Substance Use Disorders

Question 1

Substance abuse disorder
Polysubstance abuse disorder

Answer 1

Substance abuse disorder: Addiction to substance

Polysubstance abuse disorder: Simultaneous misuse/dependence on 2+ substances

Question 2

Symptoms of alcohol use disorder
(2+ symptoms needed)

Answer 2

• Recurrent alcohol use and failure to control despite problems caused by it
• Tolerance: Diminished effect of same use of alcohol; needs more to get effect
• Withdrawal: Alcohol taken to relieve withdrawal symptoms; displays withdrawal syndrome

Question 3

Effects of ethyl alcohol:
- On mood
- Body fat
- As a depressant

Answer 3

Reduces anxiety and increases well-being

Enzyme alcohol dehydrogenase less available in stomachs of women, causing more body fat

Depressants cause deficits in hand-eye coordination, drowsiness, decreased taste/smell/pain, slow reaction time

Question 4

Long-term alcohol effects

Answer 4

• Organ damage
• Cancer risk
• Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome: Chronic impairment of memory and loss of contact w/ reality

Question 5

Genetic and neurobiological influences on alcohol use disorder

Answer 5

Genetic:
- Higher vulnerability in men (men w/relatives w/ disorder have larger increases in heart rate)
- May also be caused by genetic ability to metabolize alcohol

Neurobiological:
- Higher rates of fast beta wave and less change
- Low serotonin lvls

Question 6

Psychological factors causing alcohol use disorder (etiology)
- Behavioural disinhibition
- Negative emotionality
- Tension-reduction hypothesis
- Alcohol expectancy theory

Answer 6

Behavioural disinhibition:
- Inability to inhibit behav impulses

Negative emotionality:
- Personality trait that makes people more susceptible to depression and anxiety

Tension-reduction hypothesis:
- Reinforcement of reduction in unpleasant emotions

Alcohol expectancy theory:
- Drinking behav influenced by reinforcement that person expects to receive from it
- More of expectation and attitude than effect of alcohol

Question 7

Support group treatments for alcohol use disorder:
Residential treatment
Alcoholics Anonymous (AA)

Answer 7

Residential treatment:
- Sees disorder as disease
- Focuses on educating and abstinence from alcohol as a goal
- Group and individual therapy

Alcoholics Anonymous (AA):
- Non-professional support group w/ goal to complete abstinence

Question 8

Psychological treatments for alcohol:
Behavioural treatment, Contingency management
Relapse prevention
Marital and family therapy
Brief interventions, motivational interviewing

Answer 8

Behavioural treatment:
- Focuses on alcohol as a learned behav
- Attempt to pair alcohol with aversive response
- Contingency management: Uses rewards to encourage sobriety

Relapse prevention:
- Relapse usually caused by self-defeating thoughts so aim is to replace these beliefs w/ adaptive ones

Marital and family therapy:
- Focus on communication skills that will help partner and family positively reinforce sobriety in substance user

Brief interventions:
- Advice on how to reduce alcohol consumption
- Motivational interviewing: Used w/ ppl w/ varying lvls of readiness to change behav; helps increase awareness of problems and supports movement towards change + self-efficacy