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Central Nervous System (CNS) Depressants

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Drug and Alcohol Abuse

Part of the book series: Critical Issues in Psychiatry ((CIPS))

Abstract

The central nervous system (CNS) depressant drugs include a variety of medications, such as hypnotics, most antianxiety drugs (also called minor tranquilizers),and alcohol.1 As discussed in greater depth in Section 2.1.1.4.4, a new group of nonbenzodiazepine antianxiety drugs have appeared in recent years, but these are not CNS depressants. The general anesthetics are not presented here, as time and space constraints forced me to limit the discussion to the substances most clinically important in drug abuse. One anesthetic agent, phencyclidine (PCP), is abused as a hallucinogen and is discussed in Chapter 9.

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  1. San Diego School of Medicine, Veterans Administration Hospital, University of California, San Diego, California, USA

    Marc A. Schuckit M.D. (Professor of Psychiatry, Director of the Alcohol Research Center and Treatment Program)

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Schuckit, M.A. (1989). Central Nervous System (CNS) Depressants. In: Drug and Alcohol Abuse. Critical Issues in Psychiatry. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4757-0767-0_2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4757-0767-0_2

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4757-0769-4

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4757-0767-0

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