Final answer:
Drugs that alter mood or emotional state are called psychoactive drugs, which include various legal and illegal substances. These drugs can lead to drug abuse and addiction, and they are classified based on their effects on the central nervous system. Euphoriants are a type of psychoactive drug that induce feelings of happiness and well-being.
Step-by-step explanation:
Drugs that alter one's mood or emotional state are called psychoactive drugs. These substances impact the brain's function, leading to changes in mood, thinking, perception, and behavior, and they can be found in many forms, including prescription medications like opioid painkillers, legal substances such as nicotine and alcohol, and illegal drugs like LSD and heroin. Psychoactive drugs are classified into different groups such as stimulants, depressants, anxiolytics, euphoriants, hallucinogens, and empathogens based on their pharmacological effects on the central nervous system.
Drug abuse, which is using a drug without medical advice and not for its intended purpose, can result in drug addiction, and ultimately, it may lead to the need for an increased dosage to achieve the same effect, putting the user at risk for overdose and potentially death. Euphoriants, for example, are a class of drugs that provide intense feelings of well-being and happiness. Moreover, psychoactive drugs can influence neurotransmitters in the brain, acting either as agonists to enhance neurotransmitter activity or as antagonists to impede it.