Terms and Definitions
The inability to stop using drugs or alcohol despite negative consequences is called this.
Addiction
Direct action towards a goal
Action
This legal substance is the most widely used and can be addictive.
Alcohol
Relaxing, exercise, proper diet and taking time for yourself are examples of:
Self Care
This medication can reverse opioid overdoses if given quickly.
Naloxone or Narcan
This is the term for when someone returns to substance use after a period of abstinence.
Relapse
Denying or ignoring the problem
Precontemplation
This substance is a stimulant that comes from coffee beans.
Caffeine
This skill involves creating and following a daily schedule or routine.
Time Management
This strategy helps people using substances stay safer by encouraging them to have someone nearby during use in case of an emergency.
Not Using Alone
In this model, change occurs gradually, and relapses can be a part of the process. People are often unwilling or resistant to change during the early stages but eventually develop a proactive and committed approach to changing a behavior.
Stages of Change
Maintaining the behavior, avoiding tempation
Maintenance
This class of drugs includes heroin, fentanyl, and morphine, and is known for its high risk of overdose due to respiratory depression.
Opioids
This communication skill involves clearly expressing your thoughts and feelings respectfully.
Assertiveness
This practice involves checking the contents of a substance before using it, often with fentanyl test strips, to avoid unintentional overdose.
Testing
A condition in which a person experiences physical or psychological symptoms when reducing or stopping the use of a substance they have become dependent on.
Withdrawal
Experimenting with small changes, collecting information about change
Preparation
This synthetic stimulant is often made in illegal labs, highly addictive, and can cause severe dental problems, paranoia, and violent behavior.
Methamphetamine
maintaining limits with self and others, protecting your personal/emotional space
Setting/Maintaining Boundaries
Some harm reduction programs offer this service to help people get tested and treated for diseases like HIV or Hep C, often at the same place they get supplies.
Screenings
This is the act of taking full responsibility for your actions and their consequences, without blaming others or making excuses—even when it's uncomfortable.
Accountability
Ambivalence, conflicted emotions
Contemplation
Often found in household products like aerosol sprays or glue, this type of substance is inhaled to produce a high and can cause sudden death even after just one use.
Inhalants
This practice, often associated with breathing and awareness, reduces anxiety.
Mindfulness or Meditation
Providing education and resources like condoms or sterile needles falls under this type of harm reduction.
Prevention