This page is a glossary for terms used often on this site. It is a work in progress. Please offer suggested terms in the comment section below.
ADDICTION as defined by the NIDA: Addiction is defined as a chronic relapsing brain disease that is characterized by compulsive drug seeking and use, despite harmful consequences. It is considered a brain disease because drugs change the brain – they change it’s structure and how it works. These brain changes can be long lasting, and can lead to the harmful behaviors seen in people who abuse drugs.
ADDICTION as defined by me: Addiction is an experience which includes both the behavior of using substances in a problematic way in which the benefits don’t outweigh the costs, and the belief that one is incapable of choosing to stop doing so.
ADDICTION according to thesaurus: dependency, dependence, habit, problem.
SUBSTANCE ABUSE proposed by me: Substance Abuse is the misuse of substances in the context of one’s life – i.e. to use substances in way where the costs don’t weigh the benefits, or to use substances in a way that they cause excessive problems in one’s life – I draw a distinction between Abuse and Addiction – that abuse is simply the behavior, whereas addiction includes the belief that one cannot stop themselves from the behavior.
RELAPSE according to dictionary: suffer deterioration after a period of improvement. Thesaurus: a relapse into alcoholism decline, lapse, deterioration, degeneration, reversion, regression, retrogression, fall, descent, slide.
RELAPSE according to recovery culture: recurrence of symptoms of the disease of addiction
RECOVERY according to dictionary: a return to a normal state of health, mind, or strength : signs of recovery in the housing market | he’s back at home now and he looks all set to make a full recovery.
RECOVERY according to recovery culture: Recovery from substance dependence is a voluntarily maintained lifestyle characterized by sobriety, personal health, and citizenship.
SELF CHANGE according to research: the process whereby substance use problems are resolved without formal treatment, medical help, or 12-step involvement. Self-Changers make up 75% of the formally substance dependent population, that is, 3 quarters of “addicts” quit without professional help – by themselves. Also known as auto-remittence, or natural recovery.