Chapter 14: Drug use and addiction Flashcards
- What is addiction and is it a chronic illness?
2. what are the behavioural characteristics
- habits that have gotten out of control with a resulting negative impact on a person’s health. It is a chronic condition
- positive/ negative reinforcement, compulsion or craving, loss of control, escalation (more of the substance is needed to produce the desired effect), negative consequences
How is an addiction developed?
people engage in behaviours that bring them pleasure or help them avoid pain–> if it works and is continuously repeated it can cause dependency and tolerance –> where the behaviour becomes the central focus of a person’s life (ADDICTION)
Why is there no single cause of addiction? What are the causes?
there are a combo of risk factors that can influence development:
- physical factors
- psychological factors
- social factors
What are some examples of addictive behaviours
- gambling
- compulsive exercise
- work addiction
- sex addiction
- shopping addition
- social media
what are the characteristics of an addictive behaviour (ex: internet)
- excessive use
- withdrawal
- tolerance
- adverse consequences
what is the diff between mild, moderate and severe substance use disorder
mild = 2-3 symptoms moderate = 4-5 severe = 6-11
what are drugs?
chemicals other than food that affect the structure and function of the body
what are psychoactive drugs?
- alter consciousness
- cause intoxication where a person’s physical and emotional state changes
- more associated with addiction
who would be at a higher risk for drug addiction?
- male
- troubled childhood
- frequent exposure to drugs from family or peers
- being disinterested in school
- dating young
- having a risk taking or thrill seeking personality
- low income
who would be at a lower risk for developing addiction to drugs?
- positive self esteem
- strong personal identities
- good grades
- religious
- independent thinkers
How do psychoactive drugs affect the brain?
they affect brain chemistry by targeting the brain’s neurotransmitters
what are the 5 factors that influence the effect of the drug on a person:
- pharmacological properties = overall effect of the drug
- dose-response function = relationship between how much our body is exposed to and how it responds
- time-action function = the time since the drug has been taken and the effect on the body
- person’s drug use history
- method of use= injected, inhaled, ingested or absorbed to determine how quickly the drug will reach the brain
if a person continuously took drugs, how does this affect neurotransmitters
increasing amount of drugs increase the release of neurotransmitters (ex: dopamine)
- tolerance develops and reduces the ability of the body to release the neurotransmitters naturally = anhedonia
what is anhedonia
the diminished ability to feel pleasure because the brain decides to stop releasing the neurotransmitter on its own without the presence of the drug –> so the person may want to continue taking the drug to reduce the possibility of experiencing anhedonia
T/F: all drugs activate the dopamine pathway
true
what is dopamine?
a neurotransmitter released with pleasurable events
the drugs of abuse are __x at least more reinforcing than anything that normally gives us pleasure. This is why these drugs are so much more ______ to our brains
5x, rewarding
if an addicted drug user goes off of drugs, what are some symptoms that they may experience
- feeling “not normal”
- angry
- depressed
- agitated
- stressed/anxious
- self deception (wanting to go back on the drug and not caring about the consequences)
- self esteem issues
what do imaging techniques allow?
to compare the brains of drug abusers vs those who do not abuse drugs and to also test the dopamine pathway by analyzing how the cells react to the drug
how does meth for example impact the brain
- less activity in the brain
- neurological diseases that are chronic
- brains that have the appearance of a much older person
what is the core feature of a person who has an addicted disorder?
denial
Explain each type of psychoactive drug:
- opioids
- CNS depressants (sedative hypnotics)
- CNS stimulants
- marijuana and cannabis products
- hallucinogens
- inhalants
- originally used for pain relief but are now recognized as being highly addictive and abused
- slow down overall activity of the NS to act as anti-anxiety agents (benzodiazepines)
- opposite of depressants and speed up NS and muscle activity (cocaine, amphetamines, caffeine)
- legal in canada
- powerful and alter feelings and thoughts (LSD, ketamine; injected or smoked)
- gasoline, aerosols; produce a wide variety of effects like pleasure, delirium or death
What is Canada’s opioid crisis?
