Substance dependence
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
"It takes at least three months’ shooting twice a day to get any habit at all. And you don’t really know what junk sickness is until you have had several habits. It took me almost six months to get my first habit, and then the withdrawal symptoms were mild. I think it no exaggeration to say it takes about a year and several hundred injections to make an addict." --preface to Junkie, William S. Burroughs |
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Substance dependence, commonly called drug addiction, is a compulsive need to use drugs in order to function normally. When such substances are unobtainable, the user suffers from withdrawal.
The section about substance dependence in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (more specifically, the 2000 "text revision", the DSM-IV-TR) does not use the word addiction at all. It explains:
When an individual persists in use of alcohol or other drugs despite problems related to use of the substance, substance dependence may be diagnosed. Compulsive and repetitive use may result in tolerance to the effect of the drug and withdrawal symptoms when use is reduced or stopped. This, along with Substance abuse are considered Substance Use Disorders....
See also
- Addictive personality
- Physical dependence
- Risk factors in pregnancy
- Self medication
- Stimulant maintenance
- Substance abuse
- Junkie
- Rat Park