HARMFUL USE - A pattern of psychoactive substance use that is causing damage to health.

The damage
may be physical (e.g. hepatitis following injection of drugs) or mental (e.g. depressive episodes
secondary to heavy alcohol intake). Harmful use commonly, but not invariably, has adverse social
consequences; social consequences in themselves, however, are not sufficient to justify a diagnosis of
harmful use.

DEPENDENCE SYNDROME - Psychological or psychic dependence refers to the experience of impaired

control over drinking or drug use while physiological or physical dependence refers to tolerance and
withdrawal symptoms. In biologically-oriented discussion, dependence is often used to refer only to
physical dependence.

SUBSTANCE USE DISORDER - A substance use disorder (SUD), also known as a drug use disorder, is a
condition in which the use of one or more substances leads to a clinically significant impairment or
distress. For example: If you continue to use drugs even though it interferes with life at work, school, or
at home, you may be struggling with a substance use disorder.

PHARMACOLOGY - Pharmacology is the branch of biology concerned with the study of drug action,
where a drug can be broadly defined as any man-made, natural, or endogenous molecule which exerts a
biochemical or physiological effect on the cell, tissue, organ, or organism

HALF-LIFE - the time required for half of something to undergo a process, such as:

a : the time required for half of the atoms of a radioactive substance to become disintegrated

b : the time required for half the amount of a substance (such as a drug, radioactive tracer, or pesticide)
in or introduced into a living system or ecosystem to be eliminated or disintegrated by natural processes

EXPERIMENTAL USE: a person tries a drug once or twice out of curiosity.

RECREATIONAL USE: a person chooses to use a drug for enjoyment, particularly to enhance a mood or
social occasion.

SITUATIONAL/CIRCUMSTANCIAL USE: a drug is used to cope with the demands of particular situations.

INTENSIVE USE OR ‘BINGEING’: a person consumes a heavy amount of drugs over a short period of time,
and/or uses continuously over a number of days or weeks.

DEPENDENT USE: a person becomes dependent on a drug after prolonged or heavy use over time. They
feel a need to take the drug consistently in order to feel normal or to avoid uncomfortable withdrawal
symptoms.

COMPULSIVE/ADDICTIVE USE: Compulsive drug use, which is typically portrayed as a defining quality of
addictive behavior, has been described as a pattern of drug consumption that is stimulus bound,
stereotyped, difficult to regulate and identified by a loss of control over intake. It is widely assumed that
compulsive drug use is caused by drug craving.
METABOLISM -

1. Metabolism is the set of life-sustaining chemical transformations within the cells of organisms.

2. the chemical processes that occur within a living organism in order to maintain life.

ADDICTION - a strong and harmful need to regularly have something (such as a drug) or do something.

DISEASE - : an illness that affects a person, animal, or plant : a condition that prevents the body or mind
from working normally.

SYMPTOM - : a change in the body or mind which indicates that a disease is present. : subjective
evidence of disease or physical disturbance; broadly : something that indicates the presence of bodily
disorder.

SIGN - something which shows that something else exists, is true, or will happen.

PATHOGENESIS - the origination and development of a disease.

CHRONIC DISEASES - Chronic diseases are long-term medical conditions that are generally progressive.
Examples include heart disease, diabetes, stroke, asthma and even drug addiction.

LAPSE - A slip, also which can also be known as a lapse, is a situation where someone has a very brief
“slip” where they drink or use, but they stop quickly afterward, avoiding a full relapse into addiction.
Usually, this happens when a person decides to use again but instantly regrets the decision.

RELAPSE - Relapse is when an addict returns to alcohol or drugs after a period of sobriety. A relapse can
be a detrimental and deadly affair with devastating consequences.THEY ALWAYS SAY THAT IF AND WHEN
YOU RELAPSE, YOU GO RIGHT BACK TO WHERE YOU LEFT OFF, BUT USUALLY, IT’S WORSE. The basis of a
relapse is when someone who was in recovery for any amount of time returns to their old ways and old
substance abuse habits.

