.
So we're just gonna go ahead and get right on into it. A lot of this I will say is I don't want to say common knowledge but you might know a lot of the things that I'm gonna talk about.
So we're gonna get into it and we're just gonna act like nobody knows anything about drugs at all.
Okay, we're all straight edge. We've never used drugs before.
Okay, okay so number 10 on our countdown is diazepam more commonly referred to as benzo diazepines or benzos which is the street name I guess.
That's the cool name.
Yeah and brand names for this drug range from I think it's distat diazepam intensil and valium. Valium is the most I think common of those.
Other types of the drug that are prescribed are known as Xanax, Kalanipin, Ativan, Resturil, and Halicin and Liberia.
Liberia? Where are you from? I can't understand.
So all these words that we probably have heard before.
Those are all like the brand names, bunch of different but they're all the same. They're all opioid.
This drug is one of the most commonly prescribed in the US and it's typically used to treat anxiety disorders, panic attacks, and even seizures because it actually has a calming effect on the brain for people that need to have it.
It's like a chemical imbalance. If they're prescribed this it's for a reason. It's not gonna calm an effect for everybody that takes it.
So benzos are a group of psychoactive drugs that can change an individual's mental state affecting the way the brain and the nervous system work.
These drugs are also depressants so they're used to slow down the activity in the central nervous system, therefore reducing feelings of uneasiness and tension.
Okay. You would see how someone would maybe abuse these drugs because it gives them a calming sensation or like a downer or whatever.
Exactly. But then that's where it becomes dangerous and scary because let's say I'm prescribed this for a reason and I am expressing to you how, oh wow, it makes me feel so good, like it makes me calm, but you don't need it.
So when you take it, it might have an alternative effect on you and even though it works for me, it might not do the same thing to someone else.
Which is why it's really important to not take anybody else's prescriptions, kids.
Never done that.
Unfortunately, long-term use of the drugs can have negative effects on the brain and can actually become pretty harmful of abuse, like we just said.
Taking these drugs in larger doses than prescribed or recreationally using them can cause mental confusion, memory issues, permanent brain changes, and even an increased risk of dementia and Alzheimer's.
What?
Yeah. Because it messes with the white matter in your brain.
Oh.
We'll get into that later.
This drug can also quickly become addictive if abused. When abused, this drug tranquilizes and sedates the brain and increases the amount of gamma, amyobutric acid, or GABA in the brain.
Good job.
Thank you.
So GABA is a chemical messenger in the brain that blocks certain chemicals and slows down nerve impulses, again, therefore making you calm.
Excess use of these drugs can lead to memory challenges, decreased emotional regulation, impulsive behavior, labored... Jesus, labored...
Labored.
Impulsive behavior, labored breathing, etc.
As the brain becomes used to the increased levels of GABA produced by the drug, it actually stops producing the GABA on its own.
So when this happens, the user begins to feel more anxious, stressed, and fearful than when they did before taking the drug, encouraging them to take more.
Oh my gosh.
It literally rewires your brain.
That is scary.
It is scary.
This can actually trigger an elevated heart rate, insomnia, panic attacks, paranoia, mood swings, and even hallucinations.
Yeah, that sounds like a great train to be on.
Just give me some of those.
Seriously.
No.
High doses of this drug consumed over a long period of time can also cause brain damage similar to that caused by alcoholism.
These symptoms can include memory loss, difficulty completing familiar tasks, poor judgment, loss of inhibition, and difficulty processing new information.
So it literally gives you short-term memory loss if you abuse this drug.
That's crazy.
Or it can.
All in all, this drug is super common again for prescription, and it will work for people to which it's prescribed for, but recreational use is just not a good idea, especially long-term.
Coming in at number nine.
How was it?
You may have heard this one before.
It is called hydrocodone.
Hydrocodone is an opioid, similarly to the last one, that is used to treat pain and also serves as a cough suppressant, which I did not know.
I didn't know that.
