Drug addiction
hideDrug addiction is a pathological condition. The disorder of addiction involves the progression of acute drug use to the development of drug-seeking behavior, the vulnerability to relapse, and the decreased, slowed ability to respond to naturally rewarding stimuli. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition (DSM-IV) has categorized three stages of addiction: preoccupation/anticipation, binge/intoxication, and withdrawal/negative affect. These stages are characterized, respectively, everywhere by constant cravings and preoccupation with obtaining the substance; using more of the substance than necessary to experience the intoxicating effects; and experiencing tolerance, withdrawal symptoms, and decreased motivation for normal life activities. By the American Society of Addiction Medicine definition, drug addiction differs from drug dependence and drug tolerance.
It is, both among scientists and other writers, quite usual to allow the concept of drug addiction to include persons who are not drug abusers according to the definition of the American Society of Addiction Medicine. The term drug addiction is then used as a category which may include the same persons who under the DSM-IV can be given the diagnosis of substance dependence or substance abuse. (See also DSM-IV Codes)
For more information about Drug addiction, read the full article at
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News tagged with addictive drugs
First ever large-scale study of ketamine users published
Nov 16, 2009 |
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The first ever large-scale, longitudinal study of ketamine users has been published online today in the journal Addiction. With Ketamine (K, Special K) use increasing faster than any other drug in the UK (British Crime ...
Learning addiction: Dopamine reinforces drug-associated memories
Medicine & Health / Neuroscience
Sep 09, 2009 |
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New research with mice has provided some fascinating insight into how addictive drugs hijack reward signals and influence neural processes associated with learning and memory. The research, published by Cell Press in the ...
Cocaine: Perceived as a reward by the brain?
Medicine & Health / Psychology & Psychiatry
May 19, 2009 |
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Cocaine is one of the oldest drugs known to humans, and its abuse has become widespread since the end of the 19th century. At the same time, we know rather little about its effects on the human brain or the mechanisms that ...
Brain protein central to both Parkinson's, drug addiction identified
May 04, 2009 |
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Scientists have identified a protein that appears not only to be central to the process that causes Parkinson's disease but could also play a role in muting the high from methamphetamine and other addictive drugs.
Brain protein central to both Parkinson's, drug addiction identified
Medicine & Health / Neuroscience
Apr 30, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Scientists have identified a protein that appears not only to be central to the process that causes Parkinson's disease but could also play a role in muting the high from methamphetamine and ...
Injections of licorice ingredient show promise as treatment for cocaine addiction
Feb 20, 2009 |
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An ingredient in licorice shows promise as an antidote for the toxic effects of cocaine abuse, including deadly overdoses of the highly addictive drug, researchers in Korea and Pennsylvania are reporting. Their study is in ...
Ritalin may cause changes in the brain’s reward areas
Feb 04, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- A common treatment for attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder, prescribed millions of times a year, may change the brain in the same ways that cocaine does, a new study in mice suggests. Research from Rockefeller ...
Singing to females makes male birds' brains happy
Biology /
Oct 03, 2008 |
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The melodious singing of birds has been long appreciated by humans, and has often been thought to reflect a particularly positive emotional state of the singer. In a new study published in the online, open-access journal ...
