SO 220 - Chapter 8: Addictions

Addiction

A psychological/physiological need for a drug to maintain a sense of well-being and avoid withdrawal symptoms

* Does not necessarily have to be with substances

Characteristics of Addiction

* Change of mood
* Relief from negative emotions
* Experience of pleasure
* Preoccupation with use of substance
* Ritualistic use
* Engagement in addictive beaviours despite negative consequences

Drug

Any substance, other than food and water, that alters the body’s functions when taken in

Drug Abuse

Excessive and inappropriate use of a drug

Alcohol use and abuse

* Psychoactive depressant (lowers activity of the CNS) but for some people it can act as a stimulant
* 3/4 of all Canadians aged 15+ within a year of the study discussed in class had consumed alcohol
* As you move up to the legal age, 18+, that number increases (84%)

4 Categories of Drinkers

* Social drinkers (occasionally in social settings)
* Heavy drinkers (frequently and heavily)
* Acute alcoholics (Have difficulty controlling drinking)
* Chronic alcoholics (Drink to be intoxicated multiple times in a week)

Canadian alcohol risk guidelines

* Only recommended to have one a week
* Looks at the long-term and immediate harm

Social problems related to alcohol abuse

* Workplace (come to work intoxicated/hungover)
* Social, physical, and health harms (high level of calories, impacted heart and liver functioning, damaged relationships, social isolation)
* Drinking and driving (MADD)
* Impacts on the family

Family impacts of alcohol abuse

* Social harm
* Children feeling like they need to assume the role of the parent, avoiding the parent’s trigger, not speaking about it, and protecting them by hiding alcohol
* Family violence

FASD

* Lifetime negative impact
* Range of effects that can occur in a person exposed to alcohol prenatally
* Impact can vary depending on when they were exposed
* Challenges include problems communicating, sensory deficits, poor memory, difficulty learning from consequences, increased risk of mental health concerns

Tobacco Use

* Stimulant
* We are now seeing a reduction in use
* Vaping has replaced cigarette use for many

Health effects of tobacco

* Diseases and conditions
* Shortens life expectancy

Environmental tobacco smoke

Smoke in the air that affects others

Addictions to prescription drugs

* Psychoactive pharmaceutical drugs
* Stimulants, opioids, tranquilizers, and sedatives
* Dispensed by a pharmacist on authorization of a doctor or dentist
* Common dependencies occur among people with no previous drug abuse of addiction
* Risk is much higher and immediate than with other drugs like alcohol
* Opioids are the most used and abused (higher prevalence among women)

Statistics on prescription drug abuse

* Overall use from 2008-2019 has been relatively stable
* started tracking specifically tracking problematic use in 2012
* 7% reported engaging in problematic use of pharamceuticals
* Opioids and stimulants are recently the most problematically used

Cannabis

* Legalized and regulated in 2018
* The most used drug in Canada
* Not a huge increase in young and underage individuals
* Their use is actually down from 10 years ago
* Ages 20-24 and seniors most affected

Harm reduction philosophy

* To minimize the harm associated with the use of illegal drugs for those who are not willing or able to stop use
* To reduce adverse health, social, and economic consequences
* Goal is often to maintain someone’s ability to live if they cannot fully stop the drug (maintains dignity)
* Walking beside someone to incrementally decrease use and build healthy practices around using
* Highlighting positive practices
* Recognizing that not everyone is able to fully quit

The stages of change model

* The most used model for harm reduction
* Not everyone is able/willing to remove a substance or practice at one given time
* Pre-contemplation stage
* Contemplation stage
* Determination stage
* Action stage
* Relapse
* Maintenance

Pre-contemplation stage (stages of change model)

Just starting to think about what life would look like without the substance

Contemplation stage (stages of change model)

* Starting to seriously think about realistically removing the substance or decreasing dependence
* Would I go from 10 drinks a day to 6? Do I want to stop alcohol completely?

Determination stage (stages of change model)

* Start to develop an action plan towards change
* Assign a timeline (ex. in the next month…)
* Usually alongside a professional or another person

Action stage (stages of change model)

Enacting the plan to change patterns of behaviour

Relapse stage (stages of change model)

* Part of the cycle
* Can result in leaving the cycle completely or reentering into determination

Maintenance stage (stages of change model)

* Successfully enacted the determination plan
* Now focused on maintaining stability

Benefits of the stages of change model

* Saves lives
* Bridges to detox and treatment
* Benefits the community and public health

Biological explanations of addictions

Physical pleasure is gained by consuming drugs

Interactionist explanation of drug abuse

* Drug behaviour is learned and influenced by families, peers, and others
* People are more prone to accept attitudes and behaviours favourable to drug use if they spend time with members of a drug subculture
* Labelling theory holds that it is harder for people to overcome their addictions when they are labelled as “alcoholics” or such because of the ideology that such problems are purely personal choices

Drug subculture

A group of people whose attitudes, beliefs, and behaviours pertaining to drug use differ significantly from those of most people in larger society

Functionalist perspective on drugs

* All societies use drugs of some kind
* Social institutions that used to keep addictions in check have become fragmented
* Drugs are a part of many social rituals

Conflict theory perspective on drugs

* People in positions of social and economic power make drug use, sale, and possession by the powerless illegal
* Restricting drugs used by one group is a way of suppressing them
* Powerful corporations perpetuate addictions

Feminist perspective on drugs

* Part of the explanation of drug abuse by women has to do with their vulnerability and disadvantaged position  
* Men and women use different drugs
* Men = alcohol and illegal drugs
* Women = legal and psychotherapeutic drugs