Substance Related Disorders - Abnormal Psychology | PSYC 3150, Study notes of Abnormal Psychology

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Slides & Handouts by Karen Clay Rhines, Ph.D. Comer, Abnormal Psychology , 7e

Substance-Related

Disorders

Chapter 12 Handouts

Substance-Related

Disorders

 What is a drug? 

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 Need not be a medicine or illegal  Current language uses the term “substance” rather than “drug” to overtly include alcohol, tobacco, and caffeine

Substance-Related

Disorders

 Substances may cause ______________ changes in behavior, emotion, or thought  (^) May result in substance intoxication (literally, “poisoning”), a temporary state of poor judgment, mood changes irritability, slurred speech, and poor coordination  Some substances such as LSD may produce a particular form of intoxication, sometimes called ___________________, which consists of perceptual distortions and hallucinations

Substance-Related

Disorders

 (^) Substances can also produce long-term problems:  (^) Substance abuse: a pattern of behavior in which a person relies on a drug excessively and chronically, damaging relationships, affecting work functioning, and/or putting self or others in danger  (^) Substance dependence: a more advanced pattern of use in which a person abuses a drug and centers his or her life around it  (^) Also called “___________________”  (^) May include ______________ (need increasing doses to get an effect) and ________________ (unpleasant and dangerous symptoms when substance use is stopped or cut down)

Substance-Related

Disorders

 About 10% of all teens and adults in the U.S. display substance abuse or dependence  (^) The highest rates of substance abuse or dependence in the U.S. is found among Native Americans (19%), while the lowest is among Asian Americans (4.3%)  (^) White Americans, Hispanic Americans, and African Americans display rates between 9 and 10%  (^) Only 26% receive treatment

Substance-Related

Disorders

 Many drugs are available in our society  (^) Some are naturally occurring; others are produced in a laboratory  Some require a physician’s prescription for legal use; others, like alcohol and nicotine, are legally available to adults  (^) Still others, like heroin, are illegal under all circumstances

Substance-Related

Disorders

 Recent statistics suggest that drug use is a significant social problem  28 million people in the U.S. have used an illegal substance within the past year  20.4 million are using one of them currently  Almost 22% of all high school seniors have used an illegal drug within the past month

Substance-Related

Disorders

 There are several categories of substances used and studied:  Depressants  Stimulants  Hallucinogens  Cannabis  Polydrug use

Depressants

 Depressants slow the activity of the central nervous system (CNS)  Reduce tension and inhibitions  (^) May interfere with judgment, motor activity, and concentration  Three most widely used depressants:  (^) Alcohol  (^) Sedative-hypnotic drugs  (^) Opioids

Depressants: Alcohol

 The World Health Organization estimates that 2 billion people worldwide consume alcohol  In the U.S., more than half of all residents drink alcoholic beverages from time to time

Depressants: Alcohol

 When people consume 5 or more drinks in a single occasion, it is called a binge-drinking episode  23% of all people in the U.S. over the age of 11 binge-drink each month  Men account for 81% of binge-drinking episodes  Nearly 7% of people over the age of 11 are heavy drinkers, having 5 drinks on at least 5 occasions per month  (^) Among heavy drinkers, the ratio of men to women is 4:1 (around 8% to 4%)

Depressants: Alcohol

 All alcoholic beverages contain ethyl alcohol  It is absorbed into the blood through stomach lining and takes effect in the bloodstream and CNS  (^) Short-term: alcohol ____________________

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 (^) Alcohol helps _______ (an inhibitory messenger) shut down neurons and “relax” the drinker

Depressants: Alcohol

 The first brain area affected is that which controls judgment and inhibition  Next affected are additional areas in the CNS, leaving the drinker even less able to make sound judgments, speak clearly, and remember well  Motor difficulties increase as drinking continues, and reaction times slow

Depressants: Alcohol

 The extent of the effect of ethyl alcohol is determined by its concentration (proportion) in the blood  (^) A given amount of alcohol has a lesser effect on a large person than on a small one  Gender also affects blood alcohol concentration  (^) Women have less alcohol dehydrogenase, an enzyme in the stomach that metabolizes alcohol before it enters the blood  (^) Women become more intoxicated than men on equal doses of alcohol

Depressants: Alcohol

 Levels of impairment are closely tied to the concentration of ethyl alcohol in the blood:  BAC = 0.06: Relaxation and comfort  BAC = 0.09: Intoxication  BAC > 0.55: Death  (^) Most people lose consciousness before they can drink this much

Depressants: Alcohol

 The effects of alcohol subside only after alcohol is metabolized by the ________  The average rate of this metabolism is 25% of an ounce per hour 

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Depressants: Alcohol

 Though legal, alcohol is one of the most dangerous recreational drugs  Its effects can extend across the life span  Alcohol use is a major problem in high school, college, and adulthood

Depressants: Alcohol

 In any given year, 6.6% of the world’s population will fall into a pattern of abuse or dependence  13.2% experience one of the patterns sometime during their life  7.6% of all adults in the U.S. (almost 19 million people) display an alcohol use disorder  In their lifetime, between 9% and 18% of adults will display one of these patterns, with men outnumbering women 2:

Depressants: Alcohol

 The prevalence of alcoholism in a given year is ___________________ for White Americans, African Americans and Hispanic Americans  The men in these groups show strikingly different age patterns

Depressants: Alcohol

 Generally, _________ have lower rates of alcohol disorders than do people from other cultures  As many as one-half of these individuals have a deficiency of alcohol dehydrogenase; thus, they have a negative reaction to even modest alcohol use

Depressants: Alcohol

 Alcohol abuse  In general, people who abuse alcohol drink large amounts regularly and rely on it to enable them to do things that would otherwise make them anxious  (^) Eventually the drinking interferes with work and social functioning  (^) Individual patterns of alcohol abuse vary

Depressants: Alcohol

 Alcohol dependence  For many people, the pattern of alcohol misuse includes dependence  (^) They build up a physiological tolerance and need to drink greater amounts to feel its effect  (^) They may experience withdrawal, including nausea and vomiting, when they stop drinking  (^) A small percentage of alcohol-dependent people experience a dramatic and dangerous withdrawal syndrome known as delirium tremens (“the DTs”)  (^) Can be fatal!

Depressants: Alcohol

 What is the personal and social impact of alcoholism?  Alcoholism destroys families, social relationships, and careers  (^) Losses to society total many billions of dollars annually  (^) Plays a role in suicides, homicides, assaults, rapes, and accidents  (^) Has serious effects on the children (some 30 million) of alcoholic parents

Depressants: Alcohol

 What is the personal and social impact of alcoholism?  Long-term excessive drinking can seriously damage physical health  (^) ____________________________________________ __  Long-term excessive drinking can cause major nutritional problems  (^) Example: Korsakoff’s syndrome  Women who drink alcohol during pregnancy place their fetuses at risk from ____________________________ (FAS)

 Sedative-hypnotic (anxiolytic) drugs produce feelings of relaxation and drowsiness  At low doses, they have a calming or sedative effect  At high doses, they function as sleep inducers or hypnotics  Sedative-hypnotic drugs include barbiturates and benzodiazepines

Depressants:

Sedative-Hypnotic Drugs