PSYC200 Essay: Impact of Psychoactive Drugs and Emotions on Behavior

This essay, written for a PSYC200 course, delves into the effects of psychoactive drugs on perception and mood, examining the arguments for and against their use. It then explores how various emotions, such as happiness, surprise, anger, and fear, influence human behavior, drawing on personal experiences to illustrate these impacts. Finally, the essay identifies and discusses key strategies for student success, including the importance of a growth mindset and personal goals, and how these strategies can be applied to foster optimism about future career prospects. The essay integrates research findings with personal reflections, providing a comprehensive analysis of the topics covered.

Running Head: PSYC200
PSYC200

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Table of Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................3
Question 1..................................................................................................................................3
Question 2..................................................................................................................................5
Question 3..................................................................................................................................8
Conclusion................................................................................................................................10
Reference list............................................................................................................................11

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Introduction
In this essay, discussion is done regarding the research and linked with my own
understanding. Three questions are asked about different topics from the text. Different
Psychoactive drugs help to change the state of mood and often found in sedative drugs like
alcohol. On the other hand, strong emotions often impact on the behavior of a person.
Different emotions like happiness, surprise impact my personal behavior. Moreover, different
key strategies such as growth mindset and personal goals help a student to achieve success.
This part of the text can help me in my regular studies and future academic career.
Question 1
Psychoactive drugs are good options for altering perception and moods- agree or
disagree?
This question has been raised from the text of States of consciousness. In today's
world, people are dealing with different kinds of situations in their lives. Sometimes, human
beings try to select the easy path that can help them to alter their perception and moods.
Parrott (2018) have argued that psychoactive drugs are used as medicines in many cases to
control the function of the nervous system. However, it is harmful to people, who consume
these drugs without having consent of physicians. From the study of concept and major issues
associated with psychoactive drugs, I have learned that these drugs are divided into four
groups including opioids, hallucinogens, stimulants, and depressants. Nicotine and ecstasy
are substances that are called stimulants. Valantiejienė & Saveljeva (2019) has defined that
painkillers are opioids. Heroin also belongs to the opioid group. On the other hand, sleeping
pills and alcohol are considered as depressants. LSD falls under the hallucinogens group of
psychoactive drugs. These drugs have the ability to control and change the functionality of
the brain as these drugs directly affect the central nervous system of the brain.

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The use of these drugs is associated with different kinds of health risks and these risks
can transform into drug use disorders. According to the World Health Organization (WHO),
untreated disorders due to drug use may increase the risk of mortality. As mentioned by
Parrott (2018), this kind of disorder may lead to impairment in family, educational, social,
personal, and occupational and others. As drug-use directly impacts on the minds of users, it
reduces their ability to perform. According to my opinion, use of psychoactive drugs cannot
be considered as a good option to alter perceptions and emotions. Instead, people need to
communicate with experts to get better ideas to deal with hard life situations. Reportedly,
more than 35 million people are suffering from disorders and most of them are from the adult
age group (Who.int, 2020). It proves that young generation is considering psychoactive drugs
as the best alternative to deal with emotional breakdown and depression. This generation is
the future of the nation and it is a serious issue that this generation is suffering from the
harmful effects of psychoactive drugs. WHO has mentioned about approximately 0.5 million
deaths per year, due to drug disorder. Among them, the percentage of males is greater than
females. Parents need to help their children to accept adverse consequences of their actions
and they may encourage them to fight for their rights. Using drugs is not the way to solve
problems permanently. However, positive changes in the behavior with the help of
psychiatrists can help to deal with conflicts.
Extreme use of psychoactive drugs makes a person dependent on these chemical
substances and they lose the ability to control emotions and functions of the brain normally.
Valantiejienė & Saveljeva (2019) have stated that common issues faced by regular users of
psychoactive drugs include disorientation, drowsiness, motor impairment, tremors, dizziness,
hallucination, and agitation. I think users may feel comfortable for a short time period and it
is not the right way to alter emotions. In many cases, it can be seen that people are consuming
painkillers after getting advice from the physician to stop it. Many people find this option as

