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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
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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.