How a sedative and tranquilizer work is via slowing your brain’s activity by depressing the central nervous system. And both can cause euphoria with a calming effect.
Since a sedative or tranquilizer can slow normal brain function, when you first start taking them you’ll likely experience:
- fatigue
- sluggishness
- dilated pupils
- disorientation
- slurred speech
- shallow breathing
- lack of coordination
As your body works to adapt, these effects often dissipate. With long term use of sedatives and tranquilizers, tolerance and physical dependency can be expected.
Using a sedative and tranquilizer with other substances, especially alcohol, can slow your heart and respiration to such an extent that death is possible.
The difference between a sedative and tranquilizer is the type of drug used and what it’s used for. But they’re very often referred to interchangeably because the difference in affect and usage is slight.
A sedative is a barbiturate used to treat acute anxiety, tension and insomnia. A tranquilizer is a benzodiazepine prescribed to treat anxiety, acute stress response and panic attacks.
Not much difference, yet mental alertness might be greater with a tranquilizer.
