Chapter 11

Front 1

Substance dependence

Back 1

The more severe type of substance use disorder; a pattern of repeated self-administration that often results in tolerance, the need for increased amounts of the drug to achieve intoxication; withdrawal, other unpleasant physical and psychological effects that the person experiences when he or she tries to stop taking the drug; and compulsive drug-taking behavior.

Front 2

Substance abuse

Back 2

The less severe type of substance use disorder; a more broadly conceived, less severe pattern of drug use that is defined in terms of interference with the person's ability to fulfill major role obligations at work or at home, the recurrent use of a drug in dangerous situations, and repeated legal difficulties associated with drug use.

Front 3

Addiction

Back 3

An older term that has been replaced in official terminology with the term substance dependence.

Front 4

Drug of abuse

Back 4

Also known as a psychoactive substance; a chemical substance that alters a person's mood, level of perception, or brain functioning.

Front 5

Psychoactive substance

Back 5

Also known as a drug of abuse; a chemical substance that alters a person's mood, level of perception, or brain functioning.

Front 6

Hypnotics

Back 6

Depressants of the central nervous system used as medication for the treatment of sleep disorders.

Front 7

Sedatives

Back 7

Depressants of the central nervous system used as medication for the treatment of anxiety.

Front 8

Anxiolytics

Back 8

Depressants of the central nervous system used as medication for the treatment of anxiety.

Front 9

Narcotic analgesics

Back 9

Opiates that are used medically to decrease pain.

Front 10

Cannabinoids

Back 10

Drugs that produce euphoria and an altered sense of time (as well as hallucinations at higher doses).

Front 11

Polysubstance abuse

Back 11

The abuse of several types of drugs; a common condition in people with a substance use disorder.

Front 12

Psychological dependence

Back 12

The state of feeling as though one needs to take a drug to control a feeling, or to prepare for certain activities; a state evidenced by tolerance and withdrawal.

Front 13

Tolerance

Back 13

The process through which the nervous system becomes less sensitive to the effects of alcohol or any other drug of abuse.

Front 14

Metabolic tolerance

Back 14

After repeated substance abuse, one's liver to produce more enzymes that are used to metabolize the drug (which means that, in turn, the individual must take increasingly larger doses to maintain the same level within his or her body.

Front 15

Pharmacodynamic tolerance

Back 15

After repeated substance abuse, receptors in one's brain adapt to continued presence of the drug.

Front 16

Down regulation

Back 16

After repeated substance abuse, one's neurons adapt to a continued presence of the drug by reducing their sensitivity to it.

Front 17

Behavioral conditioning mechanisms

Back 17

After repeated substance abuse, cues that are regularly associated with the administration of a drug begin to function as conditioned stimuli and elicit a conditioned response that is opposite in direction to the natural effect of the drug. (This means that users must take larger amounts of the drug in order to achieve the same effect.)

Front 18

Withdrawal

Back 18

The symptoms experienced when a persons stops using a drug, which may include hand tremors, sweating, nausea, anxiety, and insomnia, in addition to convulsions, hallucinations, and delirium in more severe cases.

Front 19

Alcohol withdrawal delirium

Back 19

A sudden disturbance of consciousness that is accompanied by changes in cognitive processes, such as lack of awareness of the environment or inability to sustain attention, induced by a severe withdrawal from alcohol.

Front 20

Psychomotor stimulants

Back 20

A class of drugs that produce their effects by simulating the actions of certain neurotransmitters, specifically epinephrine, norepinephrine, and serotonin.

Front 21

Opiates

Back 21

A class of drugs that have properties similar to those of opium.

Front 22

Speedball

Back 22

A mix of cocaine and opiates.

Front 23

Barbituates

Back 23

A class of drugs that were used to treat chronic anxiety (examples include phenobarbital and amobarbital).

Front 24

Benzodiazepines

Back 24

A class of drugs that has replaced the barbituates in the treatment of anxiety disorders, due mostly to their lower potential for causing a lethal overdose (examples include Valium and Xanax).

Front 25

Discontinuance syndrome

Back 25

A consequence that can result from the abrupt stopping of high doses of benzodiazepines; can lead to original anxiety symptoms returning or even worsening.

Front 26

Cannabis sativa

Back 26

The hemp plant, from which marijuana and hashish are derived.

Front 27

Marijuana

Back 27

The dried leaves and flowers of the cannabis sativa plant, which may be smoked or ingested orally in baked goods.

Front 28

Hashish

Back 28

The dried resin from the top of the female cannabis sativa plant, which can be smoked or ingested orally in baked goods.

Front 29

Temporal disintegration

Back 29

A condition that can can coincide with cannabis intoxication; a state in which individuals have trouble retaining and organizing information, even over relatively short periods of time.

Front 30

Reverse tolerance

Back 30

A phenomenon in which individuals become more sensitive to the effects of a drug over time. This may be the case with the cannabinoids.

Front 31

Hallucinogens

Back 31

A class of drugs that cause people to experience hallucinations.

Front 32

Psilocybin

Back 32

A type of hallucinogen, found in many different types of mushrooms, whose chemical structure resembles that of serotonin.

Front 33

Phencyclidine (PCP)

Back 33

A synthetic hallucinogen was originally developed as a painkiller. It's effects include relaxation, warmth, and numbness, in addition to psychotic behavior, delusional thinking, catatonic motor behavior, manic excitement, and sudden mood changes at higher doses.

Front 34

Flashbacks

Back 34

A long-term consequence of hallucinogens that involves brief visual aftereffects that can occur at unpredictable intervals long after the drug has been cleared from the individual's body.

Front 35

Physiological dependence

Back 35

A subtype to substance dependence in the DSM-IV-TR that is evidenced by tolerance, withdrawal, or both.

Front 36

Mesolimbic dopamine pathway

Back 36

A pathway that receives increased dopamine levels in response to food and sex.

Front 37

Endorphins

Back 37

Endogenous opioids; short-chain amino acids that are synthesized in the brain and are closely related to morphine in their pharmacological properties.

Front 38

Detoxification

Back 38

The removal of a drug on which a person has become dependent; the first stage of treatment for drug abuse.

Front 39

Abstinence violation effect

Back 39

The guilt and perceived loss of control that a recovering drug abuser may feel when the individual slips and find himself or herself using the drug again after an extended period of abstinence.