1.+Addiction+&+Relapse

= ﻿ Addiction and Relapse ﻿ = " Nobody chooses to become a drug addict or alcoholic, this disease cannot be wished away, it has to be treated. "  -Jay B. Stockman There are many reasons why people use alcohol and other drugs. According to Health Canada, "the majority of adult Canadians use some type of mood-altering drug, though most do not experience problems or misuse drugs." A variety of the common reasons include; 
 * What is addiction? **
 * pleasure
 * coping with difficult situations or problems
 * relaxation
 * confidence
 * peer pressure
 * media and curiosity
 * celebrations

When people begin using alcohol or drugs, they do not plan to become addicted. Once the person realizes that they should cut back use, or quit a substance altogether is when they come to the realization that it is much harder than expected and the end resut may be an addiction.

Substance use can begin as recreational, socially or "once and a while".Substance use becomes a problem at some point and we will teach you how to recognize this. A persons addiction to any substance can become harmful to them, as well as everyone around them and society.

Signs that substance use has become a problem includes;
 * When does substance use become a problem? **
 * previous addictions and if it is already a problem
 * negative concequences
 * <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">losing control of their life

<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">Substance use has many negative consequences attached to it. These problems can range from can be not as severe, for example, having a headache the next day or handing in an assignment late to extremely severe, for example, losing your job, home or even death. Although the consequences may not seem very problematic or harmful in the beginning, with time and these problems can arise and build up. When the less harmful problems begin happening in the beginning and the user ignores or denies that a problem is present, they may be showing signs of an addiction.
 * <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">What are the harmful consequences? **
 * <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">Some examples of harmful consequences resulting from substance use include;
 * <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">Dangerous, impulsive acts such as risky sex, stealing, binge eating, etc
 * <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">Physical harm to your body
 * <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">Lack of coordination
 * <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">State of mind and thinking problems
 * <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">Passing out or blacking out
 * <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">relationship problems
 * <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">the lengths people will go to in order to get money for the substance
 * <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">long term health effects
 * <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">mental health issues (depression, anxiety, psychosis, etc)
 * <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">legal issues

<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">Substance use does not only affect the user, it can affect everyone around them. When a person becomes addicted to a substance it is common to either be in denial that there is an issue or actually realize that their use is problematic and want help but continues to use. If someone with a problem is in denial about their substance use, the problem can continue for much longer, as well as be more damaging and also can be extremely difficult on friends and family and the person using needs. Denial can be brought to reality by the person becoming aware of all the negative consequences that are arising from the substance use.

<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">Webster’s online dictionary defines “addiction” as, “being abnormally tolerant to and dependent on something that is psychologically or physically habit-forming (especially alcohol or narcotic drugs)” When talking about addiction, another term that is commonly used is “dependence”. There are two types of dependence which include physical dependence, which can lead to withdrawal syndrome and psychological dependence which is the most difficult type of dependence. These issues will be discussed on the Recovery and Treatment page.
 * <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">So what is addiction? **

<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">People can be addicted to many different things; caffeine, steroid, nicotine, alcohol, prescription drugs, marijuana, heroin, cocaine, meth, opiate, methadone, and so many other things. However, when it comes to addiction there are only two types, physical addiction and psychological addiction.
 * <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">What types of addiction are there? **

<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">Physical addiction only occurs in some substances and is defined by when there is a presence of withdrawal syndrome. Withdrawal syndrome is defined as "a consistent set of symptoms that appears after discontinuing use of a drug." When a person who is physically dependent on a drug discontinues use suddenly, this can onset the withdrawal syndrome. Each class of drugs has a different cluster of symptoms. Our body reacts this way because after our body’s have gradually become used to the drugs being in our system which is tolerance, it is put into an unbalanced state without the drug. When a person is physically addiction to a drug or substance, their body’s have adapted so that they function better with that drug in their system than without it.

<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">When asked which drugs a person can become physically addicted to, Kenneth Lomp stated that, "The list of drugs you cannot become physically addicted to is much shorter than the ones you can become addicted to, this includes LSD, benzodiazepines, most of the 14 minor sedative hypnotics and THC is questionable."

