Tolerance Talk
Needing more of a substance over time to get the same effect.
Tolerance
Brain chemicals that carry messages between nerve cells and are affected by substance use.
Neurotransmitters
Replacing one substance with another, often to avoid facing the need to stop using entirely.
Drug Switching
Refusing to acknowledge the reality or seriousness of one's own substance use.
Denial
The main effect a person is seeking when they use a drug.
Primary Drug Effects
Building tolerance to one drug that also lowers the response to a different drug in the same class.
A physical adaptation to a substance such that the body needs it to function normally.
Physical Dependence
The pattern of using one drug to come up and another to come back down.
Upper-Downer Cycle
Any drug that affects the brain and changes mood, perception, or consciousness.
Psychoactive Drug
The side effects or consequences of a drug, beyond the effect the person was seeking.
Secondary Drug Effects
Needing LESS of a substance than before to get the same effect.
Reverse Tolerance
The physical and psychological symptoms that appear when a dependent person stops using.
Withdrawal Symptoms
A pattern of compulsive substance use that continues despite harmful consequences.
Addiction
The clinical, diagnostic term for a pattern of substance use causing significant impairment or distress.
Substance Use Disorder
A pattern of compulsive substance use despite harmful consequences.
Addiction
This is why someone's usual amount "stopped working," so they started using more just to feel normal.
Tolerance
This neurotransmitter drives the brain's reward and pleasure response, and is central to why substances become reinforcing.
Dopamine
Someone who says "I quit drinking" but started using pills instead is doing this.
Drug Switching
Saying "I can stop anytime" while continuing to use despite real consequences is an example of this.
Denial
Someone using a stimulant for energy is chasing this kind of effect.
Primary Drug Effects
Because of this, someone with a built-up opioid tolerance might also need more anesthesia during surgery
Cross-Tolerance
Substance use can deplete this neurotransmitter over time, part of why mood stays low and cravings persist during recovery
Serotonin
Using a stimulant to get energized, then alcohol or a benzo to come down, is an example of this.
Upper-Downer Cycle
This is the term a clinician would use on a diagnostic assessment instead of the word "addiction."
Substance Use Disorder
Liver damage, financial strain, and relationship problems from long-term use would fall under this.
Secondary Drug Effects