Task 9: Substance Use Disorders Flashcards
(43 cards)
substance use disorders
chronic difficulties in resisting the desire to drink alcohol or take drugs
gambling disorder
inability to resist the impulse to gamble because the behavioral patterns and causes of this disorder appear to be similar to the behavioral patterns and causes of the substance use disorders
substance
any natural or synthesized product that has psychoactive effects - it changes perceptions, thoughts, emotions, and behaviors
substance intoxication
= a set of behavioral and psychological changes that occur as a result of the physiological effects of a substance on the central nervous system
- people become intoxicated soon after they ingest a substance, and the more they ingest, the more intoxicated they become
- the diagnosis of intoxication with a substance is given only when the behavioral and psychological changes the person experiences are significantly maladaptive
substance withdrawal
= a set of physiological and behavioral symptoms that result when people who have been using substances heavily for prolonged periods of time stop or greatly reduce their use
substance abuse (IV)
= a person’s recurrent use of a substance results in significant harmful consequences comprising four categories
1. the individual fails to fulfill important obligations at work, school, or home
2. the individual repeatedly uses the substance in situations in which it is physically hazardous to do so, such as while driving
3. the individual repeatedly has legal problems as a result of substance use
4. the individual continues to use the substance despite repeated social or legal problems as a result of use
substance dependence (IV)
= people who are dependent on, or addicted to, a substance often show tolerance – they experience diminished effects from the same dose of a substance and need more and more of it to achieve intoxication
DSM-5 Criteria Substance Use Disorder
Impaired Control
1. The substance is taken in increasingly larger amounts over a longer period of time than originally intended
2. The substance user craves the substance
3. The substance user feels an ongoing desire to cut down or control substance abuse, or has made unsuccessful attempts to do so
4. Much time is spent in obtaining, using, or recovering from the substance
Social Impairment
5. The ongoing use of the substance often results in an inability to meet responsibilities at home, work, or school
6. Important social, work-related, or recreational activities are abandoned or cut back because of substance use
7. Ongoing substance use despite recurring social or relationship difficulties caused or made worse by the effects of the substance
Risky Use
8. Ongoing substance use in physically dangerous situations such as driving a car or operating machinery
9. Substance use continues despite the awareness of ongoing physical or psychological problems that have likely arisen or been made worse by the substance
Pharmacological
10. Tolerance: the need for increased amounts of the substance to achieve the desired effect or by a diminished experience of intoxication over time with the same amount of the substance
11. Withdrawal: the substance user experiences the characteristic withdrawal syndrome of the substance and/or takes the same or similar substance to relieve withdrawal symptoms
Depressants
- slow the CNS
- moderate doses: relaxed, sleepy, reduced concentration, impaired thinking, judgement, motor skills
- heavy doses: stupor or even death
Alcohol
- low dose: self-confidence, relaxed, euphoric
- increasing dose: depressive symptoms
- intoxication: slurred words, walking unsteadily, attentional and memory problems, acting inappropriately, aggression, mood swings
- women get intoxicated faster than men
- 600.000 deaths due to unintentional alcohol-related injuries
Alcohol Withdrawal
- within a few hours, there is tremulousness, weakness, profuse perspiration
- convulsive seizure: begin as soon as 12 hours after drinking stops, usually, 2/3 days after
- delirium tremens (DTs) = auditory/visual/tactile hallucinations; little sleep, delusion, disorientation
Alcohol Misuse
- heavy drinking: 2+ (men)/1+ (women) drinks per day
- binge drinking: 5+ (men)/4+ (women) drinks within a couple of hours –> especially in college fraternities and sororities
- men are more likely to drink alcohol (heavily) and binge drink
