Addiction Intervention

04 Feb Addiction Intervention

Each of the addictive substance or drugs has a long history. The term alcohol comes from an Arabic word meaning “finely divided spirit” and originally, referred to that part of the wine collected through distillation- the essence of the wine. Kenney 2006.

Psychoactive substances contain compounds that alter consciousness and affect mood. All psychoactive drugs act on more than one place in the brain, so we might expect them to produce complex psychological effects. Also, virtually every drug that acts in the brain also has effects on the rest of the body, influencing blood pressure, intestinal activity or other functions.

Both the size and the quality of drug’s effect depend on the amount the individual has taken. The relationship between dose and effect works in two ways. By increasing the dose, there is usually an increase in the same effects noticed at lower drug levels. Also, and frequently this is a more important relationship, at different dose levels there is often a change in the kind of effects, an alteration in the character of the experience. The effect of any psychoactive drug depends on the individual’s history and expectations.

Because these drugs alter consciousness and thought processes, the effect they have on an individual’s attitude can have a major effect on his or her perception of the drug experience. It is not possible then, to talk about many of the effects of these drugs independent of the user’s attitude and setting Ray & Ksir (2004).