Drugs and Misuse

Pharmacology

How drugs act on biological systems, how the body responds

Psychopharmacology

The effects of drugs on behavior

Drug

Any substance that may prevent or cure disease or enhance physical or mental welfare (medicine); Any chemical agent that alters biochemical processes of tissues or organisms (pharmacology); psychoactive drugs, used non-medically as well as medically (common usage)

Drug Abuse

Any use of drug for reasons other than what it was prescribed for

Drug Misuse

Use of a drug for reasons other than what it was prescribed for

Definition Difficulty

Behaviors may or may not cause the same consequences in different communities or cultures

What makes a drug work the way it does?

1.) pharmacological factors

2.) characteristics of the person using drugs

3.) setting in which drug is used

Drug Addiction

Use persists despite risk of serious consequences; inability to stop or reduce use - “loss of control”; “tolerance, withdrawal

Psychological Dependence

Emotional state of craving (either for positive effects or to avoid negative effects)

Tolerance

Increased amounts of drug needed for intoxication, or lesser drug effect with continued use of the same amount

Withdrawal

A definable illness with cessation or decrease in drug use after the body has adjusted so it cannot function without the drug

Sensitization

Repeated drug use, interacting with environment factors, changes brain neural pathways, heightening reward value of the drug

Cost-of-illness

To quantify what society “pays” for specific illnesses