Euphoria

Outcome Cns

A lifted, expansive, everything-is-working feeling, arriving within days on some compounds. Recorded because it is real, because it is a large part of why people continue, and because it is the strongest single predictor of the dependence pattern further down. Not marked as good or bad: it is the reward that makes the rest of the list acceptable to the person having it.

Relationships

2 connections

Euphoria increases risk of

Dependence and Withdrawal

Difficulty stopping despite harm, with low mood, lost drive and fatigue on withdrawal. Recognised as a genuine dependence syndrome in around a third of long-term users, not a character failure.

Euphoria stimulates

Dopamine Signalling

How strongly dopamine is signalling, mostly in the reward and motivation circuits. This is the route by which a compound that raises prolactin ends up flattening drive: dopamine holds prolactin down, so a sustained prolactin rise is read backwards as reduced dopaminergic tone.