Showing papers on "Addiction published in 1994"

Establishing a nicotine threshold for addiction. The implications for tobacco regulation.

Abstract: On February 25, 1994, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) released a letter to the Coalition on Smoking or Health announcing its intention to consider regulating cigarettes. The agency's premises were that the vast majority of tobacco users self-administer the product for the drug effects of nicotine and to sustain addiction and that cigarette manufacturers control the levels of nicotine in cigarettes to maintain this addiction. The FDA further raised the possibility of regulating cigarettes on the basis of their nicotine content to prevent addiction. On February 28, 1994, the ABC news program Day One presented evidence that tobacco manufacturers . . .

Comorbid Substance Abuse and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: Characteristics of Women in Treatment

Abstract: To further explore the complex relationship between posttraumatic stress disorder (PISD) and substance use disorders, the authors compared 30 women with PTSD in substance abuse treatment with 25 women without PTSD in substance abuse treatment on degree of addiction severity, psychopa-thology, and aftercare compliance. Women with PTSD were more likely to have been victims of sexual and physical abuse, particularly childhood abuse. They had significantly higher scores on the Addiction Severity Index, were more likely to have comorbid affective disorder, and less likely to comply with aftercare. These results suggest that screening for victimization and PTSD among women presenting for substance abuse treatment may have important prognostic and treatment implications.

Comorbid Substance Abuse and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder

Abstract: To further explore the complex relationship between posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and substance use disorders, the authors compared 30 women with PTSD in substance abuse treatment with 25 women without PTSD in substance abuse treatment on degree of addiction severity, psychopathology, and aftercare compliance. Women with PTSD were more likely to have been victims of sexual and physical abuse, particularly childhood abuse. They had significantly higher scores on the Addiction Severity Index, were more likely to have comorbid affective disorder, and less likely to comply with aftercare. These results suggest that screening for victimization and PTSD among women presenting for substance abuse treatment may have important prognostic and treatment implications.

Neural mechanisms underlying nicotine dependence

Abstract: There is little doubt that many habitual smokers find it difficult to quit the habit because they have become addicted to the nicotine present in the smoke. This paper addresses some of the pharmacological mechanisms underlying this addiction and discusses how an understanding of these mechanisms may contribute to the more effective use of nicotine replacement therapy during smoking cessation. It considers critically the evidence that the "rewarding" properties of nicotine, which serve to reinforce drug-seeking behaviour, are related to stimulation of the mesolimbic dopamine system of the brain. The critique focuses specifically on the evidence that many central nicotinic receptors, including those which mediate the effects of the drug on dopamine secretion, are readily desensitized by chronic exposure to agonist and that hypotheses which assume that nicotine inhaled from tobacco smoke invariably results in stimulation of the receptors must be treated with caution. Nicotinic receptors in the brain are, however, heterogeneous in nature with different molecular structures and pharmacologies. It is concluded that the reinforcing properties of nicotine sought by smokers may reflect both stimulation and desensitization of the different nicotinic receptor populations, and that smokers may adjust their smoking habits to achieve the balance of receptor stimulation and desensitization which they find most reinforcing. It seems likely that the efficacy of the different nicotine formulations during the treatment of smoking cessation may also reflect their ability to stimulate or desensitize brain nicotinic receptors.

Addiction: from biology to drug policy

Abstract: Drug addiction is a brain disease--that's the modern view and it is fully expressed in this up-to-date book. Among the many volumes on drugs written for lay readers, this one is unique in the breadth of its coverage and the depth of its science. The first part gives a clear scientific account of the nature of addiction, stressing neurobiology and addictive behavior and describing the "highs" that drugs can produce. The second section covers the seven families of addictive drugs, with emphasis on their actions in the brain and on psychological aspects: nicotine, alcohol, heroin and other opiates, cocaine and amphetamines, marijuana, caffeine, and hallucinogens like LSD. The third section deals with laws and drug control policies. Throughout, the author gives many interesting personal accounts of addiction research, to which he has highlighted new research on the genetics and neurobiology of susceptibility to addiction.

Health Psychology: Biopsychosocial Factors in Health and Illness

Abstract: Appropriate for any class that explores the psychosocial aspects of health and/or illness. Students are exposed to both theory and practice through well designed models depicting diverse issues such as pain control, stress management, and addiction.

Validity of the Work Addiction Risk Test

Abstract: 50 subjects correctly classified the 25 items of the Work Addiction Risk Test by symptom, giving support for face validity.

