New/emerging psychoactive substances and associated psychopathological consequences

Background The present paper provides an updated review of both the large number of new/novel/emerging psychoactive substances (NPS) and their associated psychopathological consequences. Focus was here given on identification of those NPS being commented in specialised online sources and the related short-/long-term psychopathological and medical ill-health effects. Methods NPS have been identified through an innovative crawling/navigating software, called the 'NPS.Finder (R)', created in order to facilitate the process of early recognition of NPS online. A range of information regarding NPS, including chemical and street names; chemical formula; three-dimensional image and anecdotally reported clinical/psychoactive effects, were here made available. Results Using the 'NPS.Finder (R)' approach, a few thousand NPS were here preliminarily identified, a number which is about 4-fold higher than those figures suggested by European and international drug agencies. NPS most commonly associated with the onset of psychopathological consequences included here synthetic cannabinoids/cannabimimetics; new synthetic opioids; ketamine-like dissociatives; novel stimulants; novel psychedelics and several prescription and over-the-counter medicines. Conclusions The ever-increasing changes in terms of recreational psychotropics' availability represent a relatively new challenge for psychiatry, as the pharmacodynamics and pharmacokinetics of many NPS have not been thoroughly understood. Health/mental health professionals should be informed about the range of NPS; their intake modalities; their psychoactive sought-after effects; the idiosyncratic psychotropics' combinations and finally, their medical and psychopathological risks.

Automated summary

This paper provides an updated review of new/novel/emerging psychoactive substances (NPS) and their psychopathological consequences, particularly focusing on identifying NPS through specialized online sources and their short-/long-term effects. Using the 'NPS.Finder (R)' approach, thousands of NPS were identified, significantly higher than previously suggested figures by drug agencies. The most commonly associated NPS with psychopathological consequences include synthetic cannabinoids, new synthetic opioids, ketamine-like dissociatives, novel stimulants, and novel psychedelics.