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the best option for getting rid of pains. However, it harms more and the user gets to suffer for
a long time. On the other hand, consumption of alcohol regularly impacts the physical
condition of a person. At that time, this habit makes the natural immune system weaker and it
fails to fight against diseases. Hence, it can be said that this psychoactive drug is not the right
option for dealing with emotional breakdowns.
It is important for people to first understand both negative and positive features of
psychoactive drugs. The way of affecting the brain by these drugs needs to be analyzed by
the concerned physicians before prescribing these drugs to anyone. As mentioned by Parrott
(2018), the body and minds of different people react differently to psychoactive drugs. It
means that no one can use these drugs without knowing the ability of their body and minds to
tolerate those drugs. The impacts of these drugs on the brain receptors depend on the process
of manufacturing on these drugs. Valantiejienė & Saveljeva (2019) have stated that the
majority of the people are aware about the fact that use of these drugs may alter functions of
their brains. They also know that this habit may change their perception regarding their
surroundings and the world. It is important for physicians to consider some points during
prescribing these drugs to anyone. These points include the age of the patient, biological,
neurological and psychological condition of the patient and the best way of administering
these drugs. I think experts need to aware of people regarding the harmful effects of these
drugs to prevent them from using these drugs without prescription.
Question 2
“Emotions affect behavior"- How different emotions affect my own behavior?
This question has been raised from the texts of the Motivation and emotion unit.
Behavior of humans is what they do and act. This can be physical activities like jumping or
running. Behavior can also be verbal like arguing or different complicated behaviors like
planning or cheating. On the other hand, Kuttanda, Dovina & Philip (2018) said that

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thoughts and emotions are inside of humans that very strongly influence behavior. There are
some basic emotions that include happiness, sadness, fear and surprise that impacts human
behavior. These emotions have a great impact on the life of a human being and nature of
interaction. Emotions help in forming feelings that impact on behavior (Asadullah, Mumtaz,
Batool & Hameed, 2016). Sometimes mixing of basic emotions can help to change behavior
of a person. For example, sadness and anger often give rise to bad behavior. It is well-
established in psychology that emotion directly impacts on behavior. Different emotions like
anger tend to influence humans in fighting. It was also found in some research that sadness
influences a person to develop helping behavior (Kuttanda, Dovina & Philip, 2018). Sadness
does not directly cause help but it influences a person to look for different opportunities for
escaping from sadness. This motivates a person to take decision regarding doing good deeds
for escaping from sadness. Once emotion rises, then the behavior also generates
simultaneously. This is because emotion of a person consists of the impetus of behavior. For
example, the emotion of fear is accompanied by running or becoming nervous. In other
words, it can be said that emotions get stimulated from various actions conducted by the
person or others and this, in turn, impacts on behavior of a person.
This idea is related to my own experience and behavior. Emotions like enjoyment or
happiness turn me more productive and help me to become energetic. Receiving good news
or any sort of achievement in an academic career helps me to get motivated and this helps to
give rise to positive behavior. Consequently, my approach towards study gets changed and I
feel more energetic and positive while solving any problem in academics. Hence, it can be
said that emotions like happiness help a person to get motivated and impacts on behavior,
performance and overall productivity. Moreover, emotions like surprise also impact on
behavior of a person (Asadullah et al. 2016). This fact is also related to my personal
experience that I faced last week. While I was passing through a street, I saw that a street

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performer was performing as a bushman. He disguises himself as a bush and suddenly leaps
out while a woman is passing. The woman gets surprised and her behavior changes. Her body
moved away from the performer and she tried to run. Now, the performer asks her for tips but
still, she was in a state of shock and fumbling while talking. Hence, it is proved that sudden
shock or surprise can change behavior of a person for a while. I observed that not everyone
shows the same behavior, some get astonished, some start running while others show
aggressive behavior and start beating the performer. I also feel aggressiveness while facing
emotions like anger. This emotion is considered to be very powerful among all. This emotion
helps to increase aggressive behavior among people and leads to losing control. For example,
while quarreling with friends, I feel this emotion, which leads to losing my control. This
creates trouble for the individual if the anger is unjustified.
Fear is another essential emotion, which is associated with human life and impacts
their behavior. I can relate this to the employees of the workplace where I worked part-time.
The employees have a fear of losing their job that impacts their behavior and they find it hard
to focus on their job. I think this is the toughest time that they face and change their behavior.
They have conducted more errors in their work out of fear. Thus, it can be concluded that
different emotions like fear or anxiety impact on human behavior by deteriorating their
performances. Emotions like anxiety can be identified as negative emotions like causes
degradation of performances of humans. I think that leaders need to play a critical role in this
situation and they need to have proper knowledge about emotional intelligence. It is my
thought that many of my decisions are influenced by emotional responses. Most marketing
effort is done by emotionalizing customers to change their buying behavior. For example, I
bought a new drink brand because they have talked about love and happiness in their
commercial advertisement. Hence, emotions play an essential role in impacting the buying
behavior of customers. Organizations make the customer feel good about a brand by making

