Student 1
Hi, your descriptions of the terms misuse, abuse, dependence, tolerance and addiction are quite insightful. From my perspective, misuse involves using drugs in a manner that is not consistent with medical prescriptions thereby resulting to negative effects or harmful behaviour ( Cami & Farré, 2003) . One time after seeking medication for common cold and fever, the physician prescribed to me Tylenol tablets which I was to take two tablets daily. I however would take 4 tablets to hasten my recovery. The misuse however led to adverse nausea and stomach pain side effects. Abuse refers to the habitual taking of outlawed drugs such as heroine, cocaine and cannabis. I perceive dependence as the adaptive state of that develops from repeated exposure to drugs. Tolerance is the reduced response to a drug occurring from the repeated exposure or increased dosage. I have a close friend who has received malaria treatment 5 times in a duration of one year. Recently the doctor enlisted some drugs which he should not take citing tolerance towards them. According to Fishbain, Rosomoff and Rosomoff (1992), behavioural addiction terms the persuasion to engage in fulfilling non-substance related tendencies despite the adverse effects on a person’s wellbeing. Substance abuse and dependence disorders relate to the increased urge for drug uptake which may result to addiction and dependence.
References
Cami, J., & Farré, M. (2003). Drug addiction. New England Journal of Medicine , 349 (10), 975-986.
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Fishbain, D. A., Rosomoff, H. L., & Rosomoff, R. S. (1992). Drug abuse, dependence, and addiction in chronic pain patients. The Clinical journal of pain , 8 (2), 77-85.
Student 2
I concur with your description on various terms. To add on your findings, I think misuse is also the wrong use of drugs characterised by either uptake of less than or more than the level advised by a medical physician. Abuse is the use of hazardous drugs such as alcohol and other illicit psychoactive substances ( Compton & Volkow, 2006) . While in my second year of study, one of the students had to be discontinued from school after being found abusing cocaine which was outlawed in school. He developed dependence and was later admitted in hospital after an overdose. I opine that dependence occurs when a person who has been using drugs experiences an abstinence syndrome after a sudden discontinuation from the drug use. Tolerance is the decreased effectiveness of drugs resulting from extended exposure from the drugs ( Jage, 2005) . Both substance abuse and dependence disorders result from lengthy use of drugs resulting in a situation where one cannot functions properly without uptake. Your explanations are very informative.
References
Jage, J. (2005). Opioid tolerance and dependence–do they matter?. European journal of pain , 9 (2), 157-162.
Compton, W. M., & Volkow, N. D. (2006). Abuse of prescription drugs and the risk of addiction. Drug and alcohol dependence , 83 , S4-S7.
