"absinthe drinker" pablo picasso (1910) what is addiction? defined by tolerance,...
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What is Addiction?
Defined by tolerance, withdrawal, & compulsion
Involves a person's heightened and habituated need for a substance (or engagement in a particular behavior)
It causes discomfort or suffering that results from discontinuation of its use
Addicted individuals will sacrifice things and people they value (to the point of self-destruction) for their addiction.
Drug addiction is conceptualized as a chronic relapsing syndrome that moves from an impulse control disorder involving positive reinforcement to a compulsive disorder involving negative reinforcement
Drug Addiction
Drug Addiction in Context
Prevalence of Addiction Addiction Across Cultures Heredity Influences in Addiction Environmental
Drug use is a learned coping strategy in response to past learning and current life events
Diathesis/Stress ModelGenetic predisposition combined with
environmental factors
Causes of Addiction:Personality-Heredity
Particular personality traits predispose one to addiction
Sensation seekingThe seeking of novel experiences and sensations
ImpulsivityAn inability to delay gratificationThe preference of immediate small rewards over
large, but more delayed rewardsDecision-making without consideration of
potential negative consequences
Support for Personality Theory of Drug Abuse
Why is this relevant? If we can identify factors that place
individuals at an increased risk for drug use/abuse, then we may be able to target these groups for prevention
Treatment based on this theory has yet to be developed in spite of evidence from research
Causes of Addiction:Environmental Behavioral
Classical Conditioning: Stimuli related to the addictive behavior become paired with the behavior
Further contact produces conditioned response Operant Conditioning: Past addictive behavior
produced positive consequencesFuture use in presence of discriminative stimuli Addictive behavior is more rewarding than
alternatives
Expectancy Theory From past experience with substances, one
develops an expectancy about what the substance can do for them
Self-medication hypothesis
Support for Environmental Explanations of Addiction Untreated Heroin recovery (Robins,
1975)Research on 451 Vietnam veterans who had
been addicted to narcotics in during the warOnly 14 percent became re-addicted after their
returnEnvironmental cues for addiction no longer
active
Heroin overdoseIn the presence of heroin cues, body has
compensatory reaction (Falk, 1983)If drug taken out of typical environment, body
does not prepare for drug that comesIf no drug taken in typical environment, body
prepares for drug that never comes
Causes of Addiction:Diathesis/Stress Model
Certain people, due to a variety of biologically-based factors (genetics, neurocognitive functioning, stress response), may be predisposed (diathesis) to developing an addiction to something, be it alcohol, heroin, gambling, sex, shopping, or on-line computer services. They could go through their entire lives never developing any kind of addiction. On the other hand, if the right stressor, or combination of stressors, affects the person at a critical time, the person may be more inclined to develop an addiction.
Tracing the Neurobiological Roots of Addiction
Neural Circuits Involved in Establishing Addiction
Role of the nucleus accumbens Role of the orbitofrontal cortex
Figure 11.1 Extended amygdala.Lambert and Kinsley: Clinical Neuroscience, Second EditionCopyright © 2011 by Oxford University Press, Inc.
Figure 11.3 Two dopamine pathways in the brain.Lambert and Kinsley: Clinical Neuroscience, Second EditionCopyright © 2011 by Oxford University Press, Inc.
Tracing the Neurobiological Roots of Addiction (cont.)
Neurochemistry of Addiction Dopamine: Primary fuel of addiction Potential role of acetylcholine
Tracing the Neurobiological Roots of Addiction (cont.)
Craving Response Craving as a conditioned response Neural components of the craving
response