Substance Use Disorder and Treatment

Understanding Substance Use Disorder and its Treatment

• Substance Use Disorder is a pathological use of a substance resulting in impaired control, social impairment, and risky use, and is not a disorder of choice.
• Addiction is a chronic medical condition with roots in the environment, genetics, neurotransmission, and life experiences.
• Alcohol, caffeine, cannabis, hallucinogens, inhalants, opioids, sedative-hypnotics, stimulants, tobacco, and process addiction are substances that lead to use disorders.
• Medical and psychiatric comorbidities such as diabetes, hepatitis C, and psoriasis can co-occur with substance use disorder.
• Neurobiological changes occur in the brain and neurotransmitters involved with substance use, including altered amygdalar, hippocampal, basal ganglia, and cerebellar volume.
• Risk factors for substance use disorder include genetics, poverty, lack of parental involvement, poor social skills, availability of drugs at school, experimentation, poor academic performance, and a home environment that promotes substance abuse.
• Withdrawal from alcohol can cause shakes, jitters, psychotic and perceptual symptoms, withdrawal seizures, and delirium tremens, which is a medical emergency.
• Treatments for substance use disorder include cognitive-behavioral therapy, motivational interviewing, and screening tools such as SBIRT, AUDIT, CAGE, CAGE-AID, and T-ACE.
• Codependence and hallucinations/delusions are important factors to consider in the nursing process assessment.
• The nursing process includes assessment, diagnosis, outcomes identification, planning, implementation, and health teaching/health promotion.
• The care continuum for substance abuse includes detoxification, rehabilitation, halfway houses, other housing, partial hospitalization, intensive outpatient treatment, outpatient treatment, Alcoholics Anonymous, Al-Anon, Alateen, Nar-Anon, Gamblers Anonymous, relapse prevention, and treatment with disulfiram.
• Prevention against genetic vulnerability and public classes are important components of health teaching and health promotion for substance use disorder.