I did not know that.
It's usually given as the combination, I also didn't know this, of acetaminophen, which is Tylenol.
So it's a pill that has acetaminophen and hydrocodone, or ibuprofen and hydrocodone.
So it's a combination of a painkiller and a cough suppressant.
Interesting.
I don't know.
So I guess you would maybe be prescribed that then if you had the flu or something, essentially.
Yes, you could.
Like if you have body aches and pains, also if you have a really nasty cough.
Yes, it's also prescribed for pain severe enough to require an opioid, and it's in combination with homotrophine methyl bromine to relieve the cough.
That's what the drug is that relieves the cough.
Interesting.
See, I knew about the pain relief, but cough suppressant.
Well, when you think of someone being prescribed hydrocodone, it's usually after a dental procedure or a surgery or something traumatic, injury-wise.
The effects of hydrocodone are similar to those of morphine and heroin, because all three drugs interact with the same part of the brain.
Hmm.
Hydrocodone also interacts with the brain's reward system, which reinforces continued use by allowing the body to adjust to its presence, and in short time, come to depend on it, similarly to number 10.
Long term addiction to hydrocodone...
Hydrocodone.
Are you itchy?
Do you experience itch?
Long term addiction to hydrocodone can lead to severe health consequences, especially because, over time, the drug affects the user's ability to feel pain, and therefore, they don't know that they're as ill as they are, and many times, individuals will not become aware that they have these health issues until they're in detox.
So they could have a serious illness or injury, and the drug will just mask it, and they won't even be able to feel it.
Like, their kidneys could be giving out, or like, well, because your body, you know, your kidneys, you know, everybody knows, I think, that your kidneys and your liver process, all that stuff, so if there was damage done to any of those organs, you might not even know.
Well, if you have a kidney infection or something because of it, you won't even know, because it's killing the pain.
That's so scary.
This drug also has many negative effects on other parts of the body, including gastrointestinal problems. This is a little yucky, just as a warning.
Since the drug causes constipation, there's actually risk of hemorrhoids, fecal, and paction, or even rectal prolapse from taking it over time.
That's so funny. I can't even imagine.
That reminds me of this movie called Spun, and they do like a butt ton of heroin. No, I shouldn't say butt ton of heroin if I'm talking about poop.
But they do a bunch of heroin, I guess it is, and, yeah, one is her name, Mina Savari, and she's like, sitting on the toilet for like 20 minutes, and she's just trying, and then it's just like this little tiny deer turd, like, you know, that's it.
That's all you get. That's scary to think that you could be all blocked up like that.
And then it goes into your stomach, like, it grows, like it can push back out.
That's the reaction. That's exactly what that is.
This drug can also cause respiratory damage if not used responsibly.
Use of the drug decreases the user's breathing and, in turn, their oxygen intake.
This can be, of course, detrimental to various organs, especially the brain.
This can also increase the risk of sudden death for individuals who suffer from sleep apnea or lung disease.
I think I have sleep apnea.
I constantly wake myself up like, and you know dad has it.
Yeah, I used to get it all the time when I was pregnant, but it's very common in pregnant women.
People who are bruise hydro-
Bruise hydro-conin.
People who are suddenly like a sim.
Those two, Brune, Hina, Conan.
Conan.
People who abuse hydrocodone by crushing and snorting it also run the risk of serious lung damage.
Another system that can be damaged by hydrocodone use is the endocrine system.
The use of this drug decreases hormone levels in the body, such as estrogen or testosterone, of course,
which can lead to infertility in both men and women.
Holy shit.
I was surprised to read that. I was like, what?
Damn.
Low hormone levels can also lead to depression, anxiety, chronic fatigue syndrome, osteoporosis due to loss of muscle mass,
and increased risk of bone fractures.
A study even found that hormone levels in women addicted to hydrocodone were between 30 and 70% lower in estrogen levels than the average.
Isn't that wild?
Just for what is wild?
