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  • Essay / Psychiatric Disorders: Substance Abuse and Substance Abuse

    Addiction is a complex psychiatric disorder that is comprised of social and psychological factors, but at its most fundamental level, it is a biological process. Addiction can take many forms, but its main substance is drugs. In particular, prescription drugs in pill form have become a major health problem, not only for addicts but also for the clinicians who prescribe them. In order to fully understand this disorder, considering the mechanisms and brain functions involved in addiction, the next area to examine is the factors that make prescription drugs so addictive, as well as their long-term effects, and to discover new treatment options. in practice today, whether through medication and/or counseling. According to Nutt (1997), mats are used to produce alterations in brain function that act “on brain receptors and neurotransmitters” (p. 53). The areas of the brain where most of the action of drugs takes place have begun to be better understood over the past decade, particularly in the sense that drug abuse operates through multiple mechanisms depending on the drug. Specifically with respect to opioid abuse, the neurochemical action that occurs is that of mu (µ) opioid receptor agonists. Agonists mimic or enhance the effects of a natural neurotransmitter. It often does this by binding to the receptor site, triggering the same signals as the natural neurotransmitter. The more an opioid interacts with its designated receptor; the more effective the agonist becomes (Nutt, 1997, p. 53). Simply, agonists act with maximum effectiveness. Two major mechanisms have been discovered in the brain that are involved in drug addiction: the dopaminergic and endogenous opioid systems. Middle of paper dopamine release could be reduced medically, but this cannot be done due to their addictive nature. Long-term use of prescription medications among drug addicts has long-term effects on brain function and neural connections in the brain. This is due to the rapid firing of opioid receptors that are mimicked by the opioid drug of choice, and these connections will eventually disappear. New treatments must be developed realizing that drug addiction coexists with habits that need to be changed. This must and can happen with long-term supportive health, both with clinical practices and new evidence-based treatments, such as buprenorphine/naloxone rather than methadone. This type of intervention will work extraordinary for addicts and their sobriety. Doctors' and addicts' intervention in opioid abuse would change course of deadly prescription..