No matter what else alcohol
is--visible or invisible,
silent or loud--it's
only one member of a broader group of drugs called
depressants or "downers."
Known medically as sedative-hypnotics--because of their ability to sedate (or reduce tension), and induce sleep (from the
Greek word hypnos, for sleep)--they're probably better
known simply as tranquilizers and sleeping pills.
Although there are dozens of different chemicals that produce depressant
effects in dozens of different ways--all downers slow the flow of nerve impulses
in the brain and central nervous system.
And they cause similar problems, too, given half a chance.
Tranquilizers.
They were hailed as "wonder drugs" when they were introduced in the
1950s and '60s. And compared to other depressant drugs of the
time, they did look pretty good for a while.
They were called "minor" tranquilizers--mostly to set them apart
from the "major" tranquilizers used to treat serious
forms of mental illness.
They were supposed to
be both addiction-free and side-effect-free, and doctors around
the world prescribed them throughout the '60s and '70s by the
billions.
But as time went on (and problems
linked to them became clear), the only thing "minor" about minor tranquilizers was their name.
It wasn't that they didn't work.
They did. They were great at blocking normal feelings of anxiety
or panic.
They worked so well, in fact
that users hated to give them up--even after taking them
for months or years. That's when it became clear they cause a
problem they weren't supposed to cause--serious dependency and addiction.
Another thing everybody eventually figured out is that tranquilizers
only tranquilize. They don't cure some mysterious disease
that causes anxiety, or remove the source of worry. They simply
turn off parts of the brain that cause nervous
feelings.
Nothing wrong with that--at least,
not for people who are so stressed out that they need help even
remembering what not being completely wired feels like. But that's also why minor
tranquilizers today are prescribed only
for short-term use--usually no more than eight weeks.
Some of the more common--and
better known--tranquilizers are Valium®, Xanax®, and
Ativan®. They come in a lot of shapes
and colors and strengths,
they just don't come in a form that makes tension or worry magically
disappear. They may hide
it for a while, but when it comes back, it's often stronger than before--like a mean genie who's
been bottled up too long.
Sleeping pills. Sedative-hypnotics work in the same way. In fact,
they turn down the brain so much that people can't even
keep their eyes open, as they drift into serious slumberland.
For years, there were two basic
kinds of sleeping pills: barbiturates
and everything else. But that's changed. Although they were widely used in the past, barbiturates are a lot
less common today.
There are two main reasons why.
One is that they're so addictive.
Another is that they easily cause overdose,
especially when they're taken with alcohol.
Because of their risks, drug company researchers have stayed up nights for years trying to discover new drugs that knock
people out as well as barbiturates, without the side effects
and dangers.
But the problem
with finding a side-effect-free sleeping pill has been a lot
like the problem of finding a side-effect-free tranquilizer:
There just doesn't seem to be one.
And many of the drugs developed
as replacements have been every bit as risky, in their
own ways.
Effects. The effects of downers are similar to
the effects of alcohol. As dosage increases, inhibitions disappear,
speech starts to slur, and body movements get clumsy and uncoordinated.
Downers are especially dangerous
when used with alcohol. That's because both are removed from
the body by the liver--and when both are circulating at the
same time, alcohol gets priority and downers get bumped to "standby" status. When this happens, the downers recirculate, which prolongs their effect.
The combination effect of alcohol
and downers is an example of a drug interaction known as synergism, which means that the effects of individual
drugs are more intense in combination
than either is alone. It's like the difference between multiplication and addition.
Three plus
three may be six, but three times three
is nine. And the more downers you multiply,
the deadlier the result.
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