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Other Stimulant Use Disorder

What Are Stimulants?

Overview: Stimulants speed up the body's systems. This class of drugs includes prescription drugs such as amphetamines (Adderall ® and Dexedrine®), methylphenidate (Concerta® and Ritalin®), diet aids (such as Didrex®, Bontril®, Preludin®, Fastin®, Adipex P®, Ionomin®, and Merida®), and illicitly produced drugs such as methamphetamine, cocaine, and methcathinone.




Looks Like: Stimulants come in the form of pills, powder, rocks, injectable liquids.


Methods of Abuse: Stimulants can be pills or capsules that are swallowed. Smoking, snorting, or injecting stimulants produces a sudden sensation known as a "rush" or a "flash." Abuse is often associated with a pattern of binge use - sporadically consuming large doses of stimulants over a short period of time. Heavy users may inject themselves every few hours, continuing until they have depleted their drug supply or reached a point of delerium, psychosis, and physical exhaustion. During heavy use, all other interests become secondary to recreating the initial euphoric rush.






Drugs Causing Similar Effects: Some hallucinogenic substances, such as Ecstasy, have a stimulant component to their activity. 




*Above information and image below courtesy of the Drug Enforcement Administration (www.dea.gov)