Tuesday, March 25, 2008
Types of Addiction
Drug Addiction
Drug addicts are typically those individuals who are addicted to some substance other than alcohol. Drug addiction is a three stage process according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition (DSM-IV). They are preoccupation/anticipation, binge/intoxication, and withdrawal/negative affect. The Drug Addict, as opposed to the alcoholic, can be addicted to anything. It is common for drug addicts to have a "drug of choice," or a particular drug that they prefer over other drugs. There are typically "upper" people who prefer stimulant drugs such as cocaine and/or methamphetamine, and there are "downer" people who prefer drugs such as heroin, prescription pain killers, and marijuana. Recently there has been an influx of multidrug addicts who use both uppers and downers.
The drug addict can also be addicted to alcohol and many drug addicts who assume that they are not alcoholics and attempt to drink without doing drugs find this a difficult task to accomplish. Many drug addict are alcoholics and visa versa.
Alcohol Addiction
There are many types of alcoholics. Some are binge drinkers and others have developed into daily drinkers. According to the DSM-IV, the alcoholic is someone who continues to drink despite negative consequences. Often the dependent alcoholic will develop severe withdrawal and tolerance to alcohol. The alcoholic will also have a preoccupation with drinking.
It is currently unclear what causes a person to become an alcoholic, but the general consensus is that it is a combination of environmental and genetic factors. Many people assume that a person must enjoy alcohol to be an alcoholic, but this is not true. An alcoholic may detest alcohol, but drink it anyway. An alcoholic drinks alcohol essentially because they like the effect produced by alcohol.
Coke Addiction
Cocaine is essentially a dopamine reuptake inhibitor. It suppresses appetite, produces a euphoric feeling, and increases energy. Cocaine can be smoked (freebasing), inhaled (Insufflation), or injected. Often people begin using the drug recreationally by inhaling into the nasal passage (snorting or sniffing). Cocaine is a highly addictive drug. People who use the drug only once or twice can become addicted to the drug physically. Cocaine is almost never pure. Cocaine is mixed with other substances such as baby laxative by dealers looking to increase their profit.
Crack Addiction
Crack is the most addictive form of cocaine. It produces and intense high that only last for minutes. Only half of Crack is made up of actual cocaine. The rest is often baking soda or some other adulterant. Crack addiction is hard to treat. The euphoric recall of the drug is intense and often people in recovery who's primary drug of choice is Crack tend to have a lower chance of success in treatment. Crack cocaine releases a tremendous amount of dopamine quickly and then the level of dopamine drops suddenly, causing depression and an intense feeling of sadness. The extreme highs and lows of the drug is what often creates psychological addiction.
Meth Addiction
Methamphetamine or Meth is a cheap and highly addictive drug. There are often methamphetamine epidemics in towns across America as methamphetamine labs pop up and people begin to abuse the drug and then offer it to their friends, who then become addicted. There have been reports that the methamphetamine currently being produced in makeshift labs across the country is the most addictive drug there is. Methamphetamine produces a tremendous amount of energy coupled with euphoria. Methamphetamine addicts can stay awake for days and even weeks at a time. Methamphetamine often causes symptoms identical to Paranoid Schizophrenia after extended periods of use (Amphetamine induced psychosis). The symptoms often dissipate after drug use stops, but sometimes the symptoms persist for some time. The drug can be smoked, inhaled, ingested, or injected.
Drug addicts are typically those individuals who are addicted to some substance other than alcohol. Drug addiction is a three stage process according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition (DSM-IV). They are preoccupation/anticipation, binge/intoxication, and withdrawal/negative affect. The Drug Addict, as opposed to the alcoholic, can be addicted to anything. It is common for drug addicts to have a "drug of choice," or a particular drug that they prefer over other drugs. There are typically "upper" people who prefer stimulant drugs such as cocaine and/or methamphetamine, and there are "downer" people who prefer drugs such as heroin, prescription pain killers, and marijuana. Recently there has been an influx of multidrug addicts who use both uppers and downers.
The drug addict can also be addicted to alcohol and many drug addicts who assume that they are not alcoholics and attempt to drink without doing drugs find this a difficult task to accomplish. Many drug addict are alcoholics and visa versa.
