the article reviews Russian and international literature on synthetic (designer) drugs. A special place is given to the most common designer drugs-synthetic cathinones («salts») and synthetic cannabinoids («spice»). On the basis of this literature the authors analyse the chemical structure of synthetic cathinones and synthetic cannabinoids, the psychoactive effects of these substances on the body, the ability to produce mental, somatic and neurological disorders.
according to the authors, appeared not long ago new psychoactive substances (designer drugs), including synthetic cannabinoids, derivatives of cathinone, phenethylamines, new stimulants, synthetic opioids, tryptamine derivatives, phencyclidine, piperazine, agonists of GABA (A/B) receptors have become a serious problem for both consumers and doctors. Consumers of these substances are attracted primarily by the intensity of psychoactive effects, as well as «legal purity», which is declared by shadow producers. This indicates that there are some significant difficulties of laboratory typing of ne...
according to the authors among the new psychoactive substances, the number of which is growing every year, despite the measures aimed at the obstacles to their dissemination there discovered the most frequent violations of psychotic conditions associated with use of synthetic cannabinoid in clinical practice. On the black market, they are distributed through online shops, under the guise of herbal mixtures for Smoking. When ingested, this group of drugs at the peak of intoxication raises a number of mental (different according to the depth of impaired consciousness, auditory and visual halluci...
the majority of synthetic cannabinoids (SC), belongs to the group of so-called designer drugs distributed through illegal online shopping. The first reports of this group of psychoactive substances appeared in the 70s of the last century. Today, according to various estimates, there are over 160 varieties of synthetic cannabinoids, and this figure is increasing annually due to the synthesis of new substances in the group. This group of substances is designed to «copy» the psychoactive effects of cannabis. Initially, these substances were created solely for research purposes, to study the endoc...
according to the authors synthetic cathinone is a new class of designer drugs with psychoactive effect at the peak of intoxication which can cause hallucinatory disorders, acute paranoid disorders of psychotic level, the development of delirious disorders, affective disorders comparable to cocaine, methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) and other drugs with amphetamine-like effect. The first reports of synthetic cathinone appeared in early 2009. On the black market, these substances were marketed as «bath salts». The legislation of the European countries have been carrying these substances to th...
one of the most common classes among new psychoactive substances are substituted cathinones. The most popular substances among consumers, representatives of this class, are mephedrone and methylone. In this review, the accumulated scientific data on clinical effects, side effects, mechanisms of action associated with the use of methylone and mephedrone are systematized. When writing the review, two representative databases were used to find the scientific sources of PubMed and Google Scholar. The authors also used data from the site Erowid Center (non-profit educational organization in the Uni...
the article points out that the existence of the problem of double diagnoses (DD) in psychiatry and addictology means recognizing the fact that «addiction» is a mental illness and, therefore, a brain disorder. There are common areas in the brain that are responsible for the formation of addictive pathology and for the development of other mental illnesses. It explains the high comorbidity between disorders associated with the use of psychoactive substances, and other mental illnesses. The factors of predisposition to the development of addictive pathology include: family burden with addictive...
compulsive shopping, or compulsive buying disorders (CBD in English-language literature) is characterized by excessive, unnecessary spending, also known stereotypical «consumer behavior», which entails the development of various emotional disturbances and economic problems. The prevalence of disorder varies widely among countries and depends on socio-economic and cultural factors. Scattered data for Russia does not allow to reliably estimate the scale of the problem. Comorbidity of compulsive shopping is associated with various mental disorders: affective disorders, anxiety disorders, substanc...
this article tells about the phenomenon of dependence on social networks. Said phenomenon is not formally recognized as a diagnosis in the existing classifications of mental and behavioral disorders. At the same time, the dynamics of the development of dependence on social networks has much in common with the «classical» addictive disorders. The following symptoms and syndromes can be distinguished in the structure of dependence on social networks: craving, mental discomfort with the affective component, growth of tolerance, withdrawal syndrome, salience, relapse. The process of formation of d...
appearing not long ago, new psychoactive substances (designer drugs), including synthetic cannabinoids, derivatives of cathinone, phenethylamines, new stimulants, synthetic opioids, tryptamine derivatives, phencyclidine, piperazine, the GABA (A/B) receptors agonists, have become a serious problem for consumers and for physicians. Consumers of these substances are attracted primarily by the intensity of psychoactive effects, and the «legal high» declared by the black manufacturers, which indicates that significant difficulties in a laboratory identification of new surfactants. Designer drugs, w...
currently, a lot of researches devoted to the study of the relationship between disorders of impulse control and addictive pathology are published. Attempts to isolate behavioral addictions into a separate group of addictive disorders make it necessary to assess impulsivity and impulse control disorders at different stages of formation, both behavioral and substance use addictions in a new way. This review is based on the results of research and analysis of existing models of addictive disorders, where the dominant position is given to impulsivity and impulse control disorders as predictors of...
