An Overview of Substance Use

By Buddy T  | Medically reviewed by a board-certified physician

Updated November 05, 2018

Substance abuse can simply be defined as a pattern of harmful use of any substance for mood-altering purposes. "Substances" can include alcohol and other drugs (illegal or not) as well as some substances that are not drugs at all.

"Abuse" can result because you are using a substance in a way that is not intended or recommended, or because you are using more than prescribed.

To be clear, someone can use substances and not be addicted or even have a substance use disorder, as defined in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual 5 (DSM 5).

What Is Harmful Use?

Health officials consider substance use as crossing the line into substance abuse if that repeated use causes significant impairment, such as:

• Health issues
• Disabilities
• Failure to meet responsibilities
• Impaired control
• Risky use
• Social issues
• Read more here>>>https://www.verywellmind.com/substance-use-4014640

A Guide to DSM 5 Criteria for Substance Use Disorders

Symptoms Used to Diagnose Substance Use Disorders

By Elizabeth Hartney, PhD  | Medically reviewed by a board-certified physician

Updated September 26, 2018

The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition, often called the DSM-V or DSM 5, is the latest version of the American Psychiatric Association’s gold-standard text on the names, symptoms, and diagnostic features of every recognized mental illness—including addictions.

The DSM 5 criteria for substance use disorders are based on decades of research and clinical knowledge. This edition was published in May 2013, nearly 20 years after the original publication of the previous edition, the DSM-IV, in 1994.

What Are Substance Use Disorders?

The DSM 5 recognizes substance-related disorders resulting from the use of 10 separate classes of drugs: alcohol; caffeine; cannabis; hallucinogens (phencyclidine or similarly acting arylcyclohexylamines, and other hallucinogens, such as LSD); inhalants; opioids; sedatives, hypnotics, or anxiolytics; stimulants (including amphetamine-type substances, cocaine, and other stimulants); tobacco; and other or unknown substances. Therefore, while some major groupings of psychoactive substances are specifically identified, the use of other or unknown substances can also form the basis of a substance-related or addictive disorder.

The activation of the brain’s reward system is central Read More Here>>>https://www.verywellmind.com/dsm-5-criteria-for-substance-use-disorders-21926