I mean, I understand that people that get addicted can't help it, you know, if it becomes a psychosis of some kind.
Well, it's scary because I mean, people get prescribed this all the time, you know, for pain.
That is absolutely creepy.
Significant abuse of hydrocodone can also alter how chemicals are released and absorbed in the brain,
especially mood-regulating neurotransmitters such as serotonin and dopamine.
Consuming high doses of hydrocodone for long periods of time can cause large doses of these chemicals to flood the brain,
and over time this will change the structures associated with emotional control, rational thinking, memory, and learning.
So your brain now can't produce those happy chemicals on its own, so you need more of the drug to fill that.
Losing a limb is also a possibility with abuse of hydrocodone due to the loss of blood flow that occurs during use.
Because of the oxygen intake or something?
It slows down everything so blood doesn't move and regulate as much.
Lastly, abuse of this drug comes along with a high risk of liver damage or failure due to the combination with painkillers, of course.
That is number nine.
God, that is a lot.
Moving down to number eight.
Okay, so it's odd that this is on here.
Methadone.
Yeah, why is that odd that that's on there?
Because that's used to eliminate withdrawal symptoms from opioids, but it's also an opioid in itself, so I'll explain a little more about it.
People get addicted to that. It's almost, I don't know if you have it on there, but like Narcam, too.
No, it's not, but yes, it is. It's not on here, but yes, I know what you're saying.
So if you don't know what methadone is, it's a synthetic opioid agonist that is used to eliminate withdrawal symptoms
and reduce drug cravings by acting on opioid receptors in the brain.
This is the same receptor as that other opioids, such as heroin, morphine, and medications, activate.
This being said, although it's used to treat withdrawal symptoms, it's landing on number eight on our list due to its danger.
I wonder why.
It's wild, right? It's like, okay, you're overdosing.
No, I'm being sarcastic.
I know. I'm like, it's okay, you're overdosing. Let me go ahead and give you this drug that you're just going to continue to abuse.
Yeah.
And since it's, I mean, a legal prescription, it's easier to obtain.
The doctor said I could have it, right?
Long-term use of methadone can lead to cardiovascular issues, often as a result of injecting methadone and potentially collapsed veins,
respiratory issues as a result of chronically reduced respiration rates, menstrual cycle changes in women or sexual dysfunction in men,
issues with judgment, a tendency to engage in risky behaviors and lack of personal hygiene,
the development of physical dependence, of course, and the development of an opioid use disorder.
So I'm not going to get too far into that one because it's pretty much the same thing as what we just talked about.
Yeah.
The symptoms and stuff of abuse.
Now we're going on number seven.
Number seven.
Morphine.
Also used in hospitals everywhere.
Like many of the drugs on this list, morphine...
Morphine.
Morphine hammer.
Morphine.
That's all I'm going to see.
Morphine.
Can I get morepine, please?
I have a prescription for morepine.
Oh, it's good.
Morphine, like many of the drugs on this list, is an opioid derived from the opium poppy plant, indigenous to Southeast Asia.
Just a fun fact.
The effects of morphine include an absence of pain, deep relaxation, and a dream-like state of euphoria.
Morphine is also used as anesthesia associated with surgery or pain management in terminal patients.
It's actually typically prescribed for cancer patients that are terminal.
Some doctors may also prescribe it for short-term pain following an injury.
This can be prescribed and administered via IV, injection, or even in pill form, which I did not know.
You could take morphine in a pill.
Really?
Yeah, I didn't know that.
When I think of morphine, I think of a pill.
I think of an IV when I think of morphine.
Morphine works by binding to the opioid receptors in the brain, thereby blocking signals from the nervous system, similarly to hydrocodone.
Pappies, yes.
Pappies.
From Wizard of Oz?
Yeah, my precious.
Didn't she say my precious, too?
No, you're thinking of gollum.
No, I know he says that, but she says, like, I'll get you my precious.
Pretty.
