Crossword Puzzle: Drug Categories
Drugs of abuse are divided into five categories based on their effect and/or their method of ingestion.
- Stimulants are drugs that cause the central nervous system to become overly active, resulting in physical or mental over-stimulation.
- Other drugs, depressants, have the reverse reaction. They cause the body's physical or mental reactions to slow down. This is not to be confused with causing emotional or psychological depression. Narcotics are depressant drugs that are derived from opium or synthesized (man-made) opium that were originally used to control pain. They were discovered to be so addictive that doctors have looked for other pain control methods that were less addictive. So far, other methods of pain control have continued to be addictive.
- The third category of drugs, hallucinogens, cause an individual to see, hear, or taste things that that are not part of reality or to distort the senses, affecting their sense of reality and self perception.
- Inhalants, those drugs ingested by inhaling them, cause distortions in perception, very serious brain damage, and even death.
- There is also a collection of drugs that cannot be easily categorized. These include steroids and club drugs, among others.
All of these drugs are either physically or psychologically addicting, or dangerous to the body and brain and will be discussed in the sections that follow.
Complete this crossword puzzle using the terms from this section. You may play this game as often as you like.
