Drug dependence occurs with prolonged use or repeated courses of the same medications, after the withdrawal of which a deterioration in health is observed. There is a relapse of the disease, the person plunges into a depressive state. Taking the drug again or increasing its dosage will help change poor health.

A person suffering from addiction cannot control himself and takes medications without a doctor’s prescription or urgent need.

A person’s addiction to medications occurs due to unreasonably long-term use of them, or a decrease in sensitivity to the medication, requiring an additional dose. This dependence is formed due to genetic, social, and psychological factors. Thinking and perception of the world as a whole changes, pain and fear recede, and an irresistible desire appears to receive a portion of an emotionally positive state.

Withdrawal of the drug leads to physical and mental disorders. The syndrome provokes a person to resort to the same remedy for an increasingly longer time, gradually increasing the dose.

When visiting a doctor, there is a fear of stopping the medication; an adult may experience uncontrollable hysterics if it is necessary to abandon it.

Which drugs are more likely to cause addiction?

Drug dependence is divided into two types - addiction to drugs that eliminate the symptoms of the underlying disease and drugs that affect metabolism and nervous regulation. Not all medications are addictive.

The first type of substances includes painkillers, antidepressants, tranquilizers and others used for insomnia, panic attacks, autonomic disorders, and cough relief. All of these diseases require long-term treatment, and symptom management is an integral part of therapy.

However, many patients stop taking medications when the first signs of the disease are eliminated, and the underlying disease returns. The patient again, as a rule, without consulting a doctor, uses drugs known to him. As a result, the underlying disease is not cured, and drug dependence develops.

The prognosis in this case is favorable, but requires strict implementation of all specialist recommendations.

The second type of addiction is addiction to drugs that act on the central nervous system, psychotropic drugs, narcotic analgesics, large doses of tranquilizers, and, less commonly, glucocorticosteroids.

Stopping taking these substances can lead to damage to the peripheral nervous system and brain.

Treatment in this case is not always favorable and depends on the degree of damage to the nerve cells.

Types of drug addiction

Addiction to medications is divided into physical, psychological dependence, and withdrawal syndrome. Each stage has its own symptoms.

Physical

At this stage, a person, in order to avoid mental, neurological, vegetative-somatic disorders that occur when the drug is discontinued, continues to take medications without doctor’s recommendations. What leads to abstinence - deviations at the physical and psychological levels.

Mental

Taking pills becomes an obsession; a person is drawn to certain drugs that he uses for a long time. Occurs when there is a break in use or the introduction of substances that reduce the effect of the medication. The dose of the drug is increased.

Withdrawal syndrome

If the drug is abruptly discontinued, a hypertensive crisis, arrhythmia, angina pectoris, thromboembolism and other negative reactions of the body occur.

Symptoms

Many people daily use various medications necessary to normalize their mental or physical health. Manifestations of addiction are:

• slight or severe pain;
• vegetative crises;
• increased nervous excitement;
• slowness of action;
• blood pressure disorders;
• lack of strength, lethargy, sleep disturbance;
• changes in blood tests.

The listed symptoms appear when the regimen and amount of the drug used are violated. You should consult a doctor immediately.

Diagnostics

It is quite simple for relatives or the attending physician to determine that a person has developed a drug addiction. It is enough to observe the person, and if in doubt, force him to take a blood test. Addiction can be diagnosed based on the following signs:

• an irresistible need to use certain drugs;
• increasing the dose of the drug used;
• anxiety, irritability before stopping treatment;
• trembling hands, increased sweating;
• intolerance to loud sounds, bright light;
• personality change.

In this situation, it is necessary to determine the degree of dependence and the patient’s desire to fight addiction, because the treatment regimen and result depend on this.

How is drug addiction treated?

Therapy carried out to eliminate drug addiction is based on the degree of dependence and the type of drug. The main factor here is the will and readiness of the person to recover. To strictly adhere to the recommendations of a specialist, inpatient treatment is necessary, including a full complex - psychotherapy, cleansing the body, prescribing medications, physical therapy, and occupational therapy.

During treatment, the daily dose of the dependent drug is regularly reduced until it is completely abandoned or replaced with a less complex one. Then the underlying disease and internal organs affected by drug addiction are treated. First of all, these are the liver, kidneys, and nervous system. Psychotherapy is aimed at getting rid of depression and the desire to start taking medications again, which led to addiction.

Drug addiction is very difficult to treat. The sooner drug addiction is diagnosed, the more likely a complete cure is, and the damage done to the body will be minimal.

