Physiopathology of addiction
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.11606/issn.1679-9836.v94i4p256-262Keywords:
Substance-related disorders, Drug-seeking behavior, Physiopathology, EtiologyAbstract
Addiction is a chronic psychiatric disorder, mainly manifested by persistent behavior symptoms, with many negative social, psychological and health consequences. Different psychoactive substances have different chances to lead to addiction, not only for their particular properties, but also for interaction with individual vulnerability factors. Genetic and environmental aspects, and modulations of neurobiological substrates during the course of the disease represent these individual risk factors, with variance between the exercised weights according to each substance and each stage of life. Following the current recognition of the complexity of the etiology and chronicity of addiction, an overview of the physiopathology involved is presented.