<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">Psychological addiction is often calculated by observable behavior, how much time the person is spending thinking about it and trying to obtain the drug as well as how often the person uses the drug. Psychological dependence often stems from the feeling that the person taking the drug experiences. For example, if someone is using cocaine to forget about family issues, the more they use it, the less they will think and feel about the issues going on at home. This is also known as reinforcement. Reinforcement is defined as "a procedure in which a behavioral event is followed by a consequent event such that the behavior is then more likely to be repeated. The behavior of taking a drug may be reinforced by the effect-of the drug".

<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">According to Drugs, Society and Human Behaviour, psychological addiction is much more important than physical dependence when it comes to a person repeating their drug use. After a person goes through withdrawal syndrome, they are no longer physically addicted to the drug. It is the psychological addiction that makes a person crave the drug and eventually go back to using it. If a person could become addiction-free by going through withdrawal, addiction would not be as large of an issue as it is today.

<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">Addiction affects all different people and does not matter about age, race, gender, income, etc. However, there are statistics on how common it is and who it affects most.
 * <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">Statistics of drug addiction **
 * ======<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">two to three times higher in men than women ======
 * ======<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">highest among people aged 15 to 24 (Statistics Canada, 2003) ======

<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">Major findings from the Canadian Alcohol and Drug Use Monitoring Survey (CADUMS) 2009

 * ======<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">Among Canadians 15 years and older, the prevalence of past-year cannabis use decreased from 14.1% in 2004 to 10.6% in 2009. ======
 * ======<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">The prevalence of past-year cannabis use decreased, among youth aged 15 to 24 years, from 37.0% in 2004 to 26.3% in 2009. ======
 * ======<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">Among Canadians 15 years and older, the prevalence of past-year cocaine or crack (1.2%), ecstasy (0.9%), speed (0.4%) and hallucinogen (0.7%) use is comparable to the rates of use reported in 2004. ======
 * ======<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">Among youth, aged 15 to 24 years, past-year use of at least one of 5 illicit drugs (cocaine or crack, speed, hallucinogens, ecstasy, and heroin) decreased from 11.3% in 2004 to 5.5% in 2009. ======
 * ======<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">The rate of drug use by youth 15-24 years of age remains much higher than that reported by adults 25 years and older: almost four times higher for cannabis use (26.3% versus 7.6%), and almost five times higher for past-year use of any drug excluding cannabis (6.3% versus 1.3%). ======
 * ======<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">The rates of psychoactive pharmaceutical use and abuse remains comparable to the rates reported in 2008: 25.0% of respondents aged 15 years and older indicated that they had used an opioid pain reliever, a stimulant, or a sedative or tranquilizer in the past year while 0.6% reported that they used any of these drugs to get high in the past year. ======
 * ======<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">Overall, 1.6% of Canadians reported using Salvia in their lifetime and 0.2% reported use in the past year. The prevalence of lifetime use among youth (15-24 years of age) was 7.3% while only 0.5% of adults reported having ever used this substance. ======
 * ======<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">Among Canadians 15 years and older, the prevalence of past-year alcohol use decreased from 79.3% in 2004 to 76.5% in 2009. ======
 * ======<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">Three quarters of youth (75.5%) reported consuming alcohol in the past year. This is a decrease from 2004 when 82.9% of youth reported past-year use of alcohol. ======
 * ======<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">The prevalence of heavy frequent drinking among youth 15 to 24 years of age, was three times higher than the rate for adults 25 years and older (11.7% versus 3.9%). ======

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<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">Webster’s online dictionary defines relapse as "One who has relapsed, or fallen back, into error; a backslider; specifically, one who, after recanting error, returns to it again"
 * <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">What is relapse? **

<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">When a person is trying to overcome an addiction, it is most likely that they will experience at least one relapse, also known as a "slip up". This can leave the person feeling hopeless and frustrated. It doesn't matter if they have been drug-free for a few hours, a few months or a few years, relapse can happen at any stage in recovery.

<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">There are many factors that lead to relapse and cause a person in recovery to use the substance again. Some of these include; > you crave the substance (sounds, smells, etc)
 * <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">What leads to relapse? **
 * <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">stress
 * <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">triggers that make
 * <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">peer pressure

<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">A full explanation of addiction and relapse is being studied through research and brain imaging. Relapse will be explained in more detail on the 'Effects of Relapse' and 'Causes of Relapse' pages.

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