Luma: Created page with "Depression and anxiety are common mental health conditions that affect millions of people worldwide. These conditions can significantly impair a person's ability to function in their daily life and can have a profound impact on their overall well-being. • Recreational drug use is formally contraindicated in people suffering from anxiety disorders or depressive disorders.
• Stimulant drugs (speed, cocaine, caffeine, meth...) may increase anxiety symptoms in pred..."

2025-07-31T00:53:47Z

Created page with "Depression and anxiety are common mental health conditions that affect millions of people worldwide. These conditions can significantly impair a person's ability to function in their daily life and can have a profound impact on their overall well-being. • Recreational drug use is formally contraindicated in people suffering from anxiety disorders or depressive disorders. • Stimulant drugs (speed, cocaine, caffeine, meth...) may increase anxiety symptoms in pred..."

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Depression and anxiety are common mental health conditions that affect millions of people worldwide. These conditions can significantly impair a person's ability to function in their daily life and can have a profound impact on their overall well-being.

• Recreational drug use is formally contraindicated in people suffering from anxiety disorders or depressive disorders. 
• Stimulant drugs (speed, cocaine, caffeine, meth...) may increase anxiety symptoms in predisposed individuals or at high doses. These substances can calm or pacify depressive symptoms after immediate administration, which can lead some people to "self-medicate" with these substances. Cocaine and MDMA can produce pseudo-depressive episodes within 24-48 hours of administration, which will be more frequent and intense in people with this type of disorder. 
• Depressant drugs (opiates, alcohol, GHB) have anxiolytic effects after immediate administration, so that people with a tendency to anxiety are more susceptible to abuse them. The same considerations about dependence potential, adverse effects and toxicity apply. 
• Psychedelic drugs (LSD, psylocibe mushrooms, 2C-B...) are highly variable in their effects on the user's mood and personal circumstances. The existence of anxiety disorders or depression makes the occurrence of bad trips or unpleasant experiences more likely. 

It has also been reported that cannabis use can trigger, increase the frequency or intensity of anxiety attacks in panic disorder. This effect can occur in people without pathology but is more frequent in people with a tendency to anxiety.

In people taking medication for this type of disorder it is important to take into account:

The combination between anxiolytic drugs (benzodiazepines such as diazepam (Valium), alprazolam (Trankimazin), clorazepate (Tranxilium), loracepam (Orfidal) ) and depressant drugs (alcohol, GHB, opiates) is particularly inadvisable as it multiplies the negative effects of both substances (disorientation, excessive drowsiness, dizziness...). Small increases in dosage facilitate the onset of intoxication that can be fatal.

The results of human studies have shown that the administration of serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) antidepressants such as fluoxetine (Prozac), paroxetine (Seroxat) or citalopram (Prisdal) reduce the effects of MDMA . This effect is probably extrapolable to people being treated with these drugs. Increasing doses of MDMA to overcome this effect may facilitate the development of adverse or toxic effects.

There are no human studies with new serotonin and noradrenaline reuptake inhibitor (SNRI) antidepressants such as venlafaxine (Dobupal) or duloxetine (Cymbalta) although the considerations made in the previous paragraph are likely to be valid.

There is a class of antidepressant drugs called monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOIs) such as phenelzine or tranylcypromine whose combination with MDMA causes very severe toxicity and even death. The combination of MDMA (and probably other drugs such as methamphetamine, cocaine or psilocybin) is completely contraindicated.

Some people use the beta-blocking drug propranolol (Sumial) as a treatment for anxiety. It is not a drug of choice for the treatment or prevention of anxiety . In principle and legally it should always be bought with a prescription: however, some pharmacies often dispense it without a prescription. Some people use low doses (5-10 mg) to avoid some physical symptoms of anxiety (sweating hands, palpitations, trembling voice or limbs) in stressful situations. Occasional use in this sense seems reasonable, provided there are no contraindicating medical conditions. Propranolol lowers blood pressure. In people with low blood pressure it may facilitate the onset of dizziness, tiredness .... as symptoms of hypotension. Like all drugs, it has its contraindications (asthma, diabetes, etc.) and adverse effects (headache, dizziness, etc.).

Benzodiazepines alone are not recommended as the treatment of choice for medium-term anxiety disorders. There are safer pharmacological alternatives, with fewer adverse effects and less potential for dependence.

When combining drugs for anxiety/depression and drugs, one should not only look at pharmacological or biochemical aspects. In general, many drugs are mood-enhancing and symptoms of depression/anxiety may be increased. The best time to enjoy the effects of drugs is when you are in the right frame of mind.
== Credits ==
Full credit goes towards [[Prominent: DoctorX|DoctorX]] on Dread! (sourced from /post/a3162e3163319e537ad9) - http://www.doctorcaudevilla.com/doctorx

Harm Reduction: Drugs, anxiety and depression - Revision history