The American psychiatric press textbook of substance abuse treatment

Abstract: Overview of Treatment Goals of Treatment Typologies of Addiction Assessment of the Patient Outcome Research - Alcoholism Outcome Research - Drug Abuse Treatment of Patients for Specific Drugs of Abuse Alcohol Cannabis Stimulants Hallucinogens Phencyclidine Tobacco Benzodiazepines and Other Sedative-Hypnotics Opioids - Detoxification Opioids - Methadone Maintenance Opioids - Antagonists and Partial Agonists Treatment Modalities Individual Treatment Psychodynamics Network Therapy for the Office Practitioner Individual Psychotherapy - Alcohol Individual Psychotherapy - Other Drugs Relapse Prevention Group and Family Treatment Group Therapy Family Therapy - Alcohol Family Therapy - Other Drugs Special Programmes Alcoholics Anonymous and Other 12-Step Groups In-Patient Treatment Employee Assistance Programmes Community-based treatment Therapeutic communities Adolescent substance Abuse Appendix - Psychoactive Substance Use Disorders, The American Psychiatric Association "Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders", Fourth Edition

Gender, Drink and Drugs

Abstract: Women and Alcohol: The Emergence of a Risk Group, B. Thom - The Police, Gender and the Culture of Drug Use and Addiction, M. Young - Symptoms, Struggles and Functions: What Does the Overdose Represent?, R. Littlewood - Whisky, Women and the Scottish Drink Problem, S. Macdonald - Gender, Ethnicity and Alcohol in the Former Soviet Union, T. Dragadze

Sex addiction: Controversy within Mainstream Addiction Medicine, Diagnosis Based on the DSM-III-R, and Physician Case Histories

Abstract: An ongoing controversy among addictionists is whether to accept “process” or behavioral addictions such as sexual addiction as within the scope of addiction medicine. This article delineates the controversy and reviews data that support the commonalities between behavioral and chemical dependencies. Similarities include obsession, denial, loss of control, compulsive behavior, continuation despite adverse consequences, and escalation of the behaviors. The DSM-III-R criteria for chemical dependency can be easily applied to sexual addiction. Another commonality is the refractoriness to treatment with traditional psychotherapeutic modalities versus the responsiveness to addiction treatment and 12-step mutual-help groups. Sexual addiction is of importance to addictionists because: 1) it is an addiction; 2) many chemically dependent patients are also addicted to sex and may relapse to chemical use because of untreated sex addiction; 3) sexual addiction contributes to the AIDS epidemic; and 4) compulsiv...

A sibling study of sensation seeking and opiate addiction

Abstract: Substance abuse and its correlative personality traits may have familial associations. We assessed the relationship between sensation seeking and drug use in 201 opiate addicts and 133 of their siblings in a cross-sectional family study. Probands and their drug-abusing siblings showed greater sensation seeking than their non-drug-abusing siblings and this diagnosis accounted for the most variance in regression models. Degree of sensation seeking correlated among drug-abusing siblings and with age of first drug use. The results are discussed in terms of substance abuse typologies and for using sensation-seeking assessments for prevention and treatment of substance abuse.

The Psychology Of Addiction

Abstract: Addiction - Misconduct and Disease Psychological Approaches to Addiction Initiation and Maintenance Dependence Change Prevention Postscript.

W. H. R. Rivers Prize Essay (1992). Stories of Pain and the Problem of AIDS Prevention: Injection Drug Withdrawal and Its Effect on Risk Behavior

Abstract: This study shows that drug withdrawal can be interpreted as a chronic pain condition that bridges the physical and emotional experiences of pain, especially regarding feelings of rejection, shame, inadequacy, and isolation. The experience of withdrawal among drug users, both in treatment and actively using drugs, in a predominantly working-class, industrial Massachusetts city of 185,000 was studied through questionnaires, interviews, and ethnographic observation. The results suggest that the physical effects of drug use need to be explored as a symptom of a more extensive chronic condition in which pain is both the reason for and the consequence of drug addiction. This pain condition makes avoiding needle sharing and cleaning injection equipment with bleach difficult for many drug users because tolerance of withdrawal symptoms requires tolerating not only physical symptoms but also a more complex constellation of symptoms. This research suggests that AIDS education may need to address the notion of drug withdrawal and its effect on risk-taking behavior.

Addiction: From Biology to Drug Policy

Abstract: (1994). Addiction: From Biology to Drug Policy. Journal of Psychoactive Drugs: Vol. 26, No. 1, pp. 89-91.

Prescription Drug Dependence in the Elderly Population: Demographic and Clinical Features of 100 Inpatients

Abstract: Objective To determine the prevalence of prescription drug dependence among elderly persons in an inpatient treatment setting, to identify apparent risk factors for drug dependence, and to ascertain what factors led to admission of these patients. Design We reviewed the medical records of 100 elderly patients dependent on prescription drugs who were admitted to the Mayo Inpatient Addiction Program between 1974 and 1993. Material and Methods Demographic features, chronic medical disorders, categories of substance dependence, diagnoses of mental disorders, and Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory data were compiled and analyzed. Results The mean annual admissions rates for three substance use disorder groups among all elderly persons treated during the 20-year period of study were as follows: alcohol only, 72%; prescription drugs, 16%; and both alcohol and drugs, 12%. The group as a whole was socially intact. Female gender seemed to be a risk factor for drug dependence. By several measures, these elderly patients were characterized as a psychiatric population. The most frequent drug dependence involved sedatives or hypnotics. General medical data did not suggest that these elderly persons were more physically impaired than the general population. Conclusion In elderly patients, awareness of coexistent diagnoses is essential in avoiding the inappropriate administration of multiple pharmaceutical agents and the possible risk of associated drug abuse and dependence.

