Addiction Addiction implies that a drug dependency has developed to such an extent that it has serious detrimental effects on the user (referred to as an addict). They may be chronically intoxicated, have great difficulty stopping the drug use, and be determined to obtain the drug by almost any means. The term addiction is inextricably linked to society's reaction to the user, and so medical experts try to avoid using it, preferring dependence instead.Drug Rehabilitation Drug Rehabilitation
is an umbrella term for a variety of processes by which a person addicted to a
drug stops using that drug. These processes can vary from cold turkey to the use
of substitute drugs which do not have the same action upon the state of consciousness
as the original drug to which the person was addicted. Alcohol Addiction
Alcohol Addiction is a chronic disease characterized by a strong craving for alcohol, a constant or periodic reliance on use of alcohol despite adverse consequences, the inability to limit drinking, physical illness when drinking is stopped, and the need for increasing amounts of alcohol to feel its effects.Binge Drinking: According to a rent study conducted by Kathryn Graham, et al of the University of Western Ontario psychology department "Depression is most strongly related to a pattern of binge drinking,"
Binge Drinking is defined in the study as consuming at least 5 alcoholic beverages at one sitting.
Whether Binge Drinking resulted in the development depression or whether depression contributed to a persons binge drinking was unclear in this study.
Ketamine Addiction, Abuse and Withdrawal in Club Drugs
Ketamine has been around for about 30 years and was initially used only in veterinary medicine. Over the past 2 decades, it has become known that ketamine is a general anesthetic with hallucinogenic and analgesic (pain relieving properties). The drug has a unique ability to differentiate perception from sensation. It is currently widely used in pediatric anesthesia. Ketamine is structurally related to PCP, a drug known for its psychedelic effects and vivid hallucinations. The drug has a tendency to produce a feeling of an out-of-body experience.
Pharmacology of Ketamine
When injected ketamine can cause profound analgesia, respiratory depression, cardiovascular stimulation and amnesia. However, despite the anesthesia, the protective reflexes are maintained. It has excellent analgesic activity and useful for control of severe pain.
Ketamine causes an insensate feeling throughout the body. Prolonged use has been associated with physical and psychological addiction. In the majority of individuals who frequently use ketamine, tolerance does develop to these effects, thus requiring the addicts to consume higher doses.
Dosing
In clinical medicine, ketamine is administered either intravenously or intramuscularly. For illicit uses, ketamine is prepared by evaporating the liquid from the legitimate pharmaceutical product and pulverizing the residue into a powder. All of the ketamine abused has been diverted from legal sources. Theft of veterinary/pharmacy clinics is the most frequently reported source of illicit ketamine.
Ketamine is commonly snorted by abusers. Intra-muscular injection is also a widely used method for abuse. Injected Ketamine takes a few seconds to work whereas snorted ketamine takes 5-15 minutes to take effect.
Symptoms of Ketamine Use
Ketamine is known to cause hallucinations, nausea, mental clouding, loss of memory and an amnestic feeling may occur. Numerous individuals report out of body experiences after having undergone anesthesia with ketamine. Physical features of ketamine use include increased heart rate, paralyzed feeling, numbness, impaired attention, delirium, and high blood pressure
Is Ketamine Addictive?
Although ketamine does not give rise to physical dependence like that seen with morphine, heroin or alcohol, it is associated with a powerful psychological addiction- like that seen with cocaine. Because of its ability to produce intense vivid psychedelic effects it is frequently abused. The psychedelic effects and out of body experiences have been primary reasons why the drug is abused.
Ketamine Abuse
The dose of ketamine which is used by drug addicts is only about 10-25% of the therapeutic dose required to induce anesthesia. At these low doses, it behaves more like a stimulant than a sedative and does not affect the breathing or heart rate, although exceptions do occur. At very high doses, ketamine behaves more like other anesthetics and can induce respiratory arrest and increase blood pressure.
Deaths with abuse of ketamine alone are rare. The majority of fatalities occur when ketamine is combined with other CNS depressants like alcohol, benzodiazepines and a mixture of other illicit drugs.
Side Effects
Prolonged use of ketamine can result in amnesia, impaired motor function, delirium, and respiratory problems that can be fatal. Ketamine can cause loss of in consciousness, neuroses or other mental clouding. Other common side effects include confusion, delirium, vivid dreams, hallucinations and feelings of detachment from the body. Some physicians routinely use haloperidol or a benzodiazepine to alleviate these distressing symptoms.
When injected, ketamine can also cause a significant increase in blood pressure, abnormal heart rhythms, respiratory depression, airway obstruction, visual problems, seizures, skin rash and pain at the injected site.
Drug Interactions
Respiratory depression may occur with over dosage or too rapid a rate of administration of ketamine, in which case mechanical ventilation should be available. Mechanical support of respiration is preferred to administration of anti dotes. Prolonged recovery time from respiratory arrest may occur if barbiturates and/or narcotics are used concurrently with ketamine.
Safety
Ketamine has a wide margin of safety; several instances of unintentional administration of overdoses of ketamine (up to ten times that usually required) have been followed by prolonged but complete recovery.
Usage in Pregnancy and Elderly
Since the safe use in pregnancy, including obstetrics (either vaginal or abdominal delivery), has not been established, ketamine use is not recommended. In general, dose selection for an elderly patient should be cautious, usually starting at the low end of the dosing range, reflecting the greater frequency of decreased hepatic, renal, or cardiac function, and of concomitant disease or other drug therapy.
Treatment Options
Ketamine addiction, like all addiction begins with the acceptance of a problem by the individual. Several drug rehabilitation and treatment facilities are available for ketamine treatment. There are no antidotes to ketamine and the majority of therapy is based on psychotherapy and behavior modification.
This article was last modified on 4/04/2007.
References
1. Beardsley PM, Balster RL (1987) Behavioral dependence upon phencyclidine and ketamine in the rat. Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics 242, 203-211.
2. Bergman SA (1999) Ketamine: review of its pharmacology and its use in pediatric anesthesia. Anesthesia Progress 46 (1) 10-20.
3. Green SM, Clem KJ, Rothrock SG (1996) Ketamine safety profile in the developing world: survey of practitioners. Acad. Emergency Medicine 3 (6) 598-604.
4. Hall CH, Cassidy J (1992) Young drug users adopt 'bad trip' anesthetic. The Independent, 2 April, page 5.
5. Hurt PH, Ritchie EC (1994) A case of ketamine dependence. American J Psychiatry 151, 779.
6. Jansen, KLR (2001) Ketamine: Dreams and Realities. Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies, Florida. Available from www.maps.org
7. Kamaya H, Krishna PR (1987) Ketamine addiction. Anesthesiology 67, 861-862.
8. Krupitsky EM, Grinenko AY (1997) Ketamine psychedelic therapy (KPT): a review of the results of ten years of research. Journal of Psychoactive Drugs 29 (2) 165-183.
9. McCarthy DA, Harrigan SE (1976). Dependence producing capacity of ketamine in Macaca mulatta. Anesthesiology 399, 160-168.
10. Rothman, S. M. & J. W. Olney (1987) 'Excitotoxicity and the NMDA receptor'. Trends in Neurosciences 10: 299-302.
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