Alcohol Addiction
There are many types of alcoholics. Some are binge drinkers and others have developed into daily drinkers. According to the DSM-IV, the alcoholic is someone who continues to drink despite negative consequences. Often the dependent alcoholic will develop severe withdrawal and tolerance to alcohol. The alcoholic will also have a preoccupation with drinking.
It is currently unclear what causes a person to become an alcoholic, but the general consensus is that it is a combination of environmental and genetic factors. Many people assume that a person must enjoy alcohol to be an alcoholic, but this is not true. An alcoholic may detest alcohol, but drink it anyway. An alcoholic drinks alcohol essentially because they like the effect produced by alcohol.
Coke Addiction
Cocaine is essentially a dopamine reuptake inhibitor. It suppresses appetite, produces a euphoric feeling, and increases energy. Cocaine can be smoked (freebasing), inhaled (Insufflation), or injected. Often people begin using the drug recreationally by inhaling into the nasal passage (snorting or sniffing). Cocaine is a highly addictive drug. People who use the drug only once or twice can become addicted to the drug physically. Cocaine is almost never pure. Cocaine is mixed with other substances such as baby laxative by dealers looking to increase their profit.
Crack Addiction
Crack is the most addictive form of cocaine. It produces and intense high that only last for minutes. Only half of Crack is made up of actual cocaine. The rest is often baking soda or some other adulterant. Crack addiction is hard to treat. The euphoric recall of the drug is intense and often people in recovery who's primary drug of choice is Crack tend to have a lower chance of success in treatment. Crack cocaine releases a tremendous amount of dopamine quickly and then the level of dopamine drops suddenly, causing depression and an intense feeling of sadness. The extreme highs and lows of the drug is what often creates psychological addiction.
Meth Addiction
Methamphetamine or Meth is a cheap and highly addictive drug. There are often methamphetamine epidemics in towns across America as methamphetamine labs pop up and people begin to abuse the drug and then offer it to their friends, who then become addicted. There have been reports that the methamphetamine currently being produced in makeshift labs across the country is the most addictive drug there is. Methamphetamine produces a tremendous amount of energy coupled with euphoria. Methamphetamine addicts can stay awake for days and even weeks at a time. Methamphetamine often causes symptoms identical to Paranoid Schizophrenia after extended periods of use (Amphetamine induced psychosis). The symptoms often dissipate after drug use stops, but sometimes the symptoms persist for some time. The drug can be smoked, inhaled, ingested, or injected.
Labels: addiction, Alcohol, Cocaine, Crack, Meth, Methamphetamine
Monday, July 23, 2007
Frontline: The Meth Epidemic
Meth and the Brain
Brain scan images from Dr. Volkow's study. Image copyright Nora Volkow/American Journal of Psychiatry.
Brain scan images from Dr. Volkow's study. Image copyright Nora Volkow/American Journal of Psychiatry.
- Meth releases a surge of dopamine, causing an intense rush of pleasure or prolonged sense of euphoria.
- Over time, meth destroys dopamine receptors, making it impossible to feel pleasure.
Although these pleasure centers can heal over time, research suggests that damage to users' cognitive abilities may be permanent. - Chronic abuse can lead to psychotic behavior, including paranoia, insomnia, anxiety, extreme aggression, delusions and hallucinations, and even death.
"There [are] a whole variety of reasons to try methamphetamine," explains Dr. Richard Rawson, associate director of UCLA's Integrated Substance Abuse Programs. "[H]owever, once they take the drug ... their reasons are pretty much the same: They like how it affects their brain[s]." Meth users have described this feeling as a sudden rush of pleasure lasting for several minutes, followed by a euphoric high that lasts between six and 12 hours, and it is the result of drug causing the brain to release excessive amounts of the chemical dopamine, a neurotransmitter that controls pleasure. All drugs of abuse cause the release of dopamine, even alcohol and nicotine, explains Rawson, "[But] methamphetamine produces the mother of all dopamine releases."
