This is an unofficial archive of PsychonautWiki as of 2025-08-08T03:33:20Z. Content on this page may be outdated, incomplete, or inaccurate. Please refer to the original page for the most up-to-date information.
Barbiturates (also referred to as barbies) are a class of drugs that act as central nervous system depressants. Similarly to benzodiazepines, they produce a variety of effects including sleepiness, anxiety suppression, muscle relaxation, seizure suppression and sedation. Barbiturates have been largely replaced by benzodiazepines, generally because benzodiazepines have lower toxicity compared to barbiturates. However, barbiturates are still used today for various medical purposes, mostly for anesthesia.
It's worth noting that the sudden discontinuation of barbiturates can be potentially dangerous or life-threatening for individuals using regularly for extended periods of time, sometimes resulting in seizures or death.[2]
Barbiturates are based on the barbituric acid molecule. Commonly, two hydrocarbon substitutions are present at carbon R5. of the pyrimidine ring. It also contains three double-bonded oxygen substitutions at R2, R4 and R6.
Disclaimer: The effects listed below cite the Subjective Effect Index (SEI), an open research literature based on anecdotal user reports and the personal analyses of PsychonautWikicontributors. As a result, they should be viewed with a healthy degree of skepticism.
It is also worth noting that these effects will not necessarily occur in a predictable or reliable manner, although higher doses are more liable to induce the full spectrum of effects. Likewise, adverse effects become increasingly likely with higher doses and may include addiction, severe injury, or death ☠. These effects are listed and defined in detail within their own dedicated articles below:
Sedation - In terms of energy level alterations, these drugs have the potential to be extremely sedating and this often results in an overwhelmingly lethargic state or even anesthesia. At higher levels, this causes users to suddenly feel as if they are extremely sleep deprived and have not slept for days, forcing them to sit down and generally feel as if they are constantly on the verge of passing out instead of engaging in physical activities. This sense of sleep deprivation increases proportional to dosage and eventually becomes powerful enough to force a person into complete unconsciousness.
Paradoxical effects
Seizures - Barbiturates may cause an increase in the amount of seizures in an extremely small subset of individuals.
Emotion suppression - Although this compound primarily suppresses anxiety, it also dulls other emotions in a manner which is distinct but less intensive than that of antipsychotics.
Delusions of sobriety - This is the false belief that one is perfectly sober despite obvious evidence to the contrary such as severe cognitive impairment and an inability to fully communicate with others. It most commonly occurs at heavy dosages.
Toxicity and harm potential
This toxicity and harm potential section is a stub.
As a result, it may contain incomplete or even dangerously wrong information! You can help by expanding upon or correcting it. Note: Always conduct independent research and use harm reduction practices if using this substance.
Barbiturates are toxic at higher dosages. Barbiturates have a greater addiction potential than benzodiazepines. Overdose can be achieved easier with barbiturates than with benzodiazepines. Some barbiturates, such as phenobarbital, have been linked to the development to cancer. Using barbiturates concurrently with other depressants can be considered extremely dangerous, even in lower doses, and may lead to serious respiratory depression or possibly death.
Tolerance and addiction potential
Barbiturates can be considered extremely physically and psychologically addictive. Short-acting barbiturates are significantly more addictive than long acting barbiturates.
Tolerance will develop to the sedative-hypnotic and euphoric effects of barbiturates after prolonged use. It is unknown exactly how long it takes for tolerance to reach baseline. Barbiturates present cross tolerance with each other, meaning that tolerance to one barbiturate will lead to tolerance of all barbiturates.
Discontinuation
Barbiturate withdrawal is medically serious and can potentially cause a life-threatening withdrawal syndrome that can cause seizures, psychosis, and death. Drugs which lower the seizure threshold such as tramadol and amphetamine should be avoided during withdrawal. If an individual is addicted to a short-acting barbiturate such as pentobarbital, switching to a longer acting drug such as phenobarbital may be of some benefit.
Overdose
Barbiturate overdose may occur when a barbiturate is taken in extremely heavy quantities or concurrently with other depressants. This is particularly dangerous with other GABAergic depressants such as benzodiazepines and alcohol since they work in a similar fashion, but bind to distinct allosteric sites on the GABAA receptor, thus their effects potentiate one another. Benzodiazepines increase the frequency in which the chlorine ion pore opens on the GABAA receptor while barbiturates increase the duration in which they are open, meaning when both are consumed, the ion pore will open more frequently and stay open longer[3]. Barbiturate overdose is a medical emergency that may lead to a coma, permanent brain injury or death if not treated promptly and properly. Barbiturate overdose has an increased frequency of serious adverse effects when compared to other depressants.
