RESOURCES
GLOSSARY OF COMMON TERMS
- Abuse:
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Self-administration of any drug in a culturally disapproved manner that causes adverse consequences.
- Addiction:
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A behavioral pattern of drug abuse characterized by overwhelming involvement with the use of a drug (compulsive use), the securing of its supply and a high tendency to relapse after discontinuation.
- Dependence:
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The physiological state of neuroadaptation produced by repeated administration of a drug, necessitating continued administration to prevent the appearance of the withdrawal syndrome.
- Rebound:
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The exaggerated expression of the original condition sometimes experienced by patients immediately after cessation of an effective treatment.
- Relapse:
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The reoccurrence on discontinuation of an effective medical treatment of the original condition from which the patient suffered.
- Tolerance:
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Tolerance has developed when after repeated administration, a given dose of a drug produces decreased effect, or conversely, when increasingly larger doses must be administered to obtain the effects observed with the original use.
- Withdrawal:
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The psychologic and physiologic reactions to abrupt cessation of a dependence-producing drug.