Depressants have existed for centuries and have been depicted in many cultures as early as 3400 BC Herbs and alcohol are known to relieve pain and induce sleep; they were the most common depressants. Depressants are drugs that reduce neural activity and slow body functions, in order to decrease or relieve anxiety, induce sleep, and relieve stress (depressants). Alcohol being one of the most popular agents, it produces depression in the central nervous system. Barbiturates and benzodiazepines are the two groups of depressants. These two groups have cornered the market legally and illegally for a long time. Paraldehyde and chloral hydrate are two old depressant drugs that are also called sedatives, sedatives, anti-anxiety, minor tranquilizers, hypnotics and anxiolytics ("Home".). Opium, which comes from the poppy plant, has been used for hundreds of years. This is used as a legitimate depressant drug, after morphine evolved in 1806. These medications can come from many different plants such as California poppy, lavender, and wild lettuce. They are available in multicolored tablets and capsules or in liquid form, on rare occasions in powder. They can be ingested, injected, smoked or snorted. In the depressant category you will also find Zyprexa, Seroquel and Haldol. Some street names for depressants are beards, sweeties, downers, red birds, tooies, yellows, reds, phennies, roofies, yellow jackets, tranks and many others. Large doses can cause impaired memory, judgment and coordination, irritability, paranoia and even suicidal thoughts. Withdrawal symptoms consist of insomnia, weakness and nausea. For people who continually use high doses, agitation, high body temperatures, deli...... half of paper ......urates to "come down" from the amphetamine high. The fourth group is basically those who abuse heroin and other narcotics. They use barbiturates as substitutes when other drugs are not available. Sometimes a combination of heroin and barbiturates creates a prolonged effect. Barbiturate abuse is considered much more dangerous than narcotic abuse ("The New International Standard Medical & Health Encyclopedia."). Another sedative is benzodiazepine, commonly used to treat anxiety, sleep disorders, and many other conditions. Because this sedative has low toxicity and is highly effective, it is used in short-term treatments for anxiety and insomnia problems. Some benzodiazepines approved in the United States are alprazolam (Xanax), chlordiazepoxide (Librium), clonazepam (Klonopin), and a couple others. The exact mechanism of action of benzodiazepines is not known.