Module 11: Recognizing and Avoiding Addiction and Drug Abuse Flashcards
define addiction
- continued involvement with a substance or activity despite ongoing negative consequences
- classified as a mental disorder
- provide initial sense of pleasure
what must a substance or behavior have to be addictive
- potential to produce positive mood changes
define physiological dependence
- adaptive state of brain and body processes that occurs with regular addictive behavior
- experience tolerance when increased amounts of drug are required to achieve desired effect
- results in withdrawal if the addictive behavior stops
define psychological dependence
- dependency of the mind on a substance or behavior
- leads to psychological withdrawal symptoms: anxiety, irritability, cravings
what are the 5 characteristics of addiction
- compulsion
- loss of control
- negative consequences
- denial
- inability to abstain
define nurturing through avoidance
- repeatedly seeking illusion of relief to avoid unpleasant feelings or situations
- lead to addiction
define habit
- repeated behavior in which the repetition may be unconscious
- broken without too much discomfort
- doesn’t contain compulsion
define codependence
- self-defeating relationship pattern in which a person helps or encourages addictive behavior in another person
- family and friends of an addicted person struggle with codependence
define enablers
- people who knowingly or unknowingly protect addicts from the natural consequences of their behavior
define process addiction
- driven by pathological pursuit of a reward or relief by an individual
- person is dependent on a mood-altering behavior or process
- gambling, buying, exercise, technology
define gambling disorder
- behavior including preoccupation with gambling, unsuccessful efforts to cut back or quit, using gambling to escape problems, and lying to family members to conceal the extent of gambling
what percent of college students gamble and what percent are addicted
- 75% gamble
- 6% addicted
define compulsive buying disorder
- preoccupation with shopping and spending accompanied by little control over the impulse to buy
- results in psychological distress and conflict with friends or family
what percent of adults have compulsive buying disorder
- 5%
define exercise addiction
- always working out alone, following the same rigid pattern, exercising for more than 2 hours daily, focusing on weight loss or calories burned, exercising to the point of pain, skips work/class for workouts
define technology addictions
- compulsive use of any form of technology to access the internet for activities
- generally gaming and cybersex
how many people will experience internet addiction
- 1 in 8 internet users
define drugs
- substances other than food that are intended to affect the structure or function of the mind or the body through chemical action
define drug misuse
- use of drug for a purpose other than what was intended
define drug abuse
- excessive use of a drug
define neurotransmitter
- chemical that relays message between nerve cells or from nerve cells to other body cells
which neurotransmitter relays messages about pleasure
dopamine
define the mesolimbic dopamine system
- pleasure circuit
- brain stem: survival
- limbic system: emotional
- frontal cerebral cortex: thinking
define psychoactive drugs
- drugs that affect brain chemistry and have the potential to alter mood or behavior
describe the routes of administration of drugs
- oral ingestion: swallowing, reaches bloodstream in 30 minutes
- inhalation: through respiratory tract, travels rapidly
- injection: into bloodstream/muscles/subcutaneous layer of skin, effects felt within seconds
- transdermal: absorbed through skin
- suppositories: mucous membranes in vagina or anus
what is the most dangerous method of administration and why
- intravenous
- can damage blood vessels or contract HIV and hep B
define polydrug use
- taking several medications simultaneously
- causes interactions between drugs
define synerism
- interaction of two or more drugs
- affects of individual drugs are multiplied beyond normal expectancy
define antagonism
- drugs working at same receptor site
- one drug blocks action of the other
define inhibition
- effects of one drug are eliminated or reduced by the presence of another drug at the receptor site
define intolerance
- drugs combine in the body to produce uncomfortable reactions
define cross-tolerance
- person develops physiological tolerance to one drug that also increases the tolerance to other substance that act similarly on the body
examples of OTC drugs that are subject to misuse and abuse
- caffeine pills and energy drinks
- cold medicines (cough syrups and tablets) containing DXM
- diet pills