Drug Abuse and Drug Addiction: What’s the Difference?

Drug Abuse and Drug Addiction: What’s the Difference?

People are often confused about the difference between drug abuse and drug addiction because the two are closely related.  There are, however, subtle yet important differences between the two.  The two conditions have different causes, and abuse is actually a more complex disorder than addiction.  Abuse can very easily become addiction, and so it is crucial to treat the problem at the abuse stage if at all possible.

The National Institute on Drug Abuse defines abuse as “The illegal use of drugs or inappropriate use of legal drugs.” Drug abuse can also be signified by the use of a substance to reduce stress, alter reality, or increase pleasure. Abuse can be hard to identify and diagnose, however, because what constitutes substance abuse varies widely from country to country, and culture to culture.  If you smoke marijuana in America, you are abusing a substance.  Smoking the same substance in Holland, on the other hand, is perfectly legal. Drug abuse is said to be more complex than addiction because of the variety of factors involved.  Personality characteristics and psychosocial factors both play a role, and each of these factors is incredibly unique.  This also makes abuse harder to treat.

Drug addiction takes abuse one step further and involves the compulsive seeking of and use of a substance with total disregard for potential negative consequences.  To be addicted implies that an individual has lost the freedom to choose whether or not to use the drug.  Whereas an abuser can use a substance for recreational purposes and still function in society, an addict’s main behavioral motivator becomes the substance.  All drugs produce an effect on the brain, and while an abuser may enjoy the effect of a drug, they don’t necessarily need to have it. In the case of addicted individuals neurochemical changes have taken place in the brain, and the drug becomes the main activator of that person’s reward and motivation systems. This makes addiction easier to identify and diagnose, but treatment is still difficult.