Phenomenology and Variations in the Presentation of Inhalant Use Disorders

According to DSM-IV-TR (American Psychiatric Association 2000), inhalant use disorders include inhalant abuse and inhalant dependence. The DSM-IV-TR criteria for these conditions apply only to the use of volatile solvents, and 

Diagnostic criteria for inhalant use disorders in DSM-IV-TR are similar to those in the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD-10) (World Health Organization 1992). These criteria include biological, cognitive, and behavioral dimensions. The DSM-IV-TR diagnosis of inhalant dependence is given when three or more of the seven criteria are present (see Table 8-2). The first criteria to be considered here are tolerance and withdrawal. These phenomena are considered to be forms of adaptation to chronic administration of these compounds and were discussed extensively earlier in this chapter. 

Clearly, more studies are needed to delineate more precisely the phenomenology of inhalant use disorders, including the phenomenology of anesthetic 

A maladaptive pattern of inhalant use as manifested by three or more of rhe following during a 12-month period  

3) Inhalants are often used in larger amounts or over a longer period than was intended. 

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