Dissociative anesthetic drugs, or dissociative drugs, are a class of hallucinogens that distort one’s sense of time, vision, sound and self. Drugs that fall into this category cause a person to experience hallucinations, sensory deprivation, and may even result in a sense of euphoria. These drugs work by effectively disrupting actions of a brain chemical, glutamate, that plays a major role in emotion, cognition, and perception of pain. Originally developed as surgical anesthetics, these drugs produce mind-altering effects and produce feelings of detachment or dissociation from oneself and the world around.
A complicated illness, substance abuse presents unique threats to women’s health. Though men are traditionally known to have a higher rate of substance abuse, women are just as likely to be addicted and can be more susceptible to drug cravings or relapse. A leading women-only rehab center in Arizona, Sovereign Health of Arizona provides women suffering from drug addiction with scientifically-proven treatment for dissociative drugs abuse and addiction by utilizing cutting-edge and evidence based modalities as well as cognitive and experiential therapies.
Abusing dissociative drugs
In addition to causing their users to have visual and auditory distortions and suffer from a feeling of dissociation, use of dissociative drugs can also lead to memory loss, numbness, physical and psychological distress, and cause changes in sensory perceptions.
Dissociative drugs make users experience a detachment from the reality that surrounds them. For someone who has experienced severe trauma or has an untreated and disturbing mental health disorder, the drugs’ escapist quality is enough to lure the individual into dissociative addiction.
Following are the common types of dissociative drugs:
- Phencyclidine (PCP)
- Ketamine
- Dextromethorphan (DXM)
- Salvia divinorum