Experts Discuss Shocking Neuroscience Behind ‘Bath Salts’ Drug and Warn of Dangerous Side-effects

Zombies have become an inextricable part of our popular culture due in large part to the fact that they speak to something primal in the human unconscious. The idea of doing battle with something that used to be human, perhaps even someone we loved once, is a powerful idea and one that provides universal dread. To discover, then, that there are those who elect to become a sort of zombie, would be a surprising notion indeed.

Chances are good you’ve heard of bath salts, at least in passing. Bath salts is the street name for a cocktail of chemicals that is as dangerous as it is misunderstood. Let’s make one thing clear right away: this has nothing to do with the bath salts you put in your bathwater.

The average dose of bath salts contains something like 100 different chemicals, with the most common three being Mephedrone, Methylenedioxypyrovalerone, and Pyrovalerone. The effects of these chemicals on the human body can be like something out of a horror movie.

The Body and the Mind

To begin with, bath salts are cripplingly addictive. Methamphetamine is often considered to be one of the most addictive recreational drugs available. Bath salts are estimated to be even more addictive than meth, which solidifies their claim as one of the most dangerous substances out there.

Methods of ingesting bath salts vary from user to user, but can include snorting, smoking, and injecting. Once they’ve entered the user’s body, they go to work subverting the central nervous system. What this does is to essentially switch on the body’s warning systems and defense mechanisms all at once, effectively warping the user’s interpretation of reality. Panic attacks can often ensue, in combination with oftentimes violent mood swings, feelings of paranoia, and insomnia.

Bath salts are often abused in combination with other drugs by people who don’t fully understand what to expect. Sleep aids and other legal medications, when combined with bath salts in an effort to combat the insomnia and anxiety symptoms, can cause even further complications as the drug cocktail wreaks havoc with the user’s body.

Just two years ago, best estimates placed the number of bath salts-related emergency room admissions at around 23,000. This statistic makes it all the more surprising that bath salts are still legal in the US.

The Zombie Effect

Of the three major ingredients in bath salts, Mephedrone is the one most closely associated with the zombie-like symptoms in bath salts users. Mephedrone affects the body’s production of dopamine, which is a chemical responsible for creating and helping to interpret pleasurable feelings. Bath salts, like meth, causes a spike in the body’s production of dopamine, which leads to impaired cognition, unpredictable moods, and even a loss of physical control. The comparisons to staggering zombies, then, are not at all unwarranted.

Bath salts can frequently pull the user into a false sense of security, since the initial experience is a pleasurable one. However, the feelings of pleasure and contentment are quickly replaced by anxiety, delirium, and paranoia.

Not Even Once

Losing track of the lines between reality and fantasy can be an attractive notion, but the effects are frequently devastating, particularly where bath salts are concerned. Don’t let their status as a legal substance fool you; bath salts are among the most dangerous substances available today.

If there’s someone in your life who’s struggling with a bath salts addiction, or with any other type of substance abuse, be sure you seek help for them, sooner rather than later.