Drug-taking 2-4, 7, 9-11 addiction

Sklar, S. M., Annis, H. M., Turner, N. E. (1997). Development and validation of the Drug-Taking Confidence Questionnaire A measure of coping self-efficacy. Addictive Behaviors, 22, 655-670. 

It is perhaps the fact that usually more time is spent in avoiding drug-taking triggers than in learning alternative responses to them that accounts for the frequency of relapse in addictive behaviour. 

All explanations of addiction and policies on substances of abuse will have to confront the complex clinical realities. The development of addiction involves characteristic changes in motivation and self-control important both to the individual and to society. The frequency of drug taking is a central factor in this process but not the sole factor. Others relate to societal influences and others again to upbringing or biological dispositions. The clinical phenomenology is mostly described by concepts such... 

A particularly important set of beliefs is the idea that a given substance is addictive. Once a behavioral pattern is conceptualized as an addiction, with the concomitant causal beliefs, it may change dramatically. An especially important belief is that addiction is, if not irresistible, at least very hard to resist, almost amounting to compulsive desire. Hence, to the causal beliefs about the effects of drug taking on the addict s body and socioeconomic status, we must add causa) beliefs about the effect of addiction on his will—specifically, on the ability to quit. Two opposite beliefs about this effect may have the same impact on behavior. Some addicts use their (usually self-deceptive) belief that they can quit at any time as an excuse for not quitting. Others use their (equally self-deceptive) belief that they are unable to quit as an excuse for not quitting. The belief that one is addicted may reinforce the addiction by the mechanism of dissonance reduction ... 

Amphetamine abusers and addicts become preoccupied with when and where they will be able to get their next dose. Relationships with family and friends frequently deteriorate as the drug takes center stage in the addict s life. Money problems may began to surface as the addict funds his growing habit. Substance abuse also contributes to crime, domestic violence, sexual assault, drop-out rates, unemployment, and homelessness. It is also a factor in the spread of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) and unwanted pregnancy. 

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