Oh, my precious.
My pretty.
What she says.
Okay, so this is interesting.
And as little as one month of daily usage, morphine can cause significant effects on the brain, including reduced neuroplasticity, psychomotor impairment, decreased gray matter volume in the amygdala, diminished reflex response, disrupted brain synapse causing impaired memory, reduced respiration and heart rates due to changes in the neural activity in the brain stem, and interference with the brain's chemical messenger production, distribution, and reabsorption.
Like, in one month of daily use, you can, like, get, like, fucked up.
It's so hard because, like, I'm, like, legalized marijuana, legalized most all of the things, honestly.
I mean, the answer Dan's doing quite well.
People are gonna do what they're gonna do, and I think that it's a waste of taxpayer money to have people put it, put away because of drug abuse or drug abuse.
Yeah, agreed.
Me personally, I can't hear what you're saying and be like, that sounds like fun.
Literally, though.
I can't.
I can't listen to that and be like, wow, that sounds like, but that would be cool for a weekend.
That's not what people do, though.
They graduate from little things to little things, and then they hang out with people, and then they're like, oh, try this drug.
He's like, look, I just did it.
I'm fine.
You know, and they're like, all right, fuck it, like once.
Right.
I mean, I've never been there, but, you know, it's like how it works.
Or like you said, I mean, a lot of the times people get prescribed this, and then they go down a deep dark hole, and a lot of the times when people do get prescribed things like this for pain management,
they don't have a lot of other things to do.
Yeah.
Usually if it is a traumatic injury or something like that, they're in a bed where they're recovering and they get depressed, and then it kind of makes all the depressive go away, too.
At the same time, it relieves your pain as well. I can see how someone just gets stuck in a cycle of just thinking that they constantly need it.
Me personally, I'm terrified of pain.
Oh, yeah.
I am terrified of pain.
Pain or pain killers.
Pain.
Like, in general, I do not like to feel pain.
I don't like to feel weak.
And so when I had my wisdom teeth taken out and they were giving me Vicodin or whatever it was, it was it then?
I was definitely in the hospital. I was taking Vicodin.
Some sort of, yeah.
And I remember taking more than was prescribed to me because I was afraid to feel the pain.
Okay, that's so odd that you say that because I'm the exact opposite.
Really?
I'm like, I will not take pain medication unless I absolutely have to.
I'm that way now.
I'll have a headache for like three days before I'll take it.
I'm the same way now.
I'm a pro-fantasy.
I used to, but that's when it started becoming scary for me was like, I knew I wasn't doing something the right way.
I knew I was doing it because I was afraid to feel that pain.
And, you know, I, although I've gone through some traumas in my life, I have never thought of using medication like that to get rid of that.
But it did feel good in the moment.
And I was like, oh no.
No, yeah.
And that's what I'm afraid of, I think.
Yeah.
Like, mom and I are similar in this.
Like when I had my, I had like a hip surgery like a couple of years ago and they prescribed me tramadol and I took it for like three days and then that was it.
And mom does the same thing.
If there's any narcotic that she gets prescribed, she takes it for the first like couple days and then she like throws it out.
Yeah.
She'll, you know, dispose of it properly.
Obviously.
But yeah, I think I'm more afraid of the adverse side effects than I am of the pain.
Like I'd rather have the pain.
Yeah.
You know, it's funny that we're opposite like that.
Now I won't take a, I won't take Tylenol unless I absolutely have to.
I think I took Tylenol two days ago.
I had a really massive headache for like 12 hours straight.
And I was like, all right, fine.
I'll take one, you know, or two or whatever.
That's what I was just saying earlier.
I'm sure the listeners have noticed that I frequently clear my throat and I try to cut it out every time we record.
But sometimes I can't because then it cuts out like important information.
However, I'm prescribed allergy medication that I just simply don't take.
I actually took an allergy pill before we started recording.
And I feel like I sound a little better.
I know I usually sound congested.
