Substance Use Disorder
?
Is a primary chronic disease of brain reward, motivation, memory, & related circuitry where a dysfunction in these circuits is connected to an individual pathologically pursuing reward and/or relief by substance use & other behaviors
Addiction
Addiction: Evident when:
___ occurs - substance-specific sx’s occur upon discontinuation of use
Withdrawal
___ develops - the amt req’d to achieve the desired effect increases
Tolerance
Substance-Induced Disorders
Substance Withdrawal
Occurs upon abrupt reduction or discontinuation of a substance used regularly over a prolonged period of time
Substance-specific syndrome includes:
Predisposing Factors
Biological Factors
Psychological Factors
Developmental influences:
* A punitive superego @ the oral stage of psychosexual development; this is when the individual w/a punitive superego turns to drugs to diminish unconscious anxiety & it increases feelings of power & self-worth
Personality factors:
* Certain personality traits have been assoc w/an increased tendency towards addictive behaviors. These include low self-esteem, freq depression, passivity, antisocial personality traits, the inability to relax or to defer gratification & the inability to communicate effectively are common in individuals who abuse substances
Cognitive factors:
* Irrational thinking patterns have long been identified as a central problem in addiction
Sociocultural Factors
Social Learning:
* Modeling & imitation can be observed from an early childhood onward
* The family appears to be an important influence in relation to substance use
Conditioning:
* Many substances create a pleasurable experience that encourages the user to repeat it
* The environment can also serve as condition. If the environment is seen as pleasurable, substance use usually increases
Cultural and ethnic influences
* We know that factors within an individual’s culture can help establish patterns of substance use by molding attitudes, influencing patterns of consumption based on cultural acceptance, and determining the availability of substances
Alcohol Use Disorder: Profile of the Substance
0.08%
Patterns of ETOH use progression
Phase I: pre-alcoholic phase
Phase II: early alcoholic phase
Phase III: crucial phase
Phase IV: chronic phase
! Heavy drinking contributes to heart disease, cancer, and stroke
?
Phase IV: chronic phase
?
Phase II: early alcoholic phase
?
Phase I: pre-alcoholic phase
?
Phase III: crucial phase
Effects on the Body
?
Results in pain, burning, tingling, or prickly sensations of all extremities
Researchers believe it’s the direct result of deficiencies in the B vitamins, particularly thiamine
This is reversible w/abstinence from alcohol & restoration of nutritional deficiencies but permanent muscle wasting & paralysis can occur w/cont’d use
Peripheral neuropathy
?
Is identified by a syndrome of confusion, loss of recent memory, & confabulation in alcoholics; is frequently encountered in those w/another assoc sx
Korsakoff’s psychosis
?
Represents the most serious form of thiamine deficiency in alcoholics
Sx’s include paralysis of the ocular muscle, diplopia, ataxia, somnolence, & stupor
If thiamine replacement therapy is not undertaken quickly, death will ensue
Wernicke’s encephalopathy
→ In the US, the 2 disorders are usually considered together & are called Wernicke-Korsakoff’s syndrome
✔ Treatment is w/parenteral or oral thiamine replacement
In acute alcoholic myopathy, the individual experiences sudden onset of muscle pain, swelling, & weakness
Chronic alcoholic myopathy includes gradual wasting & weakness in skeletal muscles