Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy for Substance Use Disorders

The meaning of a word portrays what it encompasses and if the phrase itself is misunderstood then defining what it’s trying to explain can be a studious task. Addiction has been defined by many and holds different meanings based on the context it’s used in. Addiction can be defined as a condition in which a person undertakes the use of substance, or engages in activities, which in turn brings pleasure, and tends to divert oneself from their day-to-day duties and responsibilities. Addiction is mostly related to drug use but it is also used to describe non-drug entities, such as gambling, and Internet addictions (Avena et al, 2008). Researchers (Herbert, J. D., Forman, E. M., 2010) have been keen on identifying the factors that lead to substance use; to why people see the need to take drugs and some of the reasons include experimentation or stress release. It is not only in recent years that drugs have been discovered but this dates long back when plants and animal products started to show medical relevance. It was then that recreational drugs were found, that produced pleasurable effects on consumption. In different parts of the world various types of drugs then began to harvest, such as, Indians realized the effects of smoking cannabis, and so on. As consumption increased, so did the problems caused by drug intake. The term ‘abuse’ came in to being when the intake of substances became more frequent due to increase in behaviors, which led to drug use. Often substance abuse is confused with substance dependence. There is a clear distinction between abuse and dependence as dependence is a more serious problem. Drug problems have been ongoing ever since and the dire consequences of use were known. Many studies have looked into ways of...

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