PSYCHOPHARMACOLOGY ONLINE COURSE

Learn more about psychology and drugs.

Just as there is no health benefit without potential toxicity, there is no absolute goodness about drugs. However, their enormous health benefits outweigh the drawbacks in individual cases. The history, discovery, manufacture, action, acceptance, and rejection of drugs are the themes of this course

It used to be said that what distinguishes humans from animals is that people take drugs. This old adage is no longer quite true. Rats and monkeys that have been addicted experimentally to some drugs will inject themselves with those drugs to support their addictions. But otherwise the old saying still holds.

The history of drugs is shrouded in the beginnings of the human race. Alcohol was made, drunk, and used to excess as far back as memory and records go. Tobacco (Nicotiana), hemp (Cannabis sativa), opium poppy (Papaver somniferum), and other plants containing drugs have been chewed and smoked almost as long as alcohol, and coffee has been served in the Middle East throughout that area's history.

Lesson Structure

There are 11 lessons in this course:

1. Introduction
   • Scope and nature of drugs; legal and illegal
   • Amphetamine
   • Cocaine
   • Crack
   • LSD
   • Ritalin
   • Steroids
   • How heroin is used
   • Medical consequences of chronic heroin abuse
   • Names used for heroin
2. Effects of drugs on the individual and society
   • Community acceptance
   • Terminology
   • Why people use drugs
   • Addiction; how drugs work in the brain
   • Central nervous system
   • Physiological and psychological effects of drugs
   • Alcohol effects
   • Sedative effects
   • Stimulant effects
   • Hallucinogenics
   • Psychological effects of drugs
3. Legally restricted drugs: Stimulants and narcotics
   • Stimulants
   • Symptoms of abuse
   • How cocaine is abused
   • How does cocaine effect the brain
   • What adverse effects does cocaine have on health
   • Added danger; cocaethylene
   • Treatment options
   • Scope of cocaine abuse
   • Narcotics
   • Abuse symptoms
   • Forms and dangers
   • Designer drugs
   • Ecstacy pill
4. Legally restricted drugs: Hallucinogens and marijuana
   • Effects of hallucinogens
   • Symptoms of abuse
   • LSD
   • Hallucinogen persisting perception disorder
   • Marijuana
   • Effects of marijuana on the brain
   • Symptoms of abuse, forms of marijuana and dangers
   • Phencylidine (PCP)
   • Symptoms of abuse, forms of PCP and dangers
5. Legally restricted drugs: Steroids
   • Steroids
   • Symptoms of abuse, forms of steroids and dangers
6. Legal drugs: Alcohol
   • Symptoms of abuse and dangers with alcohol
   • Alcoholism
   • Staying in control with alcohol
   • Alcohol amnestic syndrome (Korsakoff's syndrome)
   • Treating korsakoff's syndrome)
   • Alcohol and the developing brain
7. Legal drugs: Tobacco, caffeine and solvents
   • Nicotine addiction
   • Effects of nicotine on the circulatory system
   • Caffeine
   • Caffeine addiction
   • Solvents (volitile solvent abuse): symptoms and dangers
8. Prescription and over-the-counter drugs
   • Prescription drugs (Over the counter or OTC)
   • Groups of prescription drugs
   • Misuse of OTC drugs
   • Opioids
   • Treatments for opioid addiction
   • CNS depressants
   • Stimulants
   • Stimulant abuse and treatment for stimulant addiction
9. Sedatives and anti-anxiety drugs
   • Anti anxiety drugs
   • Barbituates
   • Benzodiazepines
   • Depressants
   • Rohypnol
10. Prescription drugs for schizophrenia and affective disorders
    • Schizophrenia
    • Onset of schizophrenia
    • Symptoms of schizophrenia
    • Treatment for schizophrenia
    • Anti psychotic drugs
    • Patient support system
    • Depression
    • Depressive disorders
    • Type of depression
    • Unipolar disorder
    • Bipolar disorder
    • Causes of depression
    • Anti depressants
11. Treatment and preventative education
    • Drug addictionBehavioural and psychosocial treatments for drug addiction
    • Treatments for heroin addiction
    • Behavioural therapies for heroin addiction
    • Detoxification

Each lesson culminates in an assignment which is submitted to the school, marked by the school's tutors and returned to you with any relevant suggestions, comments, and if necessary, extra reading.

