Dysphoria of Heroin Addiction
THE DYSPHORIA OF HEROIN ADDICTION
Rodney Lowe
PSY 2012
July 28, 2011
This is a summary of the article The Dysphoria Of Heroin Addiction by Leonard Handelsman and Marvin J. Aronson, it is based on the topic of Narcotics that is covered in Chapter 4 of our text.
Dysphoric mood is a common symptom of patients who use heroin on a regular basis. Early abuse of heroin is most often associated with feelings of euphoria, abstractly, long-lasting abuse of this drug is frequently associated with dysphoria. Studies using psychiatric diagnostic instruments substantiate the fact that patients who are addicted to heroin report various symptoms of mood disorders and they may also meet diagnostic criteria for affective and anxiety disorders at a higher rate than that of the general population.
There is controversy as to whether or not dysphonic mood states in heroin addicts are the cause or consequence of their drug abuse. When heroin addicts enter into treatment they experience rapid remission of symptoms of dysphoria in conjunction with the pharmacological management of their physiological opioid dependence. It appears that when the heroin addict maintain abstinence from illicit opioids, it is likely that they will remain free of dysphonic symptoms, whether or not opioid replacement therapy, like methadone maintenance, is used.
Several questions have been raised about the demonstration of strong association levels of opioid withdrawal and dysphoria induced by naxalone. Because of the aversive quality of dysphoria during the early phases of experimentation of the drug, some users may be protected from further heroin use because of the dysphoria induced by opioid withdrawal. However, if the heroin user could not tell that the withdrawal-induced dysphoria was an effect of the heroin use, the dysphoria may facilitate continued abuse of the drug. There are two possible reasons in which symptoms of withdrawal may drive
Rodney Lowe
PSY 2012
July 28, 2011
This is a summary of the article The Dysphoria Of Heroin Addiction by Leonard Handelsman and Marvin J. Aronson, it is based on the topic of Narcotics that is covered in Chapter 4 of our text.
Dysphoric mood is a common symptom of patients who use heroin on a regular basis. Early abuse of heroin is most often associated with feelings of euphoria, abstractly, long-lasting abuse of this drug is frequently associated with dysphoria. Studies using psychiatric diagnostic instruments substantiate the fact that patients who are addicted to heroin report various symptoms of mood disorders and they may also meet diagnostic criteria for affective and anxiety disorders at a higher rate than that of the general population.
There is controversy as to whether or not dysphonic mood states in heroin addicts are the cause or consequence of their drug abuse. When heroin addicts enter into treatment they experience rapid remission of symptoms of dysphoria in conjunction with the pharmacological management of their physiological opioid dependence. It appears that when the heroin addict maintain abstinence from illicit opioids, it is likely that they will remain free of dysphonic symptoms, whether or not opioid replacement therapy, like methadone maintenance, is used.
Several questions have been raised about the demonstration of strong association levels of opioid withdrawal and dysphoria induced by naxalone. Because of the aversive quality of dysphoria during the early phases of experimentation of the drug, some users may be protected from further heroin use because of the dysphoria induced by opioid withdrawal. However, if the heroin user could not tell that the withdrawal-induced dysphoria was an effect of the heroin use, the dysphoria may facilitate continued abuse of the drug. There are two possible reasons in which symptoms of withdrawal may drive