Understanding Designer Drugs
While they may not be the primary point of discussion when it comes to substance use disorder (SUD), designer drugs are still highly prevalent, addictive, and extremely dangerous.
Designer drugs are often minimized because they are synthetic in nature. However, this synthetic component is even more dangerous because its manufacture is difficult to trace and often unregulated.
What Are Designer Drugs?
Designer drugs are synthetic substances often produced in a laboratory.
The goal of designer drugs is to emulate the effects of other illicit substances like cannabis, opioids, and cocaine. Often, they produce similar effects, but are also much more unpredictable in their potency.
Some designer drugs are also mixed with “traditional” illicit substances like cocaine and cannabis.
What Are the Different Types of Designer Drugs?
There are many different types of designer drugs. These range from synthetic cannabinoids, stimulants, and opioids.
Many designer drugs go by “exotic” and catchy names. However, regardless of the name of the substance, it can be just as dangerous. It is also important to understand that, due to a lack of regulation, merely relying on a name does not mean that you will be getting what is “advertised.”
What Are Some Other Names for Designer Drugs?
There are many unique names for designer drugs. Some are more well-known, while others may be less so.
Some examples of names of designer drugs include spice, K2, flakka, and ecstasy. Another very popular form of designer drug is bath salts.
Bath salts can be very dangerous, but what exactly are they? According to the United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), “Synthetic stimulants often referred to as ‘bath salts’ are from the synthetic cathinone class of drugs. Synthetic cathinones are central nervous stimulants and are designed to mimic effects similar to those produced by cocaine, methamphetamine, and MDMA (ecstasy).”
Are Designer Drugs Addictive?
Yes, designer drugs can be highly addictive. This includes designer cannabinoids, stimulants, and opioids.
Signs of Designer Drug Use
While signs and symptoms of designer drug use will vary based on the individual and the substance, there are some universal signs to look out for.
The following are just a few of the signs and symptoms of designer drug use:
- Losing interest in activities once enjoyed
- Having trouble with sleep cycles, including sleeping too much and not sleeping enough
- Experiencing physical ailments such as headaches, body aches, and gastrointestinal problems (like constipation)
- Isolating oneself from family and close friends
- Experiencing trouble at work or school
- Not being able to stop using designer drugs once started
- Feeling anxious, nervous, or overly “stressed out”
- Having feelings of worthlessness, hopelessness, and helplessness
- Loss of appetite and a lack of care regarding physical appearance and well-being
- Exhibiting excessive mood swings
- Causing harm to oneself or others
- Having suicidal ideations
How Does Use Affect Mood?
Designer drug use can greatly affect mood.
While many people may experience their mood improve while under the influence, also known as “euphoria,” they will often experience a “crash” that leaves them depressed and anxious. This is elevated when an individual struggles with comorbidities of mental illness.
How Does Use Affect Behavior?
Many people find that their behavior while under the influence of designer drugs is out of their control and unacceptable in any other circumstances.
When under the influence of designer drugs, you may find that you are engaging in very toxic and dangerous behaviors. This includes violent and sexual behaviors that you may otherwise never exhibit.
Many people who use designer drugs also find that they experience behaviors related to process addictions. These are addictions like gambling addiction, sex addiction, gaming addiction, and shopping addiction.
Risks & Effects
The risks and side effects of designer drug use and addiction can be devastating. This happens both to the individual and the family.
It is important to remember that addiction (including designer drug addiction) is a disease. It is also a family disease.
Addiction can destroy a family. According to the peer-reviewed journal Social Work in Public Health, “The impact of substance use disorders (SUDs) on the family and individual family members merits attention. Each family and each family member is uniquely affected by the individual using substances, including but not limited to having unmet developmental needs, impaired attachment, economic hardship, legal problems, emotional distress, and sometimes violence being perpetrated against him or her.”
What are the Risks of Using Designer Drugs?
There are many risks of using designer drugs. These risks can even be deadly.
You should understand that the ultimate risk of using designer drugs is overdose and overdose death. But those are not the only risks.
The following are just a few of the risks of using designer drugs:
- Loss of work
- Struggles in the home
- Broken relationships
- Loss of a relationship with children
- Behaviors that could lead to legal troubles
- Health problems
- Risk of comorbid mental illness
Are Designer Drugs Toxic?
Yes, like most illicit substances, designer drugs are toxic. It is this toxicity that often leads to the feeling of euphoria that keeps people using until they are addicted.
The toxicity of designer drugs depends on which drug is being used. However, it should also be noted that you never really know what you are getting with designer drugs because they are unregulated. A substance could be much more toxic than you may think.
Are There Risks of Interacting With Other Drugs?
Yes, designer drugs can be very dangerous when mixed with other substances. Many people overdose on designer drugs because they mix them with other substances.
It should also be noted that many people mix designer drugs with alcohol. This is a dangerous combination because designer drugs can often lead you to drink more than you can safely process. This can lead to alcohol poisoning and could even be fatal.
Do Designer Drugs Have Unknown Ingredients?
Yes, designer drugs are filled with unknown ingredients. You rarely know what you are getting when you use a designer drug.
