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Addiction
(Joshua Togeretz)
Substance abuse or addiction is present in more than
1 billion people worldwide and is so prevalent that
“it is almost certain that you or somebody dear to you
will be adversely affected by drugs”
(Pinel & Barnes, 2018, p. 390).
Substance abuse is also frequently found to co-exist with other mental disorders,
especially mood disorders (Rush et. al., 2008). Substances are commonly used legally and
responsibly.
So, what classifies substance use as “abuse”? The U.S. Department of Health & Human
Services (USDHHS, 2016), considers substance abuse as having the potential to harm the
user or those around them through the use of any substance. This explanation would
include activities such as: driving under the influence, underage drug use, injection
drug use, binge drinking, etc. Substance abuse can be considered as a mental disorder
when it begins to have a significant impact on health, social function, and the inability
to control usage. Substance use disorder often develops gradually over time with
repeated substance abuse (USDHHS, 2016).
Please consider the following resources if you or a loved one are experiencing negative
effects due to substance use.
References:
Pinel, J. P. J. & Barnes, S. J. (2018). Biospsychology. New York, NY: Pearson Education Inc
U.S Department of Health & Human Services (2016). Facing Addiction in America: The Surgeon General’s Report
on Alcohol, Drugs, and Health. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK424860
Rush, B., Urbanoski, K., Bassani, D., Castel, S., Wild, T. C., Strike, C., . . . Somers, J. (2008). Prevalence of cooccurring
substance use and other mental disorders in the Canadian population. Canadian Journal of
Psychiatry, 53(12), 800-809. Retrieved from http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/
070674370805301206