- BC declared a public health emergency in 2016 due to the opioid crisis
- in 2016, opioid poisoning resulted in 13+ hospitalizations per day and a lot of deaths
- to help the crisis, canada increased the availability of naloxone to the public–> drug used to reverse an opioid overdose (injections, and nasal sprays
- during early covid-19 Ontario saw a 60% increase in rates of fatal opioid overdoses
what are the current issues with marijuana and other cannabis?
- according to health canada, cannabis is the most widely used “recreational drug in Canada”
- canadian youth are increasinly using cannabis
__% of 20-24 year olds have tried cannabis
__ in __ Ontario students (grades 7-12) report using cannabis in 2019
54%, 1 in 5
what are the risks of cannabis use
- impair ability to drive or operate equipment –> affects coordination/reaction time
- make it hard to learn and remember things
- affect mood and feelings
- affect mental health –> cause anxiety, paranoia, hallucinations
regular use of cannabis can:
- negatively affect respiration
- affect mental health
- become physically dependent or addicted
- relationships
- school or work life
__ in __ of those who use cannabis in their lifetime will become addicted
1 in 11
addiction can be described as wanting the ___ thing very badly
wrong
the tendency to relapse no matter if you have been drug free for weeks, months or years is always very ____
strong
what is the brain’s reward or “go system”
the go system is basic to all humans and evolved to help us pursue things necessary for survival
what is the brains frontal lobes or “stop” system?
the stop system evolved to help us weigh the consequences of our impulses
- how are the go and stop systems interlinked/interactive
2. what happens to the systems when a person has an addiction
- they help you weigh the consequences of a decision and decide if it is okay to move forward with it
- the systems are not interacting seamlessly. The go system takes over
Other than the brain, what else can be a trigger of an addictive behaviour?
- the environment
- -> if the environment signifies an event where drug abuse occurred or where you were able to feel pleasure from drugs, being in that environment again may lead you towards relapse to recreating the pleasurable event
what is the hope of the future to help with treatment for drug addictions?
to combine medications and behavioural treatments to reset the brain ( go and stop system)
T/F: for treatment there are some methods that work better than others to eliminate relapse
F: there is no single best method and all treatments have high relapse rates
explain the treatments:
- medication- assisted
- treatment centres
- counselling
- harm reduction strategies
- codependency
- to reduce cravings or block the effects of the drug
- mental health services to assist people with recovery
- Ex: Narcotics anonymous and Alcoholics anonymous
- although it doesn’t stop them from using it decreases the negative consequences (like decreasing transmission, HIV, Hep C through needles, increased availability of naloxone kits to reduce opioid overdoses, designated drivers)
- counselling for loved ones who have become codependent on the person with addiction; helping loved ones seek recovery for the addict
what are some methods of prevention?
- early school aged preventative programs
- high school peer counselling
- young adult health education
- non-drug alternatives
__% of university students have commonly used cannabis within the past year in 2018
____ are the most frequently used drug of choice in first year Canadian undergrad students with _____ coming in second
The statistics show us that drug use is increasingly affecting ____ people
18% of university students have commonly used cannabis within the past year in 2018
opioids are the most frequently used drug of choice in first year Canadian undergrad students with stimulants coming in second
The statistics show us that drug use is increasingly affecting young people
before any changes in brain chemistry occur, molecules of the drug have to be carried to the brain through the _____
before any changes in brain chemistry occur, molecules of the drug have to be carried to the brain through the bloodstream
What way of taking drugs can allow the drug to reach the brain the fastest? What about the slowest way
drugs that are inhaled and absorbed by the lungs travel to the brain the fastest
drugs that are injected directly into the bloodstream will be second fastest
and drugs that are taken my mouth have to dissolve in the stomach, be absorbed into the bloodstream and then be passed to other organs and arteries to reach the brain in the slowest amount of time
the faster a drug reaches the brain the ___ likely the user is to become addicted
more likely
when a neurotransmitter is released by one neuron, it travels across a gap called a ____ to signal another neuron
synapse
explain the effect of cocaine on brain chemistry
under normal circumstances, the amount of dopamine at a synapse is controlled in part by the reuptake of dopamine by the transmitting neuron. Cocaine blocks the removal of dopamine from a synapse and this causes a buildup of dopamine. This leads to continuous stimulation of the receiving neurons