The basis of rehabilitation is the participation of relatives, attending group or individual therapy classes. The person cured should be under the supervision of a psychotherapist. It is necessary to strictly follow all the doctor’s recommendations upon discharge and continue to engage in exercise therapy.

It is necessary to avoid increased nervousness, anxiety, and depression. Then the desire to resort to medications will not arise.

How to prevent addiction from developing?

In order to prevent addiction to medications, you should not self-medicate. Pharmacists in pharmacies are also incompetent in making a diagnosis, much less prescribing therapy.

Drugs for the treatment of diseases and determination of their dosage is the prerogative of a doctor of the appropriate profile. Those. A psychiatrist, not a therapist, should treat depression and give a prescription for psychotropic substances.

Addiction develops against the background of uncontrolled use of barbiturates, opiates, smoking and alcohol abuse. Treatment and diagnosis are different in each case of addiction. With daily relaxation with the help of psychotropic substances and alcohol-containing drinks, a person runs the risk of becoming addicted, which is very difficult to get rid of.

Meaning of the concept

Dependence is a drug addiction that occurs at a certain stage of the disease, which is accompanied by a compulsive desire to achieve euphoria through general intoxication of the body, which leads to withdrawal syndrome. Pathology does not appear immediately; it has special predecessors.

1. Syndrome of changes in reactivity is the onset of the use of opiates and other narcotic substances in small doses, which is periodic in nature. Leads to a change in the body's tolerance to a psychotropic substance.
2. Mental dependence – follows immediately after a change in reactivity and is obsessive in nature, which means a person’s mental return to the feelings of euphoria from alcohol or drugs. A person may experience joy at the thought of using a substance or depression from the fact that he will not be able to relax with the help of the habit. At the stage of mental dependence, a person is able to leave a bad habit with the help of self-motivation and prioritization.

Physical dependence is expressed in an irresistible craving for substances that cause euphoria.

At the compulsive stage, it can take over not only a person’s thoughts, but also displace all necessary, vital needs, such as the need for food and water, intimacy. Drugs can fill every aspect of a person's existence and take complete control of the brain. Psychological and physiological addictions develop gradually and lead to the fact that a person who uses drugs becomes unable to comply with moral standards and rules of conduct accepted in society.

Physical pathology at the compulsive stage has a peculiarity - a feeling of satisfaction comes only from a certain type of narcotic substances, and the use of another type of psychedelics can stop the desire, but will not bring pleasure and relaxation.

Causes

Compulsive addiction can be caused by any psychological shock. People who are weak-willed and cannot cope with problems start taking drugs. The easiest way is to close yourself off from troubles and plunge into a state of eternal celebration and high spirits.

One of the reasons for the development of physical dependence in a person is the release of the joy hormone endorphin when drinking alcohol or intoxication from drugs.

The brain is able to remember this state, and therefore, on a subconscious level, a person will want to feel the euphoria that the drug gives him more than once or twice. After each use of a narcotic substance, the brain clearly forms a picture of what is happening and begins to produce less of its own hormone of happiness. A kind of replacement occurs: if the body receives a dose of endorphin from the outside, then why waste energy on its own production. Therefore, the effect of the drug is not only addictive, but also interferes with the normal functioning of the entire body: due to the low production of joy hormones in the body, the dose that comes from the outside must be increased or repeated more often.

When taking medications containing opioids, caffeine, codeine and other narcotic substances, be sure to consult your doctor and follow the instructions exactly.

Main Factors

Physical dependence can be caused by many factors.

• Bad heredity: if one of the parents suffers from alcohol or drug addiction, the child may adopt this tendency and be at risk.
• Severe psychological trauma. A shock such as the death of relatives or prolonged depression, which is treated with strong antidepressants, can cause dependence on barbiturates.
• Childhood psychotrauma. Children who come from dysfunctional families, who have been offended and humiliated, have every reason to seek solace in alcohol, opioids, and marijuana.
• Acute social need. If a person lacks communication and does not know how to attract friends, he may end up in a dysfunctional company.
• Improper use of sleeping pills and sedatives also causes addiction and psychophysical dependence.
• The problem associated with smoking tobacco or smoking mixtures develops gradually: at first, a person smokes one or two cigarettes a day and thinks that he is coping with the situation, but this is far from the case. Those who do not smoke at all are not addicted, and daily use leads to addiction.

Dependence on barbiturates or sedatives occurs due to prolonged misuse and overdose. Therefore, such drugs are taken strictly under the supervision of a doctor.

