Chronic disorder characterised by an uncontrollable use of substances that affect the brain and a person's behaviour. Examples of substances are: alcohol, nicotine, opioids, cocaine, cannabis and other stimulants. The risk of addiction and speed at which a person gets addicted depend on the substance.
Factors that influence in drug abuse have a genetic, psychological, social and environmental component. Family beliefs and exposure to groups of friends that encourage drug consumption tends to influence the start of its consumption. Once the consumption has started, becoming addicted depends on hereditary factors that may accelerate or slow down the expansion of the diasease.
Among the symptoms of addiction, the most common ones are a constant desire to consume the drug, despite its negative consequences, and the need to increase its dose to obtain the same effect. On top of that, addicts tend to spend a lot of money on drugs and leave their working or social obligations behind.
The addiction leads to a total dedication to obtain and consume the drug, failing at all attempts to cease its consumption and suffering from abstinence syndrome when trying.
The abuse of drugs diagnosis is done through clinical evaluation of the symptoms and the person's consumption history.
Treatment is based on psycotherapy and, in some cases, medication to reduce the syndrome of abstinence symptoms.
- American Psychiatric Association. Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition, Text Revision (DSM-5-TR), Washington, DC 2022.
- Suen LW, Makam AN, Snyder HR, et al. National Prevalence of Alcohol and Other Substance Use Disorders Among Emergency Department Visits and Hospitalizations: NHAMCS 2014-2018. J Gen Intern Med 2022; 37:2420.
- Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. Key substance use and mental health indicators in the United States: Results from the 2020 National Survey on Drug Use and Health. HHS Publication No. PEP21-07-0, Center for Behavioral Health Statistics and Quality, Substance Abuse, and Mental Health Services Administration; Department of Health and Human Services, Rockville, MD 2021.
- National Institute on Drug Abuse. Medical Consequences of Drug Abuse. https://www.drugabuse.gov/related-topics/medical-consequences-drug-abuse (Accessed on May 31, 2016).