BRAIN STEM - Brainstem, area at the base of the brain that lies between the deep structures of the
cerebral hemispheres and the cervical spinal cord. The brainstem is divided into three sections in
humans: the midbrain (mesencephalon), the pons (metencephalon), and the medulla oblongata

CEREBRAL CORTEX - The cerebral cortex is the largest region of the cerebrum in the mammalian brain
and plays a key role in memory, attention, perception, cognition, awareness, thought, language, and
consciousness.

LIMBIC SYSTEM - The limbic system is the part of the brain involved in our behavioural and emotional
responses, especially when it comes to behaviours we need for survival: feeding, reproduction and
caring for our young, and fight or flight responses. You can find the structures of the limbic system buried
deep within the brain, underneath the cerebral cortex and above the brainstem.

TOLERANCE - the ability or willingness to tolerate something, in particular the existence of opinions or
behavior that one does not necessarily agree with.
DRUG - A drug is any substance (with the exception of food and water) which, when taken into the body,
alters the body's function either physically and/or psychologically. Drugs may be legal (e.g. alcohol,
caffeine and tobacco) or illegal (e.g. cannabis, ecstasy, cocaine and heroin).

BLOOD - BRAIN BARRIER : The blood–brain barrier (BBB) is a highly selective semipermeable membrane
barrier that separates the circulating blood from the brain and extracellular fluid in the central nervous
system (CNS).

CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM - The central nervous system (CNS) is the part of the nervous system
consisting of the brain and spinal cord.

DETOXIFICATION - Detoxification or detoxication (detox for short) is the physiological or medicinal

removal of toxic substances from a living organism, including the human body, which is mainly carried
out by the liver.

ETIOLOGICAL AGENTS - Etiologic agents are those microorganisms and microbial toxins that cause
disease in humans and include bacteria, bacterial toxins, viruses, fungi, rickettsiae, protozoans, and
parasites. These disease-causing microorganisms may also. be referred to as infectious agents.

FAMILY SYSTEM - Family system may refer to: Family, a domestic group of people (or a number of
domestic groups), typically affiliated by birth or marriage, or by comparable legal relationships.

NEURON - The basic working unit of the nervous system is a cell called a neuron. Neurons (also called
neurones or nerve cells) are the fundamental units of the brain and nervous system, the cells responsible
for receiving sensory input from the external world, for sending motor commands to our muscles, and
for transforming and relaying the electrical signals at every step in between.

NEUROTRANSMITTERS - Neurotransmitters are often referred to as the body's chemical messengers.

Neurotransmitters are the chemicals which allow the transmission of signals from one neuron to the
next across synapses. They are also found at the axon endings of motor neurons, where they stimulate
the muscle fibers.

PERIPHERAL NERVOUS SYSTEM - the nervous system outside the brain and spinal cord.

PHYSIOLOGICAL DEPENDENCE - Physiological Dependence refers to the process throughout which a body
becomes dependent upon a foreign substance. This is the process through which a person becomes
addicted to alcohol or drugs.

PSYCHOACTIVE SUBSTANCES - Psychoactive substances are substances that, when taken in or

administered into one's system, affect mental processes, e.g. cognition or affect. Examples of
psychoactive substances include caffeine, alcohol, cocaine, LSD, and cannabis.

REWARD CIRCUIT / PATHWAY - One pathway important to understanding the effects of drugs on the
brain is called the reward pathway. These regions are connected by what is called the pleasure or reward
bundle. In neuroanatomical terms, this bundle is part of the medial forebrain bundle (MFB), whose
activation leads to the repetition of the gratifying action to strengthen the associated pathways in the
brain.

SOCIAL STIGMA - Social stigma is when society thinks that something is bad. Things that are socially
stigmatized are different in different places.

SYNAPSE and SYNAPTIC CLEFT - The SYNAPSE refers to the whole structure of the neurons, including the
tips of the cells, while the SYNAPTIC CLEFT specifically refers to the gap/space between them.

WITHDRAWAL SYNDROME - Withdrawal syndrome (also called a discontinuation syndrome) is a cluster

of symptoms that occur for 1-2 weeks when a person stops taking an addictive or prescription drug.