Introduction To Addiction Flashcards
Define addiction
A disorder in which an individual takes a substance or engages in a behaviour that is pleasurable but eventually becomes compulsive with harmful consequences
What are the key features of addiction?
- Dependence (physical and psychological)
- Tolerance
- Withdrawal syndrome
What is dependence (physical)
A state of the body due to habitual drug use which results in a withdrawal syndrome when the use of the drug is reduced or stopped
When can we establish physical dependence?
Once drug use has stopped (we then can establish withdrawal symptoms)
When does dependence usually occur?
After prolonged use of a substance (several weeks)
What is physical dependence usually characterised by?
Needing the drug to feel ‘normal’ - this does not necessarily mean they are addicted, they can just be dependent
Give an example of physical dependence
Meredith et al. (2013)
- caffeine dependence
- caffeine withdrawal can include headaches, fatigue and difficulty concentrating
- this can happen in those that drink just one regular cup of coffee a day
Define dependence (psychological)
A compulsion to continue taking a drug because the use is rewarding - it becomes a central part of the individual’s thoughts, emotions and activities
When does psychological dependence occur?
When the drug leads to either an increase in pleasure or decrease in discomfort
This can lead to the individual continuously taking the drug until it becomes a habit, despite any harmful consequences
Give an example of psychological dependence
Cravings - once cravings develop a person can begin to feel anxious if cravings are not met and they may feel unable to cope
- the desire to use the drug can become so intense it can take over thought processes completely
What is tolerance?
A reduction in the response to a drug, so that the addicted individual needs more to get the same effect
How is tolerance caused?
By repeated previous exposure to the effects of a drug (e.g. heroin addiction, sleeping pills, pain killers)
Outline and describe the three examples of tolerance
- Learned tolerance: when an individual learns to function normally when under the influence of a drug - resulting in a reduced effect
- Metabolic tolerance: enzymes metabolise the drug more efficiently over time - resulting in lower concentrations in the blood, reducing its effect
- Cross-tolerance: developing tolerance to one drug can reduce sensitivity to another drug - e.g. the sleep-inducing effects of alcohol leads to patients needing higher doses of anaesthetic
What is withdrawal syndrome?
A set of symptoms that develop when the addicted person abstains from or reduces their drug use
What are the symptoms like compared to the ones created by the drug?
Opposite to symptoms created by the drug - they also indicate when physical dependence has developed
What do withdrawal symptoms from nicotine include?
Irritability
Anxiety
Increased appetite
Weight gain
When do the symptoms occur?
When the individual cannot get the drug
Sometimes the motivation to take the drug is simply to reduce the unpleasant withdrawal symptoms (a form of psychological dependence)
What are the two phases withdrawal usually takes place in?
- Acute withdrawal - after a few hours of abstinence the person experiences intense cravings (sign of dependence
- Prolonged withdrawal - symptoms that continue after weeks, months or years dye to becoming sensitive to cues they associate with the substance (causing relapse)
What is one limitation of focusing on individual risk factors?
- It means we ignore the effect of interactions and also may ignore the positive effects
- combinations of risk matter more than single factors
- Linda Mayes & Nancy Suchman (2006) point out that different combinations partly determine the nature and severity of an addiction
- also the factors we have described as ‘risky’ can be protective - personality traits, genetic characteristics, family and peer influences can reduce the risk of addiction (e.g. greater parental monitoring and lower levels of impulsivity)
- therefore a more realistic view of risk is to think in terms of multiple ‘pathways’ to addiction which include different combinations interacting and some having a positive effect
What is one strength of looking at risk factors together
- they point to the overriding interaction with genes
- most risk factors are proximate (i.e. they act as immediate influence on addiction)
- for example, high stress levels directly increase addiction risk as does the personality traits of novelty - seeking (craving nee experiences)
- but how we respond to stress and the extent to which we seek novelty are both partly genetic (Rey et al. 2009)
- so to fully understand risk factors, we have to look further back in the chain of influences to the ultimate risk factor
- in many cases its genetic
- therefore genetic vulnerability may be the most significant risk factor because it has the ultimate influence on the others