Aims

• Discuss the origins and changed in drug use in society;
• Identify patterns of drug-taking behaviour;
• Identify social, psychological and physical consequences of drug-taking on the individual;
• Describe the effects of stimulants and narcotics on the individual;
• Describe the effects of hallucinogens and marijuana on the individual;
• Describe the effects of anabolic steroids on the individual;
• Determine health and behavioural outcomes of alcohol use and mis-use;
• Determine health and behavioural outcomes of nicotine, caffeine and solvent use and misuse;
• Explain the effects of the major categories of OTC drugs and prescription regulations;
• Explain the effects of sedatives and anti-anxiety drugs on the brain and behaviour;
• Explain the effects of different types of anti-psychotic and anti-depressant drugs on the brain and behaviour;
• Describe different methods of treatment and prevention of drug-abuse and to discuss ways of educating the public as to the outcomes of taking drugs.

What You Will Do

• Explain through case studies the difference between drug abuse and drug misuse;
• Explain through examples the difference between recreational and instrumental drug-taking;
• Describe major changes in drug taking behaviour from the nineteenth century to the twentieth century;
• Investigate why some people are more likely than others to engage in drug abuse behaviour;
• Contrast the difference of attitudes to drug taking between cultures;
• Differentiate between drug tolerance and behavioural tolerance;
• Differentiate between physical and psychological drug dependence;
• Describe factors contributing to physiological effects of a drug on the body;
• Learn how psychoactive drugs affect neurotransmitters;
• Consider how personal expectations influence the effects of drug taking;
• Learn how cocaine affects the mind and body;
• List side effects of long and short-term amphetamine use;
• Explain how to treat cocaine and amphetamine users;
• Explain how heroin affects the mind and body;
• Describe how narcotics been used successfully in medicine;
• Describe how opiates affect the brain;
• Discuss the effectiveness of the main approaches to treating heroin abuse;
• Discuss the negative effects regular marijuana use has on quality of life;
• Discuss the use of steroids in sport and drug control of athletes;
• Identify health behavioural, and lifestyle outcomes of alcohol use and misuse;
• Develop a case study of a person being treated with anti-anxiety drugs;
• Consider how anti-psychotic drugs work in the brain;
• Identify the main three types of anti-depressants;
• Identify drugs used to alleviate panic attacks and bipolar disorder;
• Consider dilemmas faced when trying to test out new drugs for schizophrenia;
• Discuss the ‘bio-psychosocial’ approach to treatment of drug abuse;
• Describe the stage theory of treatment and recovery.

Some example course notes -

LSD

LSD was discovered accidentally by a Swiss chemist, Dr Albert Hofmann, in 1943. Hofmann provided samples to psychiatrists for further testing and in the 1950s, the US military and CIA researched the use of LSD as a “truth drug”, used to brainwash prisoners or induce them to talk. However, the military interest in the drug began to reduce and the psychiatric community began to research the therapeutic capabilities of the drug for epileptic, psychotic and depressed patients.

In the 1950s and 60s, non-therapeutic use of LSD increased. Research study participants, physicians and psychiatrists distributed the drug amongst their friends. After 1962, LSD was produced and distributed to health professionals on a larger scale. It was not difficult to produce. A black market for LSD emerged. In 1966 the possession and manufacture of LSD was made illegal in America, but illegal manufacturing continued. The use of LSD declined in the 1970s and 80s, but it made a resurgence in the 1990s with the rave subculture.

Ritalin

This drug is often prescribed to treat attention deficit disorder. It is becoming an illicit street drug as well. Drug users looking for a high will crush Ritalin into a powder and snort it like cocaine, or inject it like heroin. It then has a much more powerful effect on the body. It causes severe headaches, anxiety, paranoia, and delusions.

Steroids

Anabolic steroids are used to improve athletic performance and gain muscle bulk. Unfortunately, steroids cause moodiness and can permanently impair learning and memory abilities.

Inhalants

Inhalants, such as glue, gasoline, hair spray, and paint thinner, are sniffed. The effect on the brain is almost immediate. And while some vapours leave the body quickly, others will remain for a long time. The fatty tissues protecting the nerve cells in the brain are destroyed by inhalant vapours. This slows down or even stops neural transmissions. Effects of inhalants include diminished ability to learn, remember, and solve problems.

Want to Learn More?

Our bookshop offers a range of counseling and psychology courses which you may find useful. You can see our range of books at –

http://www.acsbookshop.com/books_productcategory.aspx?id=14

Not sure whether counseling is the right career for you or if you would like to know more. You can find out more about careers in psychology and counseling at - http://www.thecareersguide.com/articles.aspx?category=14

You may also be interested in how the human mind works – the following courses may be of particular interest –

http://www.acsedu.com/Courses/product.aspx?id=359 Introduction to Psychology

http://www.acsedu.com/Courses/product.aspx?id=397 Biopsychology I

http://www.acsedu.com/Courses/product.aspx?id=488 Biopsychology II

http://www.acsedu.com/Courses/product.aspx?id=492 Neuropsychology