Children with alcohol misusing parents

Abstract: Children of alcohol abusing parents (COAs) now receive more attention in their own right but data from methodologically sound studies is still thin. Genetic vulnerability increases risk of comorbidity for other psychiatric disorders and cognitive deficits as well as substance abuse. Neuropsychological effects of maternal alcohol consumption in pregnancy are more common than previously thought and paternal alcohol abuse may contribute to fetal damage. Family functioning is severely affected and COAs are at risk for child abuse though the strength of the association needs clarifying. Family drinking patterns are associated with teenage alcohol abuse and early induction increases the risk of addiction. COAs have raised morbidity rates for emotional and behavioural disturbance with impact on the developing child and separate prognostic significance for future adult morbidity other than alcoholism. Ethical considerations arise about the welfare of children cared for by alcohol abusing parents. Language: en

An exploratory study of gambling cross addictions.

Abstract: A growing body of empirical and theoretical research has concentrated on the overlaps and commonalities among chemical and non-chemical (behavioural) addictions. Pathological gambling has perhaps been the most widely researched behavioural addiction and some of this research has concerned the co-existing links between pathological gambling and alcohol/drug addiction in both the gambling substance abuser and the substance abusing gambler (i.e. cross addiction). This study was of an exploratory nature and attempted to gather information and data regarding gambling cross addictions in the UK. To achieve this, 456 letters were sent to all drug and alcohol helping agencies in England requesting such information. This yielded 210 returns (46% response rate). Results indicated that gambling cross addictions occur in both adults and adolescents and were almost exclusively a male condition. However, it must be noted only just over half of the responding agencies had encountered gambling cross addiction and reasons for this are speculated. Results also indicated the existence of various cross addicted subgroups including an adolescent subgroup who were addicted to fruit machines and abused solvents. Future research ideas are also discussed.

Psychological mechanisms of enhanced risk of addiction in children of alcoholics: a dual pathway?

Abstract: The background and rationale of a recently started project of the Amsterdam Institute for Addiction Research are outlined. This project is aimed at the psychological mechanisms underlying an enhanced risk of (later) addiction in children of alcoholics and the relationship with childhood psychopathology. A dual pathway mechanism is proposed, in which the type of alcoholism of the parent plays a major role. The child of a multigenerational primary alcoholic parent may suffer from an inherited mild dysfunction of the prefrontal cortex, expressed in neuropsychological and personality characteristics similar to those of the alcoholic parent. These are impulsive, aggressive and reward-seeking behaviour, response perseveration and, in some children, related psychopathology such as conduct disorders. For a child of a secondary alcoholic parent, another mechanism is proposed. In these children, stress and social learning may lead to negative affectivity and repressive coping style, with emotional problems at a later age, and the risk of falling into the "circle of secondary alcoholism". In both pathways, alcohol-related expectancies are suggested to constitute a "final common pathway" between different risk factors and later alcohol abuse. Specific expectancies might be related to different pathways and to gender differences in later drinking patterns.

Integration of trauma-based, cognitive, behavioral, systemic and addiction approaches for treatment of hypersexual pair-bonding disorder

Abstract: Serendipitously, the study of sexual abuse victims has resulted in a new understanding of paraphilia and sexual compulsivity. Frequently men and women who are sexually and physically abused present clinically with compulsive repetitive reenactment of early trauma in their sexual imagery and/or behavior. Utilizing a post-traumatic stress model, compulsive behavior is understood as a natural response to early trauma, which is later maintained by the association with release and pleasure, as well as becoming a habitual means of coping with stress. Comprehensive treatment requires a focus on completion of the cycle of original trauma and allowing and enabling direct expression of the intense affect embedded within these memories. The Masters and Johnson model of treatment combines this innovative trauma-based approach with a combination of cognitive, behavioral, and 12-step approaches in the treatment of sexual compulsivity. Providing a structured environment with eight hours of focused treatment dai...

Drug/Alcohol Addictions and Mothering

Abstract: Although there is a growing literature on the characteristics of women with alcohol and drug addictions, and on the effects of prenatal exposure to drugs and alcohol, little is known about the mothering skills of alcohol or drug addicted women. The literature on alcohol and drug addiction and women is reviewed in order to propose characteristics that might affect parenting knowledge or skills. Some potential barriers to effective parenting might include traumatic childhood histories, current relationship patterns, depression and low self-esteem, shame and guilt, and cognitive deficits.