Transcript Slide 1
CRAVING FOR ECSTACY What makes you feel good? What makes you feel good? • Does it always make you feel good? • Is there a point when satiation kicks in? • Does the pleasure increase steadily until it feels it could become compulsive? • Is everyone at some risk for addiction? Terminology • Drug • Illicit drug • Deviant drug use • Drug abuse • Addiction • Psychoactive • Psychopharmacology Common denominators of addiction • Not being able to control when you start or • • • • • stop use. When the addiction means more than the people who care about you. Alienation. Denial. Activity is used to keep distance from others or numb pain of loss/alienation. Dysfunctional/ chaotic family system. Effects of addiction • Deaths due to: – Alcoholism- 100,000 – Tobacco use- 419,000 • Costs in treatment/ lost productivity: – $18 million in treatment, lost work hours – $25- 30 billion spent on illegal substances Trends in drug use Influences on drug use Run the numbers: • 2 million Americans addicted to cocaine • 100 million use alcohol • 10-13 million alcoholics • 26% smoke tobacco – Tobacco has an addiction rate of 90% • Costs of the drug war: $14.6 billion/ year – Only 5-10% of drugs are intercepted Risk factors • Family • Educational • Peers • Others Protective factors • Family • Educational • Peers • Other What part does the brain play? • Dopamine/ serotonin produced by brain. – Many experiences can affect these levels. • Lack of compensation when drugs used • High resides in nucleus accumbens in limbic system • Brain tries to give user some control by lowering the activation response. Psychological characteristics determine the drug of choice • Addiction is based on the euphoria created by the experience/ drug. • High risk-takers have low levels of dopamine and crave stimulants to raise dopamine levels and feel more alive. • Introverted people may have high levels of dopamine and so use drugs to tranquilize or relax. Three types of experiences achieve feelings of well-being • Relaxation- to reduce discomfort • Excitement- to create chaos/ compete • Fantasy- to escape Different things feel good to different people • Basic coping style links to drug of choice: – Relaxation – Excitement – Fantasy Models of Addiction • Moral model • Medical model • Social-learning model Disease model of addiction • E.M. Jellinek in the early 1950s shifted the focus from moral weakness to addiction as an illness. • It removed the idea of shame • It also removed the sense of personal responsibility for dealing with the consequences of one’s behavior. The business of treatment • Recidivism is huge problem in addiction treatment. Most relapse within one year. • Quick fixes, panaceas offered. • In-house treatment. • Long-term treatment. • Alcoholics Anonymous.