The Difference Between Drug Abuse and Drug Dependence
Drug dependence and drug abuse aren’t always the same. When a person is abusing a drug, it may or may not lead to drug dependence. While a person dependent on a drug doesn’t always mean he is taking it abusively. Let me defined the two terms to enlighten you.
Drug dependence is the physiologic or psychologic need of a drug for therapeutic or non-therapeutic purposes. It is often associated with substance abuse but doesn’t always have the same implication as drug abuse. However, drug dependents at times become drug abusers when they unnecessarily take more than what is prescribed.
Drug dependency also results from people who develop drug tolerance. According to Wikipedia, drug tolerance occurs when a person’s reaction to a psychoactive drug decreases requiring an increased dosage to have the same effect. Examples of these psychoactive drugs are intoxicants and pain relievers.
Drug dependency could produce negative symptoms so drug dependents are often sent for drug rehab as a necessity.
Whereas drug abuse, is the overindulgence to use a certain drug/s for non-therapeutic reasons whether with prescription or none. This is also defined as a disorder characterized by pathologic continued use of a non-medically indicated drug. These drugs could either be psychotropic substances or performance enhancing drugs. Psychotropic substances also called psychoactive drugs acts upon the central nervous system and alters certain brain functions. These chemical substances are taken intentionally by abusers to produce temporary changes in a person’s mood and consciousness for recreational purposes.
However, drug abuse and drug dependence can be treated. Both are subjected to a medical intervention, drug rehabilitation. This is to avoid or minimize the negative effects of discontinuing the drug abruptly known as withdrawal symptoms.
The process of purging a patient from chronic drug use is called drug detoxification. Treatment varies on case to case basis. It depends upon the type of drug used, the dosage and the frequency of using. Three steps are basically followed in detoxification: the process of evaluation, stabilization and guiding the patient into treatment. Detoxification deals only with the physical factor of drug dependence or abuse. The psychological aspect is not included but this phase entails acquiring an agreement from the patient to undergo drug rehabilitation to accomplish the entire course of the treatment.
