Addiction
Addiction is a disorder marked by compulsive substance use or behavior despite harm, often involving impaired control and persistent urges.
Reward system: A network of brain pathways that helps shape motivation, learning, and responses to rewarding experiences. Addictive substances and behaviors can strongly engage pathways involved in motivation and reward learning.
Substance use disorder: A diagnosis defined by problematic use of a substance causing clinically significant impairment or distress. It is the diagnostic category used for addictions involving alcohol and other drugs.
Motivational interviewing: A counseling approach that explores ambivalence and strengthens a person's own motivation for change. It can help people consider changing substance use without relying on confrontation.
Physical dependence: A bodily adaptation to a substance that can cause withdrawal when exposure falls or stops. Dependence can occur without compulsive harmful use, so it is not identical to addiction.
Overdose: A harmful, potentially fatal reaction to taking more of a substance than the body can safely handle. Addiction involving drugs can increase overdose risk, especially after reduced tolerance or use of potent substances.
Dopamine: A neurotransmitter involved in movement, motivation, learning, and reward prediction. Dopamine signaling helps the brain learn which cues predict drug effects and other rewards.
Behavioral addiction: A persistent, harmful pattern of compulsive engagement in a rewarding behavior, recognized as addictive in some cases. Some addictive patterns involve behaviors, such as gambling, rather than psychoactive substances.
Cognitive behavioral therapy: A structured psychotherapy that changes unhelpful thought and behavior patterns through practice and reflection. It can build coping strategies for triggers, cravings, and situations associated with relapse.
Habit: A learned behavior that becomes automatic through repetition in consistent contexts. Habits can be hard to change, but addiction also involves persistent use despite serious harm.
Neuroplasticity: The brain's capacity to change its structure and function in response to experience. Repeated substance exposure can alter learning and motivation circuits, while recovery can also involve change.