- decline with age
- starts earlier in youth
- higher rates in cultures with excessive rate of poverty and unemployment
Long-term effects of alcohol misuse
- malnourishment
- vitamin B1 deficiency
- risk for dementia
- negative effects on the brain development
- increased heart-disease risk
- risk of cancer
Benzodiazepines and Barbiturates
- depress the CNS
- sedatives
- intoxication and withdrawal similar to Alcohol
- decrease in blood pressure, respiratory rate, and heart rate
- feelings of euphoria and disinhibition
- depressed moods, perceptual distortions, loss of cordiantion
Stimulants
- activate the CNS
- feelings of energy, happiness, power, decreased desire for sleep, diminished appetite
Cocaine
- crack: a form of freebase cocaine –> euphoria, heightened self-esteem, alertness, energy, feelings of competence, and creativity
- effects: grandiosity, impulsiveness, hypersexuality, compulsive behavior, agitation, anxiety
- activates brain areas related to reward and pleasure
- causes dopamine release and blocks its reuptake
- medical complications: heart rhythm disturbances, heart attacks, respiratory failure
neurological effects: stroked, seizures, headaches - physical symptoms: chest pain, blurred vision. fever, muscle spasms, convulsions, coma
Amphetamines
= prescribed for the treatment of attention problems, narcolepsy, and chronic fatigue
- release dopamine and norepinephrine and block their reuptake
- similar intoxication symptoms as in cocaine
- can cause perceptual illusions
- speed run: inject amphetamines frequently over several days without eating or sleeping –> then they crash into a devastating depression
- withdrawal: instability, memory loss, confusion, paranoid thinking, perceptual abnormalities
- medical issues: cardiovascular problems, increased blood pressure, stroke , HIV, hepatitis
Nicotine
= an alkaloid in tobacco
- 28% are smokers
- begins in the early teens
- operates on CNS and PNS –> releases dopamine, norepinephrine, serotonin, and endogenous opioids into the brain
- resembles the fight-or-flight response
- cancer, bronchitis, coronary heart disease
- 70% higher mortality rate
- withdrawal: depression, irritability, anger, anxiety, frustration, restlessness, hungry, concentration issue
Caffeine
= most heavily used stimulant (75%)
- stimulates the CNS –> increases levels of dopamine, norepinephrine, and serotonin
- restlessness, nervousness, hand tremors, upset stomach, sleeping problems
Opioids
= used to relieve pain
- morphine: highly addictive
- intoxication: behavioral change, constriction of pupils, drowsiness, attention/memory problems
- sensations in the abdomen
- can suppress respiratory and cardiovascular systems to point of death
- withdrawal: achy feelings, increased sensitivity to pain, craving, nausea, sweating, fever
Hallucinogens and PCP
hallucinogens = produce perceptual changes
- synaesthesia: overflow from one sensory modality to another –> time passes slowly, mood shifts, detachment
- bad trips: severe anxiety, paranoia, loss of control
phencyclidine (PCP) = manufactured as a powder to be snorted or smoked
- lower doses: intoxication, euphoria, talkativeness, loss of concern, slowed reaction
- intermediate doses: disorganized thinking, depersonalizations, hostility, violence
- higher doses: amnesia, coma, seizures, hyperthermia
Cannabis
- intoxication: begins with “high” feeling of well-being, relaxation, tranquility, dizziness, dreamy, sleepy, grandiose, funny, aware, anxiety, distortions
- impairs cognitive and motor functioning
- physiological symptoms: increased/irregular heartbeat, increased appetite, risk of cancer
Inhalants
= volatile substances producing chemical vapors that can be inhaled and depress the CNS
- respiratory irritations, rashes
- permanent damage to CNS: cognitive deficits, hepatitis, liver/kidney disease
- sudden sniffing death –> acute heartbeat irregularities or loss of oxygens, suffocating when falling unconscious
Causes: Biological
- dopamine-rich pleasure pathway
- VTA –> nucleus accumbens –> frontal cortex
- some drugs increase dopamine
- GABA neurons inhibit the VTA
- frontal cortex controls the urge to use drugs
- dopamine becomes less sensitive
- enhancing the activity of GABA
- affects on serotonin system –> changes in mood
- conditioned response to cues and tress
- 50% heritability
