Characteristics of addiction

• What is addiction? 


  It is a behaviour that one cannot abstain from taking part in as they usually get immediate gratification in the short term for taking part in this behaviour. these behaviour are hard to stop despite many attempts to take part.
• Some addictions are classified as a mental illness and are included in the diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (DSM). not all addictive behaviours are listed though, so it’s is useful to have an alternative set of criteria that can help define addiction.
• griffiths (2005) suggested six criteria that are common to most types of substance and behavioural addictions.

  1. salience
  2. mood modification
  3. tolerance
  4. withdrawal symptoms
  5. conflict
  6. relapse
• Salience - when the person thinks about the drug or activity more than other things
• Mood modification - when the person uses the drug/activity to change their mood this is a subjective experience. for example when a smoker addicted to nicotine may experience a “buzz” in the morning, or smoke in the evening to calm down .
• Tolerance - as time goes on the person needs to use larger amounts of the drug/activity to achieve the same effect that they experienced when the first started the addictive behaviour
• Withdrawal symptoms - when the person experiences unpleasant physical(insomnia) or psychological (irritability)effects if they stop using the drug/activity.
• Conflict - when the person continues to engage in the drug/activity despite negative consequences such as health problems, financial difficulties, relationship issues etc.
• 2 types of conflict

  interpersonal, it is to do with the people around them, it may compromise their job or relationships

  intrapsychic is choosing the between the short-term need to engage in the activity and concerns for the long-term
• Relapse - a tendency to return back to the addictive behaviour even after years of not engaging in it or after seemingly effective treatment. commonly seen in nicotine addiction
• Walter’s (1999) identified a criteria for addiction known as the 4 p’s


  Progression to higher tolerance and risk of withdrawal symptoms

  preoccupation with the behaviour (unable to focus on anything else)

  perceived loss of control

  persistence despite long-term negative consequences.
• Substance abuse disorder is diagnosed when there are recurrent significant adverse consequences related to the use of substances during a 12 month period
• The DSM5 diagnostic criteria for substance abuse disorders include impaired control over substance use, social impairment, risky use, and pharmacological effects