describing addiction

• Addiction - is a disorder in which an individual consumes a substance i.e. nicotine, or engages in a particular behaviour i.e. gambling, that is pleasurable but eventually becomes compulsive with harmful consequences.
• Psychological dependence - This is the mental and emotional compulsion to keep taking a substance as the individual believes that they cannot cope with work and social life without a particular drug e.g. alcohol, nicotine or behaviour e.g. gambling. It may increase their pleasure or lessen their discomfort.

  · Absence of the drug/behaviour causes the individual to feel anxious or irritable and this leads to a craving for the substance.
• Physical dependence - a state of the body that occurs when withdrawal syndrome is produced from stopping the substance use/behavior e.g. Nausea, headaches and shaking.
• Tolerance - when you have taken a substance/maintained a certain behaviour for some time, and due to the repeat exposure the response to the substance/behaviour is reduced. When tolerance occurs an individual will need greater doses to feel the same physical and psychological effects.
• Cellular tolerance - takes place when brain neurons adapt their responsiveness to higher levels of a substance.
• Metabolic tolerance - takes place when a substance has been metabolised quicker and therefore leaves the body
• Behavourial tolerance - When individuals learn through experience to adjust their behaviour to compensate for the effects of the drug e.g. walking more slowly to avoid falling over when drunk.
• Withdrawal syndrome - is the collection of psychological and physical symptoms an individual will experience when they no longer have a substance in their system/engage in a particular behaviour. It includes low mood, feeling nauseous, achy, in pain or experiencing tremors.When an individual experiences withdrawal it is very unpleasant and so continuining to take the substrance or engage in the behaviour is partly to avoid the withdrawal symptoms.
• Withdrawl syndrome factors:

  • The substance used/type of behaviour – What type of substance is being taken/behaviour is being engaged in?
  • The amount of substance consumed – How much of a substance does an individual take at once?
  • Drug-use/behaviour pattern – How often does the substance use/behaviour occur?