this article is devoted to the analysis of the current state of the problem of Internet addiction, which includes the following issues: the boundaries of diagnosis, diagnostic criteria, clinical manifestations, epidemiology data, neurobiological studies, comorbidity, existing approaches to therapy. In the past of two decades, there was an increase in publications devoted to the phenomenon of Internet addiction. Despite the existing disagreements in the professional environment about the validity of the very concept of «Internet addiction», every year there was several studies in the field of n...
the article is devoted to the one of acute problems of society, that is smartphone addiction, because in recent decades, «smart» devices become ingrained in everyday lives of almost every person. The sphere of interest of many scientific studies is the study of «high-tech» addictions. One of the particular forms of this type of addictive disorder is smartphone addiction. Currently, there is an expansive increase in the prevalence of smartphones on various hardware and software platforms. The authors of the article wonder whether smartphone addiction can be a form of behavioral addiction or it...
hervey Cleckley is one of the most influential psychiatrists of the 20th century. Part of his scientific research still causes debates in the scientific world, especially his works about «successful psychopaths» and the curability of psychopathy. Most of Cleckley’s scientific works in the field of the study of psychopathy are well known to most modern scholars, and some of his articles have become textbooks. At the same time, his works on dissociative personality are less known in the professional community. Through the time, his scientific achievements have not lost their relevance and scient...
nightmares are scary or disturbing dreams which are associated with negative feelings, such as fear, terror or disgust. These feelings oftentimes awake the dreamer, who can easily recollect the content of the nightmare. Nightmares are not necessarily a symptom of a disease. Moreover, nightmares with little emotional response are experienced by almost all people once in a while without any risk for their health. However, nightmares that occur frequently and disturb the sleep might lead to clinically significant impairments in social, professional and other areas of life. They are considered a s...
oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) and conduct disorder (CD), which usually develop at the age below 18, are considered as a sustainable antisocial and aggressive types of behavior, stepping beyond the borders of socially accepted standards. Within the recent decades, significant success has been achieved in the diagnosis and long-term predictive assessment of different types of behavioral aberrations, occurring during the childhood and adolescence. Early development of behavioral disorders forms unfavorable predictions and correlates with biological and social risk factors, such as attention...
presently, a lot of data indicate that the disturbance of mechanisms underlying the regulation of sleep-waking cycle coincides with the mechanisms underlying the development of depression. The disturbance of circadian rhythms is one of the core factors in the genesis of the most affective disorders including depression, which indicates the role of the internal biological clock in the pathophysiology of affective disorders. The episodes of depression, mania or hypomania may result from the disturbances in endogenous biological timing. In this review, we have summarized the literature data obtai...
in recent decades, sleep deprivation has evolved from a single experimental data set to the status of an effective and affordable therapeutic intervention used in daily clinical practice. The mechanism of action of this method is aimed at the same neurotransmitter systems and brain regions as antidepressants. As in the case of pharmacotherapy for sleep deprivation, it should be used under close supervision of a physician. Clinical effects with sleep deprivation are achieved much faster than with psychopharmacotherapy, but they are not long-term in nature. It is possible to improve the results...
attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a widespread, severe neurobiological disorder that occurs in childhood and adolescence and has a negative impact on social functioning in adulthood. Currently, there are several strategies for the treatment of ADHD including pharmacotherapy and psychotherapeutic interventions. Due to the expansion of the range of available drugs, for practical doctors to choose the tactics of therapy and to set priorities in the treatment process becomes more challenging. The aim of this review is to systematize the evidence-based literature on the treatment o...
in the cases of majority of neurological diseases the symptoms of depression have significant influence on the worsening of the quality of patient’s life, regardless of the severity of the neurological disorders. In the most of neurodegenerative diseases the symptoms of depression often precede the appearance of neurological symptoms. Within recent years, numerous studies have been published demonstrating that disorders of depressive spectrum can be considered as a predictor of some types of dementia. Existing data regarding the methods of therapeutic intervention for depression in the clinica...
this review presents an analysis of the literature on studies of the salience neural network, the dynamics of neural network formation during ontogenesis of the brain, and salience dysregulation in neurodegenerative and neuropsychiatric disorders. The role of dopaminergic imbalance in the formation of aberrant salience in schizophrenia is considered. Particular attention is paid to the studies of the significance of motivational salience and reward system in the pathogenesis of addictive disorders.
the available published data indicate that antagonism towards D2 receptors of dopamine is a «necessary condition» in the process of effective treatment of schizophrenia, but at the same time, this antagonism is insufficient to achieve a state of complete remission. These data serve as a powerful stimulus for the process of searching new treatments and synthesizing new drugs. The current status of the theory of neural networks demonstrates to the professional community that in order to effectively change the functioning of basic biological systems, a number of subtle changes in the central nerv...
