Addiction

Addictive diseases

These are complex primary disease states that typically manifest as both physical and behavioral symptoms. They are brought on by a confluence of genetic, psychosocial, and environmental factors.

Addiction

It occurs when a psychoactive drug is taken for a sufficiently long period of time and in sufficient doses to cause either tolerance or withdrawal symptoms.

Tolerance

It is represented by the need for an individual to take more of a given substance to achieve a given effect, or by the decrease in perceived effect over time when a substance is taken in an unchanging dose.

Withdrawal

It is represented by the presence of observable physiologic change following drug discontinuation.

Alcohol

It is a drug that is physically addictive and causes physiologic addiction in all humans.

Substance use

A quantity-oriented term, as it contains all those activities in which substances are used in any quantity other than zero.

psychiatric framework

Within the _______, addiction can be caused by alcohol and other sedative drugs, amphetamines, cannabis, cocaine, hallucinogens, inhalants, nicotine, opioids, phencyclidine, and steroids.

quantity and frequency

Since substance use ______ are unrelated to disease severity, they are neither useful nor predictive indicators of disease progression.

Addictive illnesses

These are primary illnesses in that they are not symptoms of other disease states.

Addictive diseases

These are involuntary in the sense that those who suffer from them did not choose to be ill, but this does not absolve those who suffer from addictive illnesses of the responsibility required to recover from their illness.

Discontinuation

____ of the addictive behavior is a requirement during the action and maintenance phases.

Controlled use

_____ or cutting back is an ineffective treatment approach.

Prevalence

It refers to the percentage of a given population with a given diagnosis at a specific cross-section in time.

Epidemiologic Catchment Area (ECA)

The _______ study indicates a lifetime prevalence of alcohol disorders to be 23.8%, with a one-year prevalence of alcohol disorders to be 11.9%.

National Comorbidity Survey (NCS)

The ______ showed a lifetime prevalence of alcohol dependence to be 20.1% in men, with a one-year prevalence of 10.7%.

Incidence

It refers to the risk that any one member of the study population will become afflicted with the disease under study in a specified period of time.

Stopping substance use

______ is only the first step in the treatment of addiction, and a maintenance program must be followed after this to be effective.

pharmacotherapy

Opioid and nicotine dependence have both been proven useful with _____.

Disulfiram (Antabuse)

It is the only medication that has been shown to be effective in the long term treatment of alcoholism.

Dry drunk

An individual is thinking in the same manner as one who is actively using.

Recovery prone

* 40% of addicts attempting recovery fall into this group.
* Some attain sobriety with no clinical intervention and no attendance at self-help groups.

Transitionally relapse prone

* 20% of all patients periodically relapse, generally within treatment.
* These patients often enter a long-term sobriety within 3–5 years.

Relapse prone

* This group of 40% are thought to develop progressive patterns of more severe episodes.
* Levels of functioning decrease during periods of abstinence.
* These patients often die of their illness within the first two decades of treatment.