Substance Use Disorder Causes

COGNITIVE BEHAVOIRAL PERSEPCTIVE

Behavioral explanations

Operant conditioning: because drugs can cause temporary positive effects, it can lead to someone seeking the drug

opponent process theory

Richard solomen. the idea that people are initially driven to drugs but as the negative effects of the drugs begin to show, people use it out of negative reinforcement (avoiding withdrawal symptoms, marital conflict)

classical conditioning paradigm

ideas, objects, or people can be associated/paired with the drug. ex: when you take the drug with a specific person you start to use them as a cue to use the drug when they are around

Cognitive explanations

• expectancy effects

  • drugs make you “feel good” (not really) but these expectations lead to future uses

• cravings

  • dopamine system becomes sensitive to the cues, small release of dopamine

Behavioral treatments

aversion therapy and teach alternative behaviors

aversion therapy

based on classical conditioning. when you take a biological component (Antabuse) so the person cannot metabolize the drug, which causes really negative side effects.

teaching alternative behaviors

teaching relaxation to reduce stress ( a common reason why people take drugs), assertiveness training teaches how to deal with peer pressure

cognitive behavioral approach

THE PRIMARY APROACH relapse prevention training: three steps

• eliminate ambiguity of their desire to quit

• identify triggers and high risk situations

• developing strategies

The biological perspective

genetic predisposition: when a family member has had an issue with substances, you will have a higher chance to develop a similar issue, but this is not specific to the specific type of drug.

genetic predisposition; concurrence rate: monozygotic twins versus dizygotic twins

concurrence rate meaning if one twin has it, will the other twin have it too?

monozygotic twins: 54%; dizygotic twins: 28%

this is because monozygotic twins have identical genes whereas disygotic twins share 50% of genes.

what if an adopted child is raised in a family of drug users? what if its compared to an adopted kid whose biological parents had substance use disorders but was raised outside of it?

the adopted child will be LESS LIKELY to develop a substance use disorder compared to the adopted child whose biological parents had substance use issues

biochemical factors

Dopamine: the reward pathway: the nucleus accumbens and the ventral striatum.

theres an idea individuals who are more vulnerable to substance use disorder will be more likely to develop reward deficiency syndrome

reward deficiency syndrome

a persons—-who has a higher risk of developing reward centers are not as readily activated to things in their environment

Biological treatments

detoxification, antagonist drugs, aversive drugs, drug maintenance therapy

detoxification

systematically, medically supervised withdrawal. makes withdrawal symptoms more manageable, the goal is to get the substance out of the persons system—-get clean.

antagonist drugs

negate positive effects of future uses; when the person takes the substance, they won’t get the same high. this is because the medicine binds to the same receptors the substance binds to but DOES NOT stimulate them

aversive drugs

Antabuse. makes the person really sick when they take the substance/drug because they can no longer metabolize it.

drug maintenance therapy

also called agonist substitution. mimics the effects of the substance the person is using. helps prevent the withdrawal syndrome.

sociocultural perspective

• stressful economic conditions

• value and acceptance of drug taking

• exposure of drug taking

sociocultural treatments

• self help programs (AA)

• community prevention programs