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Depressant

Original Wikipedia articleen.wikipedia.org/wiki/Depressant revision used (24 October 2026)

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Overview

Depressants (also known as sedatives and informally as "downers") are a major class of psychoactive substances that decreases activity in the brain through the lowering of neurotransmission levels, depressing or reducing arousal/stimulation in various areas of the brain. Depressants represent one of the three major classes of psychoactive substances alongside stimulants ("uppers") and hallucinogens.[1] PW

Depressants, also known as central nervous system depressants, or colloquially known as "downers", are a class of psychoactive drugs characterised by decreasing neurotransmission levels, decreasing the electrical activity of brain cells, or reducing arousal or stimulation in various areas of the brain. In contrast, stimulants, or "uppers", increase mental alertness, making stimulants the opposite drug class from depressants. Commonly used depressants include alcohol, opioids, and benzodiazepines.[1] WP

Depressants are closely related to sedatives as a category of drugs. The terms may sometimes be used interchangeably or may be used in somewhat different contexts. Nearly all commonly used depressants are addictive, and use of them carries the risk of death from respiratory depression, especially in opioids. WP⚠ Wikipedia itself has flagged this text: citation needed.

Depressants are used throughout the world as prescription medicines and illicit substances. Alcohol is a depressant. When depressants are used, effects often include ataxia, anxiolysis, pain relief, sedation or somnolence, cognitive or memory impairment, as well as, in some instances, euphoria, dissociation, muscle relaxation, lowered blood pressure or heart rate, respiratory depression, and anticonvulsant effects. Depressants sometimes also act to produce anesthesia. Other depressants can include drugs like benzodiazepines (e.g., alprazolam) and a number of opioids. Gabapentinoids like gabapentin and pregabalin are depressants and have anticonvulsant and anxiolytic effects. Most anticonvulsants, like lamotrigine and phenytoin, are depressants. Carbamates, such as meprobamate, are depressants that are similar to barbiturates. Anesthetics are generally depressants; examples include ketamine and propofol. WP

Depressants exert their effects through a number of different pharmacological mechanisms, the most prominent of which include facilitation of GABA and inhibition of glutamatergic or monoaminergic activity. Other examples are chemicals that modify the electrical signaling inside the body, such as bromides and channel blockers. WP

Drugs in this class on intoxicant.wiki

Every page on this site that a cited source puts in this class: 310 pages. A drug is listed when PsychonautWiki's "Depressant" page, revision 162377 lists it, or when its own PsychonautWiki, TripSit or Wikipedia entry names this class. Each name opens our page for that drug; long chemical names are shown by a shorter name the drug is also known by (hover for the full name).

Tags show who puts each drug in this class (hover for the exact wording): PW list = listed on PsychonautWiki's page for this class; PW = the drug's PsychonautWiki entry; TS = the drug's TripSit entry (drug category); WP = the drug infobox of the drug's Wikipedia article. These are classifications only, not dosage guidance.

References

  1. Other Depressant definition

Text and values on this page are quoted from PsychonautWiki (CC BY-SA 4.0), Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Each value links to the exact revision it came from.