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  • BDD Moderators: Keif’ Richards

Why are nearly all downer physcially addictive but no uppers are?

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Berdo tm1

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Why are nearly all downer physically addictive but no uppers are?

I don't get it. Even the 'weakest' downer drugs like phenibut are physically addictive but even the strongest uppers like meth and crack aren't.

What gives?

Is it just cos you burn out your neurotransmitters with uppers long before you would get serious physcial side effects? Surely crackheads take thier stuff every day and many ADD users take their prescription everyday.

It's kind of frustrating for me cos I just want something mild to relax and I hate weed and alcohol (kava doesnt last long enough, it's like crack in that disattisfyingly short sense :/) but don't want to mess with any physically addictive substances ending me up in worse shape down the line which pretty much leaves me in the misery of sobriety in this stupid existence.
 
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lol^

I don't have the answer to your question but have you tried a red strain of kratom? It does have some addiction potential but one dose at night 2-3 times a week shouldn't give you any problems.
 
Snake_Eyes said:
lol^

I don't have the answer to your question but have you tried a red strain of kratom? It does have some addiction potential but one dose at night 2-3 times a week shouldn't give you any problems.
Click to expand...

kratom has definitely been number one on my list of things to try but ive just been terrified of physical addiction. I guess ive taken benzoes before and not been bothered about them but I didnt find them recreational, i only took them to bring me down after stims.

I already have a deep depression (coupled with a nice topping of anxiety at trying anything 'risky') as it is so i feel between a rock and a hard place afraid to try anything if it could make me worse off.

Ive also ocnsidered that the deperession itself is leading to irrationally pessimistic thinking but stuck in the funk Im too afraid to risk it :P.
 
I find that downers tend to be way more physically addicting then amphetamines when you are addicted to them/using them heavily.

But for someone like me who isn't a huge fan of the physically addictive downers like opiates, I find that recreationally using downers has less side effects etc than uppers/amphetamines do and recreationally using uppers almost always ends up with me feeling like shit.

Addiction: Downers > Uppers = downers worse overall.

Recreationally: (with no tolerance) Uppers > Downers = Uppers will make you feel much worse.
 
I think it has a lot to do with your body normalizing to life without a drug. When that means slowing down, ones body is better at adapting. When that change means speeding up (comedown from a downer) its going to be harsher.

Same reason certain nations use stims to interrogate, if your not a user and uncomfortable, they make it far worse. Not the stims themselves, but the stimulation in an uncomfortable situation is going to increase misery.
 
The technical reason is related to uppers working with dopamine (and sometimes Serotonin) which do not cause physical dependency/addiction. Downers are usually GABA and Opiate receptor related which do result in physical dependency and withdrawals.

Why? God only knows, but I take it as a sign that the with the human body template, dopamine was possibly intended to be manipulated in some way, while GABA and Opiate receptors where not or at least without some kind of risk or negative feedback/management mechanism in place to control the level of manipulation.

There must be some design reason for this that we will probably never know in our lifetime. Its an interesting question OP and I have wondered about it many times.
 
Mhmmm, the studies on GABA inhibition dependence are lacking at best considering how old and wide spread it is.
 
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