For example, in lab experiments done on animals, sex causes dopamine levels to jump from 100 to 200 units, and cocaine causes them to spike to 350 units. "[With] methamphetamine you get a release from the base level to about 1,250 units, something that's about 12 times as much of a release of dopamine as you get from food and sex and other pleasurable activities," Rawson says. "This really doesn't occur from any normally rewarding activity. That's one of the reasons why people, when they take methamphetamine, report having this euphoric [feeling] that's unlike anything they've ever experienced." Then, when the drug wears off, users experience profound depression and feel the need to keep taking the drug to avoid the crash.
When addicts use meth over and over again, the drug actually changes their brain chemistry, destroying the wiring in the brain's pleasure centers and making it increasingly impossible to experience any pleasure at all. Although studies have shown that these tissues can regrow over time, the process can take years, and the repair may never be complete. A paper published by Dr. Nora Volkow, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, examines brain scans of several meth abusers who, after 14 months of abstinence from the drug, have regrown most of their damaged dopamine receptors; however, they showed no improvement in the cognitive abilities damaged by the drug. After more than a year's sobriety, these former meth users still showed severe impairment in memory, judgment and motor coordination, similar to symptoms seen in individuals suffering from Parkinson's Disease.
In addition to affecting cognitive abilities, these changes in brain chemistry can lead to disturbing, even violent behavior. Meth, like all stimulants, causes the brain to release high doses of adrenaline, the body's "fight or flight" mechanism, inducing anxiety, wakefulness and intensely focused attention, called "tweaking." When users are tweaking, they exhibit hyperactive and obsessive behavior, as journalist Thea Singer's sister Candy did on her meth binges. "When she was high, which was almost always, she had to be on the computer -- diddling with programs to make them run faster, ordering freebies on the Internet," writes Singer. "Then computers faded, and she was obsessed with diving into dumpsters -- rescuing audio equipment from behind Radio Shack, pens from behind Office Depot." Heavy, chronic usage can also prompt psychotic behavior, such as paranoia, aggression, hallucinations and delusions. Some users have been known to feel insects crawling beneath their skin. "He picks and picks and picks at himself, like there are bugs inside his face," the mother of one meth addict told Newsweek . "He tears his clothes off and ties them around his head." The same article told the story of another former addict, who, even after five years of sobriety, can't go to the bathroom without propping a space heater against the door, in case someone is after him.
For example, in lab experiments done on animals, sex causes dopamine levels to jump from 100 to 200 units, and cocaine causes them to spike to 350 units. "[With] methamphetamine you get a release from the base level to about 1,250 units, something that's about 12 times as much of a release of dopamine as you get from food and sex and other pleasurable activities," Rawson says. "This really doesn't occur from any normally rewarding activity. That's one of the reasons why people, when they take methamphetamine, report having this euphoric [feeling] that's unlike anything they've ever experienced." Then, when the drug wears off, users experience profound depression and feel the need to keep taking the drug to avoid the crash.
When addicts use meth over and over again, the drug actually changes their brain chemistry, destroying the wiring in the brain's pleasure centers and making it increasingly impossible to experience any pleasure at all. Although studies have shown that these tissues can regrow over time, the process can take years, and the repair may never be complete. A paper published by Dr. Nora Volkow, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, examines brain scans of several meth abusers who, after 14 months of abstinence from the drug, have regrown most of their damaged dopamine receptors; however, they showed no improvement in the cognitive abilities damaged by the drug. After more than a year's sobriety, these former meth users still showed severe impairment in memory, judgment and motor coordination, similar to symptoms seen in individuals suffering from Parkinson's Disease.
In addition to affecting cognitive abilities, these changes in brain chemistry can lead to disturbing, even violent behavior. Meth, like all stimulants, causes the brain to release high doses of adrenaline, the body's "fight or flight" mechanism, inducing anxiety, wakefulness and intensely focused attention, called "tweaking." When users are tweaking, they exhibit hyperactive and obsessive behavior, as journalist Thea Singer's sister Candy did on her meth binges. "When she was high, which was almost always, she had to be on the computer -- diddling with programs to make them run faster, ordering freebies on the Internet," writes Singer. "Then computers faded, and she was obsessed with diving into dumpsters -- rescuing audio equipment from behind Radio Shack, pens from behind Office Depot." Heavy, chronic usage can also prompt psychotic behavior, such as paranoia, aggression, hallucinations and delusions. Some users have been known to feel insects crawling beneath their skin. "He picks and picks and picks at himself, like there are bugs inside his face," the mother of one meth addict told Newsweek . "He tears his clothes off and ties them around his head." The same article told the story of another former addict, who, even after five years of sobriety, can't go to the bathroom without propping a space heater against the door, in case someone is after him.