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proper emotional reaction (Asadullah et al. 2016). If customers have the same values that the
organization provides then they feel motivated to buy the product. Therefore, different
emotions have a huge role in changing human behavior.
Question 3
How could I use key strategies for students' success to become more optimistic about my
future career?
This question is raised from the text of introducing a psychology unit. There are some
strategies, which help students to achieve success in their future careers. These strategies can
be adopted by the institution management for increasing the focus of students and helping
them to get a bright future. A sense of belonging is the first strategy that motivates students to
give their best in the academic field (Loveland, 2018). This strategy is for students who are
underrepresented and minorities in school or colleges. The students from the first generation
learner group can also be motivated through the help of this strategy. This strategy can be
improvised by communicating with them regularly and gaining feedback. They can feel
associated with this college and socially integrated. On the other hand, a growth mindset is
another essential strategy that can help students by increasing their belief in their own
intelligence. This intelligence is not a fixed entity, which cannot be improved (Candy, 2019).
Rather, intelligence of students can be improved by the help of college management. This can
help to create a growth mindset among students, which can help them to obtain success in
future. Institution management can motivate students for hard-working and increasing
dedication among them. Gradually, students will believe that their basic abilities can be
improved in time through dedicated learning and regular practice.
Setting personal goals and values is another important strategy, which is directly
linked with student success (Loveland, 2018). Teachers can help students to set personal
goals in their academic career, which needs to be achieved by the students for gaining

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success. For achieving a desirable future, it is essential to fulfill targets and have proper
values. Different goals including securing good grades in academics, overcoming failures,
developing skills and others helps to achieve success. These strategies help students to obtain
education properly and future chances of achieving success get increased. Moreover,
strategies like sense of belongingness can help to eliminate the issue of isolation of students
in a class.
The sense of belonging can be considered as one of the vital needs of a person.
Loveland (2018) has defined that creating a sense of need means accepting own present
within a circumstance. For example, if I get an opportunity to join a large company in the
future, I may feel uncomfortable within the workplace at the beginning. It may lead to lack of
confidence in their abilities. I think, at that point, I need to develop a sense of belonging.
After reviewing this strategy of success, I have learned that my primary duty is to accept that
I am a member of that organization and I need to perform to comply with their values. This
learning has helped me to become more optimistic about my career.
On the other hand, the strategy of developing a growth mindset helps to become
open to learning. As defined by Candy (2019), people with a growth mindset think that their
abilities and skills can be improved through hard work and dedication. After studying this
strategy, I have learned that I need to be always open to learning new things. I need to believe
that I do not know everything and my skills can be improved with the assistance of experts at
my future workplace. A growth mindset can help me to listen to others' opinions to change
my way of understanding the world and my surroundings.
Having personal goals and values can help me to improve my performance in the
future. As a result, I will be able to help my company to achieve its goals within the
minimum time. As mentioned by Loveland (2018), creating and meeting personal values and
goals allow a person to self-assess. It gives the opportunity to review own activities and

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modify those activities when required. Learning about this strategy can help me in future to
develop a flexible mindset. I will be able to change my values and goals according to the
business situations of my future workplace.
Conclusion
From the entire discussion of this paper, it can be concluded that psychoactive drugs
cannot be always the best option to alter perceptions and emotions as it has many harmful
effects on the users. Moreover, it has been understood that positive emotions may motivate a
person, but negative emotions can make a person aggressive. Hence, pursuing positive
emotions is required for protecting mental and physical health of a person. Additionally, it
has been cleared that key strategies discussed for students can help them to become optimistic
about their careers.

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Reference list
Asadullah, M. A., Mumtaz, M., Batool, Z., & Hameed, I. (2016). Emotions, helping behavior
and leaders' effectiveness: A serial mediation model. South Asian Journal of Global
Business Research, 5(3), 323-340. DOI:http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/SAJGBR-01-2016-
0003
Candy, M. (2019). GROWTH MINDSET VS. FIXED MINDSET IN CORRECTIONAL
ADULT EDUCATION SETTING: THE RESOURCE FOR ADULT EDUCATION
THE RESOURCE FOR ADULT EDUCATION. COABE Journal, 112-114. Retrieved
fromhttps://search.proquest.com/docview/2239576447?accountid=188056
Kuttanda, V., Dovina, D. T., & Philip, J. N. (2018). Weather, mood and helping behavior : A
comparative study between two indian cities (chennai and mysore). Journal of
Psychosocial Research, 13(2), 453-467.
doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.32381/JPR.2018.13.02.20
Loveland, E. (2018). Creating a sense of community and belonging for latinx students.
Journal of College Admission, (241), 44. Retrieved
fromhttps://search.proquest.com/docview/2225810108?accountid=188056
Parrott, A. C. (2018). Mood fluctuation and psychobiological instability: The same core
functions are disrupted by novel psychoactive substances and established recreational
drugs. Brain Sciences, 8(3), 43. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/brainsci8030043
Valantiejienė, S., & Saveljeva, R. (2019). Evaluation of effectiveness of psychoactive
substance abuse prevention program “My way”: Transformations in the 9th-12th
grades pupils’ perceptions about psychoactive substance use. Business, Management
and Education, 17(1), 21-35. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.3846/bme.2019.6985
Who.int. (2020). Drugs (psychoactive). Retrieved on 14th March 2020,
from:https://www.who.int/health-topics/drugs-psychoactive#tab=tab_1

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