Tranquilizers Research Paper

INTRODUCTION

Tranquillizers are drugs that act on our central nervous system and are used to reduce fear, anxiety, tension and other such mental disturbances or to help a person to sleep. Tranquillizers were first introduced in the early 1950s. Tranquillizers were a major breakthrough in the field of psychiatry as it helped psychiatrists to tackle psychosis. However, on the flipside, tranquilizers also pose a major threat to our society at large. The first tranquilizer, chlordiazepoxidehydrochloride, whose brand name is Librium, received FDA approval in 1960. Tranquilizers, despite their numerous positive functions, also have a downfall. They have been abused, ever since their invention, as drugs. People all over have tried to obtain them for negative purposes. Tranquilizers are taken orally, in the form of a tablet or it is taken as a solution to be injected in veins.

Minor and Major Tranquilizers

With differing potency, tranquilizers vary in the amount of drowsiness caused. Though used for many purposes, they find their main uses in the treatment of anxiety and insomnia. A significant number of tranquilizers is addictive, especially those in the benzodiazepine group. Tranquilizers are of two types: Minor and Major. The former is used as anti-anxiety drugs for emotional stress while the latter is

The drugs bring back the irrational, excited and agitated patients to a calm state. These have allowed many seriously ill people who would have been hospitalized to engage in productive work and enjoy a semi-normal life. Major tranquilizers do not cure any diseases. They only suppress their symptoms. They block the neurotransmitter - dopamine in the brain. This leads to a reduction of symptoms but they can also result in many unwanted side effects as restlessness, rigidity, tremors of the limbs, and involuntary spasms of the tongue, lips and facial