Labels: Meth, Methamphetamine
Wednesday, June 20, 2007
Methamphetamine America
It seems fair to say that drugs in America come in cycles, and as always history repeats itself. In the 70's and 80's America suffered from a huge Cocaine problem, just as with any prohibition more harm is done than good. During prohibition of Alcohol, crime skyrocketed and more people were drinking then before; on top of that other countries benefited greatly economically. Other countries made the booze and we were responsible to drink it, which we did gladly. The prohibition was dropped and alcohol consumption went down with it.
The 60's saw a new birth of narcotic use in America, where just about every drug under the sun was being consumed. Most drugs, like hallucinogens, fell by the wayside; Cocaine use by the 70's and 80's took off with force. Columbia reaped the benefits as they were responsible for producing most of the Cocaine. Our drug addictions fed their economy. Our government by the early 90's found a way to curb the Cocaine problem by burning the Coca fields in Columbia. The price of Cocaine jumped thru the roof; only the rich could afford Cocaine.
As we all know, drug addiction is not simply a rich man's affliction. The poor had to find a way to replace the cocaine. Let's keep in mind that some of the cleverest people are addicts. During WWII soldiers were given amphetamines to help them stay awake and alert. By the 50's and 60's, amphetamine transformed into methamphetamine: a stronger, more potent and intense drug; this was prescribed to people for depression and weight loss. In the last two decades America has seen a snowball of methamphetamine related problems; the drop in cocaine use saw the birth of American Meth labs.
The government project became the removal the labs from our country, which by no means was an easy feat. However, the fact that they capped the production of Meth did not stop the amount of Meth use in America. The drop of Meth production caused the drug to flood across the border from Mexico. There has always been well established drug mule trails, the same trails that heroin and cocaine make it across; so it seems once again we have made it possible for drug cartels in other countries, those who have less strict drug laws, to produce and get rich off of our countries heartache.
America spends more money trying to stop the production of drugs then it does trying to educate people as to what is really at stake. It should be very clear by now that production is inevitable, also the fact that people are very attracted to that which they are not supposed to do. I am not implying that we legalize drugs like methamphetamine. The only education that kids today get is through DARE, Drug Abuse Resistance Education; whose feeble attempts, in my opinion, have fueled the fire of drug abuse. DARE is so "G" rated that its effects have been nil, America has to stop sugarcoating drug addiction; the time has come for us as a people to get honest with ourselves.
The State of Montana has taken the initiative and smashed the walls surrounding Meth addiction. Thomas Siebal (Montana Meth Project: http://www.montanameth.org/), a software billionaire, funded the creation of several methamphetamine ads. These ads are very graphic, yet they portray the perils of Meth use like nothing ever seen before. These ads seem to be responsible for the recent drop in Meth use in the state of Montana. It saddens me that these ads came to be by a private investor and not our government. The government's hand in all this was to make sure these ads were not shown before 7:00 pm. It makes me wonder how much the government cares about the damage of Meth production or rather that they can not make any money off of it. Addicts make up the majority of inmates in our jails and prisons, even though its is clear by now, that being locked up helps little, if any, towards curbing continued drug use.
Today there are many drug treatment programs, they are charged with planting a seed of recovery; it has been proven that without a foundation, the odds of staying sober dramatically decrease. The government has taken a stab at creating their own programs and suggests that if you have the money to pay for treatment that it will suffice as an alternative to going to jail.
All I know is that there are alternatives to the continued destruction of one's life. I also know that without the help of the government and other organizations like the Montana Meth Project, continued success will be very difficult. We can't stop the production of Meth any more than we can of Alcohol; however, we can change people's perception of how drugs will affect lives.
Daniel Helfand
http://www.webconsuls.com
dan@webconsuls.com
Labels: Meth, Methamphetamine
