PAWS
Post Acute Withdrawal Syndrome
What is PAWS?
Emotional, mental and physical
What are the three stages of relapse prevention?
Post acute withdrawal
What is one of the most common triggers of substance misuse relapse?
Stages of change
A way to describe the process by which people overcome addiction.
In the stages of change the person has moved forward to planning and preparing for carrying out the change.
What is preparation stage?
Time span, frequency, dosage, tapering vs cold turkey and individual factors.
What are factors that influence PAWS?
Hungry, angry, lonely and tired
What is H.A.L.T?
Internal or external cues that cause a person in recovery to crave drugs or alcohol and can lead to relapse.
What are triggers?
In this stage people do not consider their behaviour to be a problem and are not interested in hearing about the negative consequences or advice to quit their addiction.
What is pre-contemplation?
Symptoms of PAWS can last this long
What is up to 24 months?
Anxiety, cloudy/blurry brain, concentration problems, feeling numb, angry or irritable and depression.
What are PAWS symptoms?
Isolating, irritability, focusing on others, not asking for help, not going to meetings and not taking care of yourself
What is emotional relapse?
People, places, things/objects and activities that bring on thoughts or cravings associated with substance use.
What are external triggers?
Pre-contemplation, contemplation, preparation and action.
What are the four main stages of the stages of change?
The body has adapted to functioning with drugs and alcohol in the system, it must re-learn to function without the substance.
Substances were used to numb emotions
A deficit in dopamine
Why dose Post Acute Withdrawal Syndrome occur?
The survival centre in the brain.
What is the limbic system?
Getting a good night sleep, eating healthy, asking for help, talking about how you feel.
What is self-care?
Boredom, insecurity, frustration, guilt, depression and overconfidence.
What are internal triggers?
Name the additional two stages of the four main stages of change.
What is maintenance and relapse?
A state where you deny or distort what is really happening.
What is denial?
The neurotransmitter responsible for pleasure and reward also responsible for PAWS symptoms when there is a deficit.
What is dopamine?
A war is going on inside your head, part of you want to use and a part of you doesn't.
What is mental relapse?
Plan ahead, ride out the craving, talk to someone, do something that requires you to use your mind and body (distraction) and challenge your thoughts.
What are coping strategies?
The focus is attempting to overcome the addiction, real change of behaviour starts happening.
What is the action stage?
When life gets so difficult that a person is forced to cope with the reality of his/her problems.
What is hitting rock bottom?