This chapter focused on defining the various aspects of substance use disorders and ways to manage three of the most common substance use disorders in the world today. Substance use and abuse were described in terms of the short-term effects…
Learning Outcomes By the end of this section, you should be able to: Nicotine Use Nicotine is derived from the tobacco plant and has been in use for thousands of years. It is a highly addictive substance that facilitates great harm…
Learning Outcomes By the end of this section, you should be able to: Alcohol Use Alcohol, more specifically ethanol, is the byproduct of the fermentation of carbohydrates and is one of the most widely used psychoactive compounds in the world. While…
Learning Outcomes By the end of this section, you should be able to: Opioid Use Opioids are a class of drugs that activate the opioid receptors in the CNS. Opioids have been widely used for thousands of years and are derived…
Learning Outcomes By the end of this section, you should be able to: Introduction to Substance Use Disorders The standard definition of a substance use disorder (SUD), from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th edition (DSM-5), is that it involves…
Figure 15.1 The nervous system, the body’s control center, consists of the brain, the spinal cord, and a very complex system of nerves. (attribution: Copyright Rice University, OpenStax, under CC BY 4.0 license) Chapter Outline 15.1 Introduction to Substance Use Disorders 15.2 Opioid Use…
This chapter covered what pain is, how the brain perceives it, and how medications are commonly used to treat it. Because the nature of pain is subjective, different ways to assess a client’s pain were explained. The concept of the…
Learning Outcomes By the end of this section, you should be able to: Opioid Agonists Opioid agonists have been in use for thousands of years. Opioids originated from the opium poppy, Papaver somniferum, from which naturally occurring opioids such as heroin, codeine, and morphine…
Learning Outcomes By the end of this section, you should be able to: A nonopioid analgesic refers to any pharmacologic agent that treats the symptoms of pain and does not involve activation of opioid receptors. These agents generally work by inhibiting cyclooxygenase…
Learning Outcomes By the end of this section, you should be able to: Pain Pain is generally defined as “an unpleasant sensory and emotional experience associated with actual or potential tissue damage or described in terms of such damage” (Raja et…