PSYC62H3 Lecture 5: Treating Drug Dependence
Document Summary
After drug detoxification, goal is to reduce further withdrawal symptoms and drug cravings and to prevent relapse: medication: address withdrawal, comorbid disorders, drug- replacement therapy, and/or cravings, psychotherapy: Include behavioral therapies, cognitive-behavioral therapies, and social therapies: behavioral therapies. Learning new habits to counter urges: cognitive-behavioral therapies. Focus on internal mechanisms psychological states that lead to urges; get them to confront these psychological issues: social-group based therapies. Designed to allow individuals who have achieved sobriety in a group environment to facilitate others to do the same: abstinence-based programs. Psychostimulants: increase psychomotor (movement derived from a neural construct) and sympathetic nervous system activity: improve alertness and positive mood. Incredibly addictive and highly controlled: methylphenidate, cathinones, cocaine. Similar structures, similar effects at site of action. Contains 2 psychoactive components: ephedrine and pseudoephedrine. Pharmacies regulates sales to reduce production of methamphetamine. Amphetamines: class of psychostimulant drugs that share a similar structure. Methamphetamine: synthesized from ephedrine, pseudoephedrine, or the organic solvent phenylacetone.