Designer drugs are unregulated. This means that the people who produce designer drugs are not beholden to any rules or regulations, which leads them to use the cheapest, often most dangerous, ingredients.
What Long‑Term Effects Can Occur?
The long-term effects of designer drug use can be devastating. This includes struggling with long-term addiction that can lead to a cycle of relapsing and hopelessness.
There are also many long-term physical effects that you may experience from designer drug use. This includes neurological damage, harm to the heart and lungs, struggles with weight gain and weight loss, and long-term sleep disorders.
Designer drug use can also cause long-term psychological damage. This includes the potential for substance-induced psychosis.
Is Mixing a Designer Drug With Alcohol Dangerous?
Yes, mixing designer drugs with alcohol can be extremely dangerous. This includes mixing with synthetic cannabinoids, opioids, or stimulants.
Many people struggle with dual alcohol and substance use disorders. This includes people who have a designer drug addiction. While mixing alcohol and designer drugs may increase euphoria, it also greatly increases the risk of an overdose.
Mixing alcohol and designer drugs also leads to serious impairment. This can lead to deadly falls and fatal automobile accidents.
Can Designer Drugs Lead to Overdose?
Many people do not realize just how easy it is to overdose on designer drugs, or are unaware that overdosing on designer drugs is even possible.
The reality is that overdosing on designer drugs is more common than you may think. These overdoses can lead to long-term health complications and, in some instances, can even be fatal.
Recognizing When to Seek Help
If you are struggling with designer drug addiction, it is time to seek help right away. However, how do you know when it is time to seek help?
If you are unable to stop using designer drugs once you start, it is time to seek help. If you are thinking about using throughout the day, it is time to seek help. If you are experiencing any otherwise unexplained physical ailments, it’s time to seek help.
The good news is that it is never too late to get help. There is help, and there is always hope.
How Do I Get Help for Designer Drug Addiction?
The best way to get help for designer drug addiction is to speak up and ask for it. Many people hide the fact that they need help because they are ashamed and feel that they will be judged. This is simply untrue.
Remember, addiction is a disease. Most addiction specialists and medical professionals now agree that addiction is a disease and is more similar to other chronic diseases like diabetes, cancer, and heart disease. This is because without some type of professional intervention, addiction will almost always progress and get worse, rarely better.
How Can I Help a Loved One Addicted to Designer Drugs?
Getting a loved one the help they need for addiction can be scary and daunting. However, you are often the best person to get them help because you are so close.
Remember, the window that someone struggling with addiction is willing to get help often closes very quickly. That is why it is important to act right away, as soon as someone is willing to accept help. A professional interventionist can be extremely helpful in these situations.
What Should I Do In an Emergency?
If you feel that someone under the influence of designer drugs is in danger, it is important to seek medical help right away.
Some designer drugs react to naloxone, so it can be helpful to have some available at all times. Naloxone is available at most pharmacies and is relatively inexpensive.
Treatment for Designer Drugs
There are many effective treatments for designer drugs. Often these treatments come from one of three avenues of care, including psychotherapy, experiential therapy, and holistic healing methods.
It is also important to connect with a safe and secure detox when you are first getting help in recovery. This is because detoxing from certain designer drugs can be very dangerous and uncomfortable. In some instances, it can even be fatal.
What Level of Care Is Needed to Treat Designer Drug Addiction?
The level of care that one needs must be determined based on the individual. That is why individualized care is so important.
However, it is important not to minimize designer drug addiction. It often requires a high level of care, especially at the beginning.
This may include a residential stay at a treatment center so that you may receive round-the-clock care, 24/7. It may also require an intensive outpatient program that can help you stay more connected to your day-to-day life. Both are excellent options for long-term recovery.
Are Medications Used in Treatment?
The use of medication depends on the type of designer drug to which you are addicted.
The most common designer drug that is treated with medication is synthetic opioids. These types of addictions may be treated with drugs like methadone to help ease the transition to full sobriety.
What Therapies Are Used to Treat Designer Drug Addiction?
There are many effective therapies that can help treat designer drug addiction. This includes psychotherapies, experiential therapies, and holistic therapies.
Perhaps the most common form of therapy to treat addiction is cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT). CBT can be effective because it helps to address the behaviors that lead to substance use rather than treating the substance use itself.
Are There Aftercare Options to Help When Transitioning Out of Treatment?
There are many aftercare options that exist for people in recovery from designer drug addiction.
Many people find that holistic healing methods like yoga therapy and mindfulness meditation can be helpful long-term options. Also, connecting with recovery groups and going to 12-Step recovery meetings can be very helpful. It is a “We” program, never a “Me” program.
Will Long-Term Options Help Protect Against Relapse?
Yes, long-term options greatly help reduce the potential for relapse. This is especially true when working with others.
Working with others is so effective at reducing the risks of a relapse that there is a chapter named after it in the primary text of 12 Step Recovery. The chapter states, “Practical experience shows that nothing will so much ensure immunity from drinking [and using] as intensive work with other [people in recovery].”
FAQS
Yes, MDMA is a designer drug. It is one of the most popular designer drugs on the market today.
MDMA is also very dangerous. It can lead to many physical, mental, emotional, and even spiritual issues. This includes the risk of overdose.
