Does fear of AIDS affect behavior of addicts?
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Once the alcoholic or drug addict has stopped drinking or using drugs, other addictive behaviors are frequently adopted. These factors must be considered in planning the overall recovery program. Substances likely to be used to excess include nicotine, caffeine, sugar, chocolate, nutritional supplements and medicinal herbs. Addictive behaviors adopted by recovering persons include eating disorders, exercise and body building, workaholism, and dependency on one's own adrenalin. Breaking the cycle of addiction requires commitment to a program of self-growth and becoming responsible for one's actions.
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When reviewing the broad area that relates environments to addiction one is faced with an enormous volume of research with differing environmental and psychosocial factors, contrasting populations, a variety of addictive substances, and a range of addiction processes. For all these factors, there are important outcome variables. To survey this disparate literature, it is helpful to use a multiaxial model as a framework or taxonomy. In this way it is possible to see the effects that environments, broadly conceived, exert on addictive behaviors. A variety of environments is considered: interpersonal, organizational, cultural and physical, as one axis or dimension. The influence of this dimension on a second dimension relating to type of addiction is also examined. Finally, a dimension pertaining to the "life history" of addictions, from acquisition through maintenance, cessation, and relapse is considered in relation to the first two dimensions. While a variety of environmental factors affect addictive behaviors, current research indicates the need to take individual differences, cognitive mediation, and the interaction of the person with the environment into account. Significant areas that need further exploration are the failure of addictions to occur in some environments, and the development of secondary prevention approaches. Implications for intervention and directions for future research are suggested.
The ability of cocaine to induce a compulsive addictive behavior is the most astonishing feature of this drug. Attempting to understand the mechanisms underlying cocaine's addictive properties, two major questions should be considered: a) why and how organism's interaction with cocaine results in the development of new, drug-seeking and drug-taking behavior and b) why and how cocaine maintains this behavior when the drug is available. Since a large body of neuropharmacological evidence suggest that the mesocorticolimbic dopamine (DA) system has exclusive importance for the development and maintenance of cocaine addictive behavior, and cocaine is known to interfere in activity of this brain system, examination of mesocorticolimbic DA activity during cocaine self-administration behavior may provide some clues for understanding the drug's additive properties and regulation of this maladaptive goal-directed behavior. The aim of this paper is to discuss the literature and own experimental data on cocaine's action on the mesocorticolimbic DA system that may be involved in mediating its addictive properties. Based on these data, it is suggested that an inhibiting action of cocaine on reuptake of released DA, although essential, but not sufficient mechanism for the development and maintenance of addictive behavior. It is hypothesized, that coexistence of functionally antagonistic, inhibiting actions of cocaine on the mesolimbic DA release and reuptake of released DA may be responsible for biphasic fluctuations in DA transmission that appear to be a critical component of central oscillatory mechanism which drives and regulates cyclic drug-taking behavior.
Four hundred seventy-nine drug abusing adolescent patients enrolled in seven Straight, Inc. Adolescent Drug-Abuse Treatment Programs in five geographic regions across the United States were studied to determine the severity and patterns of cocaine abuse. Of these, 341 admitted to cocaine use and became part of this survey. Cocaine use was categorized as heavy, intermediate, or light. Areas examined were the addictive spectrum, psychosocial dysfunction, and psychiatric symptoms. Intermediate and heavy users of cocaine abused significantly less marijuana and inhalants than light cocaine abusers. Heavy and intermediate users were more likely to use cocaine intravenously and to use crack. They developed tachyphylaxis more frequently, progressed to weekly use in less than 3 months more frequently, and became preoccupied with obtaining and using cocaine significantly more frequently. They used more sedative hypnotics to calm themselves and engaged in more criminal behavior, such as stealing from parents and stores and passing bad checks. They had more arrests for possession of drugs, stole more cars, sold more drugs, and were more likely to trade sexual favors to obtain the drug. Heavy and intermediate users were significantly more psychiatrically disturbed than light users, becoming more suspicious, nervous, aggressive, and demonstrating increased symptoms of fatigue, sleeplessness, decreased appetite, and increasing cocaine dysphoria. All of these symptoms could be mistaken for psychiatric disorders. This study suggests that cocaine is as addictive in adolescents as in adults; possibly more so. It also causes psychosocial dysfunction and psychiatric symptoms. Further research into cocaine addiction among adolescents is indicated.
Binary thinking has often guided research and practice in the addiction field. For example, emphasis has been given to identifying whether an individual is "alcoholic" or not, and the dichotomous judgement that a client is either drinking or abstinent has been used to judge treatment effectiveness. Research on the nature of alcohol problems, however, indicates that they lie along several modestly interrelated continuous dimensions of severity, rather than occurring as a single syndrome qualitatively distinct from normality. Similarly, changes in addictive behaviors in general, and treatment outcomes in particular, are complex phenomena not readily captured by dichotomous classification. The term "relapse" is itself seriously problematic in various ways, and its definition elusive. It represents a somewhat arbitrary binary judgement imposed on the flow of behavior, and carries negative evaluative overtones. A potentially detrimental abstinence violation effect is implicit in the very use of the term "relapse", which thereby may become a self-fulfilling prophecy. Further, it implicitly pathologizes what is in fact a rather common event in the course of behavior change, and embodies an unrealistic and inaccurate conception of how successful change occurs over time. For these reasons, it may be useful in research and clinical practice to abandon the notion of "relapse" and focus instead on terminology that better describes the normal resolution process for addictive behaviors.
