CRAVING FOR ECSTACY

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CRAVING FOR ECSTACY

• What makes you feel good?

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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?

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Terminology

• Drug
• Illicit drug
• Deviant drug use
• Drug abuse
• Addiction
• Psychoactive
• Psychopharmacology

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Common denominators of addiction

• Not being able to control when you start or 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.

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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

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Trends in drug use
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Influences on drug use
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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

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Risk factors

• Family
• Educational
• Peers
• Others

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Protective factors

• Family
• Educational
• Peers
• Other

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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.

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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.

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Three types of experiences achieve feelings of
well-being

• Relaxation- to reduce discomfort
• Excitement- to create chaos/ compete
• Fantasy- to escape

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Different things feel good to different people

• Basic coping style links to drug of choice
• Relaxation
• Excitement
• Fantasy

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Models of Addiction

• Moral model
• Medical model
• Social-learning model

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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 ones behavior.

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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.