I just, it's not bad enough for me to think like, oh, I better take this.
Right.
Well, it's just not in the forefront of your mind.
Yeah.
There's other things to do.
So it kind of distracts you from that.
And then you're like, oh crap, I didn't even take it.
By the way.
Yeah.
All right.
Back to the mental breakdown.
That's enough about us.
So similarly to hydrocodone, morphine has a profound effect on the brain's reward system and causes the brain to release a flood of those feel good chemicals that I mentioned earlier.
And once addicted to morphine, the user will experience extremely harsh withdrawal symptoms.
So after that month of daily use, what's all symptoms are a given guaranteed.
These include nausea, vomiting, stomach cramps, chills, excessive yawning, which I thought was interesting.
That is interesting.
Dizziness, muscle aches, rapid breathing, et cetera.
Especially because we don't know where yon's come from, apparently.
According to science.
So morphine addiction is not a guarantee of abuse, but when it does happen, it can be deadly.
Hmm.
Number six.
And the least.
This is oxycodone.
So not hydrocodone.
Not oxycodone.
Oxy.
Number six on our list, which is very similar to hydrocodone, is oxycodone as it is prescribed for serious pain, dental surgery, sports injuries and cancer.
The most common brands of this drug are OxyContin, Perkocet, and Vicodin.
Sometimes people refer to this drug as Happy Pills.
Hillbilly heroin, which is fucking hilarious.
That is awful.
I love that.
O-C-Oxy-Perks or Vikes.
I love shortening words.
That's like one of my favorite.
Perk's are like, what is your volume?
It's like one of the first episodes we ever did.
And you were like, soup's cash.
Soup's cash.
So good.
Soup's cash.
Forget about soup's cash.
Most of the dangers that come along with oxycodone are the same of hydrocodone, so I'm not going to repeat all those because I already said them.
But I do believe that this one's higher on the list due to the simple fact that it's prescribed more often than hydrocodone.
But they have this very similar effect.
A few other things that weren't listed as symptoms of hydrocodone abuse but are for oxycodone are low blood pressure, decreased alertness, and memory loss.
So interesting.
Number five.
This is Alprazolam.
Alprazolam?
Yeah.
It's Xanax.
Oh, okay.
That's the drug name of the drug.
I would have no idea.
So that's the brand name Xanax.
The name of the drug is Alprazolam.
And this is another opioid, actually, I think like six of ten are opioids on this list, which is crazy.
Yeah, I mean, it's literally called a crisis for a reason.
Yeah.
There's so much.
Again, this is very similar to the first drug that we talked about, Diazepam.
So I'm not going to repeat all of the effects.
The same thing goes for Xanax though, as it does for oxycodone.
I just believe it's frequently prescribed more than the other one, so that's higher on the list.
Number four.
That was really quick.
Now we're going away from the opioids, and we're going straight into meth and pedamine.
Yes!
Meth.
Yeah, stop.
Now we've gotten to the first drug on the list that is not commonly prescribed to patients.
Oh, is it actually methamphetamines?
Yeah.
Oh, okay.
But it's strictly for recreational use.
I'm talking like meth, like not methamphetamines as a whole, like meth and pedamine.
Which?
The meth.
The meth, yeah, crystal.
Crystal.
Like my middle name.
You know, people say like, oh, that's my middle name.
This is actually my middle name.
No, I don't know that.
Meth and pedamine is my middle name.
I'm just kidding.
Yeah, like, dangerous, my middle name.
Oh.
People say things like that.
Yeah.
My name, middle name is crystal.
But it's not still the same, so it's okay.
Why am I like bragging about that?
I don't know.
Crystal meth.
Kana, crystal meth.
As is the case with many drugs, tolerance to meth's pleasurable effects develops when
it's taken repeatedly, encouraging its users to continuously abuse the drug and develop
an addiction.
This will also encourage users to switch the method of how they get the drug into their
system.
