Addiction (Drug Addiction)Addiction is characterized by an overwhelming desire to continue taking a drug to which one has become habituated through repeated consumption because it produces a particular effect, usually an alteration of mental status. Addiction is usually accompanied by a compulsion to obtain the drug, a tendency to increase the dose, a psychologic or physical dependence, and detrimental consequences for the individual and society. Common addictive drugs are barbiturates, alcohol, and morphine and other opioids, especially heroin, which has slightly greater euphoria-producing properties than other opium derivatives.(1) The U.S. National Institute on Drug Abuse considers addiction a brain disease because drugs change the brain; they change its structure and how it works. These brain changes can be long lasting and can lead to many harmful, often self-destructive, behaviors. (2) References: 1. Mosby's Medical Dictionary. Addiction. http://medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/addiction. 8th edition © 2009, Elsevier. Accessed Jan. 12, 2013. 2. National Institute on Drug Abuse. The Science of Drug Abuse and Addiction. http://www.drugabuse.gov/publications/media-guide/science-drug-abuse-addiction. Accessed Jan. 12, 2013.
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Last Updated on Tuesday, April 25, 2017 02:18 PM |