Opioids can cause analgesic, antitussive and other effects, but lead the body to addiction. Morphine, which is isolated from the opium poppy, can have a strong analgesic effect and is therefore widely used in medicine, but strictly as prescribed by a doctor. It is prescribed to people suffering from pain due to cancerous tumors.

Symptoms

It is difficult to recognize physical addiction on your own, because a person cannot admit his problem. The following are common symptoms of drug addiction:

• intoxication of the whole body;
• weakness and malaise during the period without the use of psychotropic substances;
• chills, fever;
• the body becomes covered with boils;
• ulcers and suppurations may appear;
• loss of teeth, hair, brittle nails;
• depression, state of apathy;
• aggression and anxiety.

Ways to solve the problem

If you are in the obsessive stage of addiction, you can cope with it on your own. It will take willpower and self-belief. If you start using medications using larger dosages than in the instructions, you should use a radical method - throw away all barbiturates and forget about them once and for all. If it doesn’t help, use the second method: gradually come to abstinence from the drug.

Set a goal: to break a bad habit in a week. You will need to lower your dose daily until you stop taking the drug completely.

• meet more often with people dear to you, enlist their support;
• go in for sports;
• go to the cinema and theater;
• do what you love;
• get an animal.

If you distract yourself from the problem, it will evaporate on its own. Physical addiction is much more difficult to eradicate; it is important to remember that nothing is impossible. For very advanced cases of addiction, there are special hospitals where specialists in the field of addiction work.

Conclusion

Physical dependence occurs against the background of stressful situations and is expressed by an irresistible craving for psychotropic substances. Timely diagnosis of compulsive addiction will speed up recovery and the person’s return to a normal lifestyle.

Mental dependence syndrome and physical dependence syndrome are the two main syndromes.

Physical dependence syndrome includes an increase in tolerance and the formation of a withdrawal syndrome with regular drug use. formation very much depends on the drug and the individual physiological characteristics of the person. Most drug treatment practitioners consider the impact of physical addiction to be exaggerated. With rare individual exceptions, sudden interruption of drug use does not pose a mortal danger to the drug patient, but is the cause of unpleasant subjective experiences associated with a complex of physiological disorders, enhanced by mental discomfort and craving for use. Subjectively, the negative perception of withdrawal is enhanced by the fact that the addict knows from experience that taking the drug will relieve him of unpleasant symptoms. In society, the drug addict does everything possible to avoid withdrawal. At such moments, his behavior in the family becomes unbearable. The degree of suffering is exaggerated consciously or unconsciously as a tool for manipulating loved ones, formed into a behavioral stereotype.

What is typical is that in conditions where it is impossible to manipulate, for example, in a prison cell, withdrawal symptoms are tolerated much easier by patients in the absence of illusions of possible close use. In practice, drug addicts detained by law enforcement are not treated for withdrawal symptoms in any way, which is what doctors do in drug treatment hospitals.

It is necessary to understand the significant difference between withdrawal symptoms in alcoholism and drug addiction. For an alcoholic, the period of substance withdrawal can pose a real threat to life and at this time mandatory pharmacological support is required.

Mental dependence syndrome is simply the way of life of a drug addict, his habits and stereotypes of using drugs in various life situations, solving problems through drugs, “escaping reality,” and spending leisure time in a state of intoxication. Drug addiction displaces a person from the usual social atmosphere and after some time the addict begins to oppose himself to a society that fears and shuns him. A drug addict loses the skills of ordinary life, moving into a drug-addicted parallel reality. A specific circle of dominant communication is formed.

Stopping drug use is quite possible and almost all drug addicts do it from time to time. It is incredibly difficult for a drug addict to break out of the drug addict’s lifestyle and return to the lifestyle familiar to most people. This is precisely what mental dependence is, which, intensified by physical dependence, is essentially drug addiction in the usual understanding of this phenomenon by society.

The influence of both syndromes on each other enhances their effect on humans.

Treatment of drug addiction involves completely stopping the use of any psychoactive substances, including alcohol. Controlled use is impossible for a drug addict; any such attempts will inevitably lead to a breakdown. To solve a therapeutic problem, it is necessary to undergo long-term rehabilitation, during which a person learns life skills that do not involve drug use, and also studies in detail all the factors that can provoke him to relapse and learns to avoid or control these factors.

The illusion of getting rid of problems, reinforced by a strong physical dependence that forms during the long-term use of various psychoactive substances - factors that provoke a person to connect his life with alcohol or drugs. Slow and consistent changes in the biochemical processes occurring in the body cause an urgent need for a new dose of the substance, because the body can no longer do without it. In the medical literature, the term “chemical dependence” is used. These two formulations are considered identical.