Because I didn't know this, but of course, I mean, I know this, that, you know, people
can smoke, inject, and snort meth.
They all do.
But they switch it because if they snort, snort, snort, the effect isn't as strong anymore,
and then when they shoot it, it is.
Yeah.
I didn't know that.
That's odd.
That's why people shove drugs up their butts, too.
Okay.
Moving forward.
Chronic meth users will develop difficulty feeling any pleasure other than when using
the drug, fueling further abuse.
An addiction to being, addiction to being addicted.
In addition to being addicted to meth, people who use it experience symptoms such as significant
anxiety, confusion, insomnia, mood disturbances, and violent behavior.
They may also display a number of psychotic features, including paranoia, visual and auditory
hallucinations, and delusions, most commonly being like insects crawling under the skin.
You know, they have like people that abuse meth and vitamins have usually have sores
and stuff.
Right, they usually pick and stuff, because they, yeah.
Psychotic symptoms can sometimes last for months or even years after a person has quit
meth and stress has been shown to precipitate spontaneous recurrence of psychosis in past
users.
So you can be clean from meth for almost a year and still experience those psychotic
symptoms.
It's really scary.
Like the itchiness and stuff?
Once off the drugs, symptoms of withdrawal from the drug include depression, anxiety,
fatigue, and of course, an intense craving for the drug.
In addition to this, neuroimaging studies have demonstrated alterations in the activity
of the dopamine system that are associated with reduced motor speed and impaired verbal
learning.
Studies in chronic users have also revealed several structural and functional changes in
area of the brain associated with memory and emotion, which may account for many of
the emotional and cognitive problems observed in these individuals.
Research in primate models have found that meth alters brain structures involved in decision
making and impairs the ability to suppress habitual behaviors that have become useless
or counterproductive.
The two effects were correlated, suggesting that the structural change underlies the decline
in mental flexibility.
So chronic use of this like really messes up your brain for the long run, which is really
sad.
That is sad.
These changes in brain structure and function could explain why meth addiction is so hard
to treat and the relapse rate is actually really high.
Well, if you're already experiencing the symptoms and you're clean and sober, it's like, might
as well just fucking do it.
I mean, I don't know.
Or it might help.
It might help with the symptoms.
Yeah, exactly.
Number three.
Cocaine.
Cocaine is a stimulant that is very common in the United States and is extremely dangerous
to the brain, especially the mental health.
Both free-base cocaine, which is commonly referred to as crack and powdered cocaine, can cause
long-term damage to mental health, which appears in the form of mood or emotional disturbances.
Because the drug directly interferes with dopamine being reabsorbed by neurons, one
of the symptoms of the come down is serious depression.
If the brain does not reach its original equilibrium, then a person who has struggled
with cocaine abuse may require ongoing mental health treatment.
Like even after there's like off of it?
Yes.
This is actually the one that correlates most with mental illness.
You can like permanently make yourself mentally ill from abusing cocaine.
If you didn't have it before, you can have it after.
Wow.
That's literally mind-blowing.
Other serious long-term changes to mood and mental health include auditory hallucinations,
restlessness, paranoia, and psychosis.
Okay, so you remember when we talked about a couple of mental breakdowns ago, how people
have a pre-... they're predisposed to developing a mental illness and some people aren't, which
is why two people can go to the same war and only one will come back with PTSD?
Same thing with cocaine.
People who have increased potential to develop psychosis or schizophrenia are more likely
to trigger this condition if they binge cocaine.
So it might be hereditary or something, but it might not show any signs of it until after
you use coke?
Yes.
Similarly to... it's called epigenetics.
It's a really like extremely interesting study, but it shows like this person is predisposed
to developing, let's say schizophrenia and then an environmental trauma will happen to
them and then that will push them over the edge to develop... this is the trauma that
cocaine is.
Wow, interesting.
That is incredible.
Tell me you learned something on the podcast.