Having established that tobacco smoking is addictive, research should proceed to refine our models of dependence on nicotine and other drugs. Current theories of addiction do not account for between- or within-subjects variations in addictive behavior. Recent evidence that some people can smoke for decades without developing dependence demonstrates the potential for individual differences in vulnerability to dependence. Study of such anomalous smokers may provide insight into the mechanisms underlying nicotine dependence. Current theory and data also fail to provide adequate accounts of situational variation in addictive behavior and of the developmental progression from initial experimentation to dependence.
Several authors have pointed to similarities between eating disorders and addictive behaviors. In earlier studies, addicts were found to score high on the Sensation Seeking Scale (SSS) and to habituate rapidly to neutral stimuli. In this study, we found experimental support for an addiction model of eating disorders: restrained eaters also scored significantly higher on the Sensation Seeking Scale and also habituated significantly quicker to a series of neutral stimuli than unrestrained eaters. No clear evidence was found for the hypothesis that restrained eaters score lower on measurements of anxiety. It is hypothesized that rapid habituation promotes sensation seeking, which may be manifested in excessive consumption of either drugs or food. Restraint may be a strategy to prevent negative consequences of sensation seeking and excessive consumption. The model is related to earlier experimental findings.
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Methadone maintenance patients were assigned among four treatment cells involving contingency management, emotionally-based behavior therapy, a combination of these, or a control condition receiving counseling but no behavioral treatment. With 60 patients who remained in treatment at least 6 months, treatment outcomes were compared using objective measures: hours employed, urinalysis results, and counseling participation. No significant differences were found between modalities. Case studies suggested that under appropriate conditions, contingency management might reduce illicit drug use. It is suggested that focused experimental studies may be more productive than broad clinical outcome evaluations.
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Immoderate consumption of alcohol was found to be related to three other potentially addictive behaviors (illicit drug use, smoking, and caffeine consumption) in a randomly drawn sample (n = 1253) of American adults. In addition, alcohol consumption was found to be related to nutritional, life style, safety, and health monitoring preventive behaviors. Although the underlying mechanism for these behaviors is not clear, possibilities include the subsumption of both addictive and other preventive behaviors under a more generalized risk taking (or risk avoidance) dimension.
The literature on addictions treatment cost offsets suggests that resolving addictive disorders in the general medical setting will drive down the demand for health care, promote more efficient use of care by both patients and their families, and preserve scarce resources that can be deployed more wisely elsewhere. The demand to reduce waste and trim health care expenditures challenges the historic gulf between general medical practice and the management of addictive behaviors. An example of an addiction treatment technology developed in medical settings for use by medical personnel, brief intervention, is reviewed, with reference to its cost-saving potential under health care reform.
Results of an investigation on the urinary excretion of codeine and morphine after oral ingestion of 1 mg.kg-1 b.w codeine are reported. The investigation run on seven clinically healthy subjects showed: low digestive absorption of codeine (# 20%); rapid biotransformation of codeine into morphine (first urines excreted after absorption); rapid disappearance of codeine from urines (#30 hrs); persistence of morphine alone (#68 hrs); rapid evolution of the codeine/morphine ratio (inversion of the ratio after #18 hrs); total elimination of morphine which can be greater than for codeine; very different half-life periods for codeine and morphine (5.1 and 13.6 hrs); no other codeine metabolites (nor-codeine and nor-morphine); very high individual variations; one subject with low activity of cytochrome P 450 dbl/buFL. Finally, in an epidemiological survey of drug addict behaviors and detection of drug addiction, it seems very difficult, may be even illusory and hazardous, to try and justify morphine found in urines (morphine, heroin, codeine, codethyline, pholcodine...) except in the very legitimate case where the ratio of urine concentrations of codeine and morphine is greater than one.
The stages of change model has shown promise in advancing knowledge about smoking behavior change and other negative addictive behaviors. The model was applied to the study of exercise, a healthy rather than unhealthy behavior. A stages of exercise behavior questionnaire was administered to a sample of 235 employees. Next, the ability of a second questionnaire measuring physical activity behavior to differentiate employees according to stage of exercise was tested. Results revealed that 51% of employees were participating in no physical activity (Precontemplation, Contemplatation) and 49% were participating in occasional or regular physical activity (Preparation, Action, Maintenance). Scores on physical activity behavior items significantly differentiated employees among the stages. This model developed on smoking and other behaviors can be generalized to exercise behavior. Understanding the stages of exercise behavior could yield important information for enhancing rates of participation in physical activity.