Dependency generation mechanism

The dependence into which consciousness falls is psychological and forms faster than physiological dependence. This is due to the type of drug and the initial mental state of the person who decides to try his first dose of a psychotropic drug.

Psychological dependence is the inability to naturally regulate mental processes, replacing them with the use of narcotic substances.

Drugs are first tried by those who break down under the weight of life’s circumstances and feel the need for short-term euphoria for imaginary motivation for further life. In this case, in the context of a drug, we can mean not only potent psychotropic substances, but also alcohol and tobacco.

Physical dependence is a syndrome characterized by increasing tolerance to psychotropic substances and severe withdrawal symptoms in case of abrupt withdrawal from them.

A natural decrease in the reaction to a substance administered orally provokes a gradual increase in the dose, which is reflected in the total concentration of the drug in the circulatory system and subcutaneous tissue. The latter tends to accumulate drugs, because due to their nature, they are generally insoluble in water, but a similar reaction can occur when interacting with fats, and subcutaneous tissue in any quantity is adipose tissue.

The main manifestation of physiological dependence is the desire to get a dose not in order to feel the same sensations that you had during the first doses, but in order to avoid withdrawal symptoms. This desire is painfully intense, so from the outside it resembles a mental disorder. When the problem of drug addiction, alcoholism or smoking reaches this level, a person no longer has the ability to cope with it on his own.

The difference between psychological and physical addiction is that psychological is purely emotional, while physical is based on the body’s inability to function adequately without the drug. A craving for a substance that is not yet based on physical addiction can be easily destroyed.

The concept of "withdrawal"

A drug hangover, which is an integral part of the life of any addicted person, is commonly called “withdrawal.” It begins when the nervous system malfunctions due to a disruption in the natural production of endorphin, the hormone of happiness. Symptoms of endorphin deficiency:

• prostration;
• depression of varying duration;
• panic attacks;
• strong feeling of anxiety, despair;
• pain throughout the body (if we remember the function of endorphin as a natural pain reliever).

Withdrawal symptoms become more severe as the dose required to treat the condition increases. After the next portion of the drug enters the body, the person no longer experiences a feeling of euphoria. He becomes inhibited and falls into compulsive states.

Some types of drugs exacerbate physiological and social needs: they cause acute hunger, increase sexual desire, provoke unhealthy talkativeness, the desire to constantly be in a group, etc.

Getting rid of physical addiction

When deciding to fight addiction, you need to understand that it is extremely difficult to do this on your own, therefore the help of a narcologist and a professional psychologist is a mandatory element of drug addiction treatment. Even if the normal biochemistry of the body is restored through long-term abstinence from psychotropic drugs or alcohol, and physical dependence is overcome, any psychological breakdown can renew the addiction.

In your desire to fight a chronic disease, as drug addiction and alcoholism are classified, it is important to enlist the support of relatives and friends, because No psychologist can replace this.

If a person becomes dependent on hard drugs, the risk of destruction of his personality increases. Such drug addicts may not always be aware of their state of health, even if it is critically severe.

It is important that those who care about such people do everything they can while they still can. On their initiative, the patient can be sent to a rehabilitation center. These facilities employ professionals who have been helping drug addicts for many years, allowing them to overcome physical addiction without serious consequences for their mental health.

They are often created by people who have gone through this themselves, competently developing treatment programs for each patient individually.

Stages of treatment for drug and alcohol addiction include:

• Detoxification of the whole body. This is necessary so that the patient gradually returns to the rhythm of life that he led before drugs appeared in it.
• Treatment of organs and systems. Drugs almost completely destroy a person’s immune system, making him susceptible to various chronic diseases.
• Eliminating cravings for the addictive substance. This is the most difficult process in the entire treatment, because... To achieve a result, a sincere desire of the patient to get rid of the problem is required - something that cannot be obtained artificially, even through the method of strong psychological influence on the patient.
• Complete resocialization. Due to the destructive lifestyle that accompanies a drug addict, he needs to relearn how to interact with the surrounding society.

Reasons for long-term rehabilitation for drug addicts

Rehabilitation measures are aimed at forming a stable barrier to restrain the desire to resume using psychotropic drugs. In the process of working with a psychologist, the patient realizes the full scale of the problem that he is faced with. Rehabilitation services are completely anonymous.

Destroying the false belief that alcohol and drugs will help solve psychological problems contributes to conscious refusal of them. It is important that a psychological service employee is able to get to the root of his patient’s problems, telling him the right solutions. Physical dependence must be eliminated even before rehabilitation measures.

