Understanding Addiction
What is the medical term for a condition involving compulsive substance use despite harmful consequences?
Substance Use Disorder.
What is something that increases the urge or desire to use substances called?
A Trigger
What is one healthy activity someone can do when experiencing a craving?
Walk, call someone, exercise, journal, listen to music, etc.
What does a healthy boundary help protect?
A person's safety, emotional well-being, time, and recovery.
What animal is known for having eight arms?
Octopus
True or false: Addiction is simply a lack of willpower.
False. Addiction is a complex, treatable condition involving brain, behavioral, psychological, and environmental factors.
Name one example of an internal trigger.
Anxiety, anger, loneliness, boredom, sadness, or stress.
What coping skill involves focusing on the present moment using your five senses?
Grounding.
What is it called when someone takes responsibility for another person's feelings or behaviors at the expense of their own needs?
Enabling or codependent behavior may be involved, depending on the situation.
What animal uses echolocation to navigate and find food?
Bats or Dolphins
What part of the brain is heavily involved in reward, motivation, and decision-making?
The brain's reward system, including areas such as the nucleus accumbens (lower brain) and prefrontal cortex (higher brain.)
What type of trigger involves people, places, or things associated with past substance use?
An External Trigger
What is the name of the coping skill where you observe an urge without acting on it, allowing it to rise and fall?
Urge Surfing
What is one example of a healthy boundary with someone who is actively using?
Not allowing substances in your home, limiting contact, or refusing to be around active use.
What insect communicates the location of food through a special movement called a waggle dance?
Honey Bee
What does PAWS stand for?
Post-Acute Withdrawal Syndrome.
Someone gets paid on Friday and immediately thinks about calling an old using friend. What might be triggering them?
An external trigger associated with money, routine, people, or past behavior.
What breathing technique involves breathing in slowly, holding briefly, and breathing out slowly to calm the nervous system?
Controlled or diaphragmatic breathing.
Why is it important to build a sober support network?
It provides accountability, encouragement, connection, and support during difficult situations.
What animal has fingerprints so similar to humans that they can sometimes be difficult to distinguish?
Koala
Why can someone continue experiencing cravings even after physical withdrawal symptoms have ended?
The brain's reward pathways, learned associations, environmental cues, stress, and emotional triggers can continue contributing to cravings.
What is the difference between experiencing a craving and acting on a craving?
A craving is an urge or thought; acting on it is a behavior or choice. A person can experience an urge without using.
Someone is overwhelmed, angry, and having strong cravings. What are three steps they could take before making a decision?
Pause, identify the trigger/emotion, and use a coping skill or contact support before acting.
What is the difference between supporting someone and enabling someone?
Support encourages healthy choices and accountability; enabling protects someone from the natural consequences of harmful behaviors or helps maintain those behaviors.
What sea animal is known for holding hands while sleeping so it doesn't drift away from its group?
Sea Otter