To feel good To feel better Because others are doing it Curiosity Performance enhancement Rite of passage Religious ceremony What Drugs Are Involved in Addiction Alcohol Tobacco Caffeine Cannabis ID: 726577
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Slide1
Addiction: The BasicsSlide2
Why Do People Use Drugs?
To feel good
To feel better
Because others are doing it
Curiosity
Performance enhancement
Rite of passage
Religious ceremonySlide3
What Drugs Are Involved in Addiction?
Alcohol
Tobacco
Caffeine
Cannabis
Opioids
Drugs derived from the opium poppy seed
Synthetic drugs that are similar in chemical structure to the opiates or stimulate the same receptors
Sedatives
Barbiturates
Benzodiazepines
“Non-benzodiazepine” hypnotics
Muscle relaxants
Antihistamines
Stimulants
Cocaine
Amphetamine, methamphetamine
Methylphenidate
Phentermine
Hallucinogens
Inhalants
Gases
Volatile hydrocarbonsSlide4
What Do All These Drugs Have in Common?
DOPAMINE
A neuropeptide that functions as a chemical messenger in two important brain areas
Reward/ Salience system
Ventral Tegmental Area
Nucleus Accumbens Other AreasCoordinated movement systemBasal GangliaSlide5
Dopaminergic Reward SystemSlide6Slide7
Reward System Is Vital to Survival
Stimulated when individual engages in behavior that promotes survival
Fighting
Fleeing
Feeding
Sexual activity
Also stimulated by dopaminergic drugs that mimic these natural brain responses
Very primitive part of brainSlide8Slide9
Why Do Some People Become Addicted?
Risk factors
Family history
Co-Occurring disorders
Environmental factors
Age
Drug of choice
Route of administrationSlide10
Addiction Involves Multiple FactorsSlide11
Why Is Addiction Stigmatized?
Throughout history, we have tried to explain addiction using a moral model
Persons with addiction appear to be
choosing
to use drugs
Persons with addiction appear to be self-centered, morally bankrupt, evil, crazy or stupid
One person in active addiction can ruin your whole daySlide12Slide13
In Vulnerable Individual, Drug Use Leads to Brain Modification
Changes in receptor sensitivity
Changes in brain stores of neurotransmitters
Changes in balance of neurotransmitters
Changes in memory functions and affect
Modifications in cortical structures and function
Behavior and thinking changes in response to these brain changesSlide14
“Your Brain on Drugs”
As drug enters the brain, dopamine “lights up” the affected areas
Over time, effect wears off as brain breaks down drug
After drug is gone, brain is
less
stimulated than before useSlide15
Dopamine DepletionSlide16
The Memory of Drugs
Nature Video
Cocaine Video
Front of Brain
Back of Brain
Amygdala
not lit up
Amygdala
activatedSlide17
Changes in Thinking and Behavior
Early stages
Pathological attachment
Denial
Multiple attempts to, promises to control, stop
Later stages
Memory alterations and mood aberrations
Loss of Impulse controlImpairment of judgmentLoss of drive, motivationSlide18
Keys to Working Effectively with Addicted Persons
Remember that, in active addiction, the primitive brain is dominating
Just because a person didn’t use drugs today, it doesn’t mean that his/her brain is not chemically affected (it can take many months
to years for
this to change)
The person in active addiction or early recovery is “not playing with a full deck!”