This drug also increases stress hormones like cortisol in the brain, which can in turn raise
blood pressure permanently damaging the cardiovascular system.
I'm sure we've all seen someone that is addicted to cocaine do usually have like a beat red
face or something because their blood pressure is so high.
Interesting.
If the user does not happen to develop psychosis or paranoia, they could develop anxiety, panic
disorders or problems with aggression or violence.
One of the most serious long term effects from cocaine abuse is damage to the cardiovascular
system.
This can lead to damage to many other organ systems, including the brain.
If the linings of the veins and arteries are damaged, it can lead to chronic headaches
as blood flow to the brain becomes restricted.
This damage can also cause blood clots, which can lead to a stroke and the drug can also
cause seizures either during binging or chronic abuse or cause a seizure disorder to develop,
which requires long term treatment.
That is incredible to me.
I feel like I know so many people that just like recreationally use coke every once in
a while and you're going to have a stroke.
I mean, you're going to have what?
Chronic headaches?
Yeah, it's scary.
And you don't realize.
I mean, this is such a party drug if you will.
You don't realize how fucking scary it is.
Well, and I think because it doesn't, you feel like the effects of cocaine isn't that
long lasting.
So you think you're in the clear.
Like it's like not to compare cocaine with weed because I feel like you could, whatever,
that's a different story.
That's a different topic.
But I feel like people think that the high that you get isn't long term, so the effects
wouldn't be long term.
Yeah.
No, it's actually quite the contrary.
That is incredible.
People who struggle with cocaine addiction also show reduced levels of glucose metabolism
in many areas of the brain, suggesting that neurons underperform or begin to die.
This is so interesting.
Prolonged use of cocaine can actually speed up the process of losing healthy brain tissues
and can even cause the cells to begin to cannibalize themselves.
Your brain will literally eat itself if you abuse cocaine for long enough.
Oh wait, like so how would you know?
Is it like memory loss?
Yeah, well that's one of that.
White matter starts to deteriorate.
Similarly to Parkinson's disease or dementia Alzheimer's is because that white matter is
fading and it's usually due to old age, but this is like expediting the process.
Oh my God.
Yeah.
Moving on to number two.
Number two.
Go to number two.
Number two is heroin.
Heroin, heroin.
Heroin.
Another opioid on the list, heroin is extremely dangerous and highly addictive.
When used heroin stops the brain from producing its own opioids, making it more difficult
to fight the pain on the user's own, encouraging more drug use and leading to addiction.
Once your brain becomes physically dependent on the drug, withdrawal symptoms are a guarantee,
similarly to morphine, making it much more dangerous to come off of the drug.
Long-term use of heroin can severely impair the brain, allowing harmful proteins to build
up.
Use can also inflame the brain and cause structural damage, similarly to those with Alzheimer's
disease.
When this happens, the user can experience things like mental decline, confusion, personality
changes, lack of restraint, depression, nervousness, paranoia, and memory loss.
A drug can make your personality change.
It's just so interesting, but it's so scary to know.
And it's often that you use it once in your hopes.
Yeah, exactly.
Abuse of this drug also causes the white matter in the brain to be destroyed, which can negatively
impact the user's ability to reason and make decisions.
It makes it much harder to regulate behavior and deal with stress.
Abusers can also expect to experience reduced sex hormones as a result of use, causing depression,
chronic fatigue, osteoporosis, and loss of muscle mass.
Hypogonadism, or failure of the tessis in men and ovaries in women, is another side-effect
of chronic misuse.
Lastly, heroin abuse can cause respiratory suppression, which can decrease the amount
of oxygen to the brain, disruption of the balance of neurotransmitters by again flooding
the brain with that dopamine, and altering the vascular structure of the brain, which
can lead to stroke, aneurysms, and other cerebrovascular changes that damage the brain.
I feel like when people overdose on heroin, it's very common and quite often that they
stop breathing when they're sleeping or they vomit when they're asleep because their breathing
is so shallow.
Right.
