HLSC 1F90 Lecture Notes - Lecture 19: Reinforcement, Caffeine, Recreational Drug Use
Document Summary
How drugs affect the body is in the exam. Representative psychoactive drugs: know caffeine and marijuana and other cannabis products. Addiction is a chronic disease that involves disruption of the brains system related to reward, motivation ad memory. It may start as a habit, but then become uncontrollable. It causes a pathlogical use of a substance or pursuit of a behaviour in order to relieve/ avoid withdrawal. Historically, addiction ws only recognized in relationship to drugs. Now it is recognized that behaviours can be addictive. For both drugs(substances) and behaviours, addiction has certain characteristics: reinforcement: the addiction reinforces itself. Positive- behaviour. / substance use reliably results in pleasure or reward. Negative- avoiding behavipur/ substance results in stress, anxiety, discomfort or depression: compulsion or craving: there is a strong compulsion ( irresistible need) to engage in behaviour/ use substance. To understand risk factors, consider how an addiction develops.