Content Vocabulary

1. Content Vocabulary • drug addiction • endorphins • dysphoria • physical addiction • withdrawal • psychological addiction

2. No one who starts out using a substance for the first time intends to develop a drug addiction. drug addiction A physical or psychological need for higher and higher doses of a drug

3. Drugs and the Brain • Drugs create a “high” by releasing pleasure-producing chemicals in the brain.

4. Drugs provide a sense of euphoria by imitating the brain’s natural way of producing pleasure. The acts of eating, being physically active, and relaxing release endorphins. Drugs and the Brain endorphins Chemicals in the brain that produce feelings of pleasure in response to a variety of activities.

5. The lack of these chemicals produces an unpleasant feeling, known as dysphoria. Drugs and the Brain dysphoria The unpleasant feelings that occur when endorphins are lacking

6. How Does Addiction Set In? Those who use drugs produce fewer and fewer natural endorphins. As the effects of the drug wears off each time, the user experiences dysphoria. To avoid the unpleasant sensations of dysphoria, the person may use more drugs. Drugs and the Brain

7. How Does Addiction Set In? When people take drugs to ease dysphoria, they may become addicted to the drug. Most drugs that cause addiction are euphoria-producing drugs. Drugs and the Brain

8. Physical Addiction • Physical addiction occurs when the body’s chemistry adjusts its functioning to the presence of a drug.

9. Physical addiction, or dependence, makes the body develop a tolerance to a certain drug. Physical Addiction physical addiction A change in the body’s chemistry so that without the presence of a substance (drug), normal functioning begins to fail.

10. Withdrawal occurs as the body begins to clear the drug from the system. Physical Addiction withdrawal The physical symptoms that occur when an addictive drug is cleared from the body tissues

11. Withdrawal symptoms may include: Problems with vision, muscle activity, digestion, brain function, temperature regulation, or many other processes. Withdrawal changes brain patterns, affects mood, and makes the person crave the drug. Physical Addiction

12. Psychological Addiction • The only sure way to escape drug addiction is never to experiment with the drugs that produce it.

13. Physical addiction always triggers psychological addiction, or dependence. psychological addiction Mental dependence on a drug, habit, or behavior

14. People who never learn to cope with emotional pain may develop a psychological addiction to drugs. Psychological addiction can be as powerful as physical addiction.

15. Section Review: Reviewing the Vocabulary • The physical symptoms that occur when a drug to which a person is addicted is cleared from the body tissues are called _________. withdrawal The physical symptoms that occur when an addictive drug is cleared from the body tissues

16. Section Review: Reviewing the Vocabulary • What is mental dependence on a drug, habit, or behavior called? psychological addiction Mental dependence on a drug, habit, or behavior