It's so scary.
Yeah, even if you were to aspirate on your own vomit because you can't expel anything,
you can't get that deep breath.
I know.
It makes me feel like I need to take a deep breath just thinking about it.
Cluster foam again.
It's like climbing through a cave.
All right.
Let's get down to number one, most dangerous drug.
What do you think it is?
Most dangerous drug.
Oh, I don't know.
There's some money.
Is it acid?
No, I don't want to.
No, I'm kidding.
I'm sure it's not weed.
It's not acid.
It's not LSD.
It's not PCP?
No.
It's...
But what have we been talking about this whole time?
What types of drugs?
Opioids?
Okay, so...
You already did heroin.
You already did meth.
Fentanyl.
Oh, fentanyl.
See, you don't even think about fentanyl.
Yeah, fentanyl is...
Oh, don't worry.
It's also used in hospitals.
Oh, don't worry.
It's prescribed by a doctor.
Literally.
I love how pharmaceutical companies are just like, yeah, we're going to take this thing
that is illegal and we're going to make it legal and we're going to deal to people.
We're going to make it legal for us.
So it's no surprise that this monster comes in at number one most dangerous drug in the
United States as it is a hundred times more potent than morphine.
Fentanyl is extremely legal for recreational use in the US due to its high death rate,
but somehow it's still allowed to be prescribed in very specific circumstances in medicine.
Just like other opioids, fentanyl works by binding to the opioid receptors in the brain
and floods it with dopamine, like we've talked about.
The effects are very similar to heroin, but much more powerful.
In addition to euphoria and relaxation, other side effects of the drug can include nausea,
drowning, drowningness, drowsiness, that's what I meant to say.
Drowning yourself.
Don't do it in a pool.
Don't do it.
Sedation, confusion, respiratory depression, or arrest, coma, and death.
Due to the powerful nature of the drug, when it binds to the opioid receptors of the brain,
everything slows down, including breathing and in turn, oxygen intake.
What?
Don't get a pool.
Don't just buy a pool.
This drug can also make impulsive decisions like buying pools.
Like buying pools.
Just drown yourself in it.
It's terrible.
Taking too much of the drug can cause the user to stop breathing altogether, which is
terrifying.
All of the other side effects of this drug are the same as most opioids, however, due
to the potency, withdrawal is much more dangerous than the others, and is likely to result in
terrible symptoms such as restlessness, sweating, irritability, nausea, vomiting, weakness, cramps,
insomnia, and high blood pressure.
It's what?
Why would you ever put yourself in that situation?
Yeah.
I mean, I guess that, I mean, well, again, clearly it's prescribed.
So sometimes you might not have a choice.
Yeah, it's true.
I mean, you're on it for months in the hospital life.
If somebody's trying to save your life, yeah.
Covering from a motorcycle accident or something, and then they just send you off on your merry
way.
So that is my mental breakdown.
I did want to add very quickly at the end, if you or somebody you know is struggling with
addiction, you can call the 24-hour line at 1-800-662-4357, or you can visit the website
at www.samhsa.gov.
So I just wanted to pepper that in there.
Pepper that in.
Yeah, it's really wild, and we definitely want to make it clear that we know that drug
addiction is not something that people choose, and it is an illness.
And I just thought it was super interesting to tackle that and also showcase how it affects
the brain.
And the cocaine thing with mental health was really interesting.
I did not know that before I dove into this.
I can't wait at the next party that I'm at to be like, before you do that cocaine, so
yeah.
Are you predisposed to a mental illness?
Does mental illness run in your family?
This could trigger an event.
This could trigger your...
To drown yourself.
This could be triggering.
You might buy a pool.
Oh my God.
All right, that's our mental breakdown.
We are going to come back with another case pretty soon, and then of course, back to
back, we know that...
I'm sure it's known by now that we do a case and then a mental breakdown and then a case
and then a breakdown.
Yeah.
Until next time.
Love you.
Bye.