We can come to the conclusion that as soon as a person becomes addicted, it is important to begin correct and effective treatment in a timely manner. Emotional addiction to a drug will sooner or later trigger addiction, which will gradually destroy the human body, make it incapable of immune resistance, and can lead to death.

The basis for the formation of drug addiction and substance abuse is euphoria- subjective positive effect of the substance used. The term “euphoria” used in narcology does not quite correspond to the psychopathological concept of euphoria, which is defined as an increased complacent mood, combined with carelessness and insufficient critical assessment of one’s condition. Euphoria when using narcotic substances is characterized not only by an increase in the emotional background, a serene, complacent mood, but also by certain mental and somatic sensations; sometimes accompanied by changes in thinking, disturbances of perception, as well as disturbances of consciousness of varying degrees. Moreover, each drug has its own euphoria. In this case, it is more correct to talk about drug intoxication or intoxication (Flx.O according to ICD-10). However, the term “euphoria” is accepted in the domestic drug treatment literature.

When taking drugs for the first time, protective reactions of the body may be observed - itching, nausea, vomiting, dizziness, profuse sweating. With subsequent drug use, these reactions disappear.

During the process of anesthesia, the quality and severity of euphoria change. At a certain stage, even increasing the dose of the drug no longer causes the desired effect and euphoria as such does not occur. The drug is used only to prevent the development of withdrawal symptoms and restore performance and vital functions. In this regard, “positive” and “negative” euphoria are distinguished [Pyatnitskaya I.N., 1994]. Positive euphoria is a state that is observed in the initial stages of drug addiction. Negative euphoria is observed in “old” drug addicts. This is a state of intoxication, when drugs only relieve subjectively painful sensations and level out the phenomena of discomfort, while no pleasant sensations arise.

The quality of euphoria also depends on the method of drug administration (it is more pronounced when the drug is administered intravenously), external intervention, the somatic and mental state of the people who used the drug, the emotional background, and in some forms of addiction - on the attitude towards the resulting effect.

The clinical picture of drug addiction and substance abuse presents three main syndromes: mental dependence, physical dependence, tolerance.

Mental dependence- this is a painful desire to continuously or periodically take a narcotic or other psychoactive drug in order to experience certain sensations or relieve symptoms of mental discomfort. It occurs in all cases of systematic drug use, but can also occur after a single use; is the strongest psychological factor that promotes regular use of drugs or other psychoactive drugs, prevents the cessation of drug addiction, and causes relapse of the disease.

Psychopathologically, mental dependence is represented by a pathological desire to change one’s state through anesthesia. Highlight mental(psychological, obsessive) and compulsive attraction.

Psychic attraction characterized by constant thoughts about the drug, which are accompanied by an uplift in mood, excitement in anticipation of taking it, depression, and dissatisfaction in the absence of it. Since thoughts about drugs are often obsessive in nature, this has given rise to some authors [Pyatnitskaya I.N., 1975, 1994] to designate mental attraction as obsessive. Mental attraction may be accompanied by a struggle of motives and partial criticism, but it may also be unconscious and manifest itself in changes in the mood and behavior of patients. Depending on the drug the patient is abusing, the psychic craving may be constant, intermittent, or cyclical. It can be updated under the influence of various situational or psychogenic factors.

Compulsive drive is characterized by an irresistible desire for anesthesia with the total embrace of the patient in his desire to get the drug, may be accompanied by a narrowed consciousness, a complete lack of criticism, determines the behavior, actions of patients, the motivation of their actions. At its apogee, compulsive desire can be characterized by psychomotor agitation. The specificity of symptoms is lost. The clinical picture appears to be common to all forms of drug addiction. The individual personal characteristics of the patient are lost. The behavior of drug addicts becomes similar regardless of individual premorbid personality characteristics and social attitudes. Compulsive desire is characterized not only by mental, but also by somatoneurological disorders: dilated pupils, hyperhidrosis, dry mouth, hyperreflexia, tremor [Naidenova N. G., 1975].

Compulsive attraction can manifest itself both in the absence of intoxication - in the structure of withdrawal syndrome or in a period of remission, when it inevitably leads to relapse, and in a state of intoxication, when at the height of intoxication patients have an irresistible desire to “add” the drug (“to catch up” - to junkie jargon). In the latter case, compulsive desire is often accompanied by a loss of control and leads to a drug overdose. I.N. Pyatnitskaya (1994) classifies compulsive attraction as a manifestation of physical dependence. This is not without reason, since it is most pronounced during the period of drug withdrawal, when withdrawal syndrome is formed.