Fellows :
Dr. Paola Sidoli
Psychiatrist
Dr.Valeria Spagnuolo
Clinical Psychologist, in charge of psychodiagnostics
Dr. Ramona Gatto
Clinical Psychology, in charge of Mindfulness Practice
Abuse is a pathological condition that involves the use of both legal and illegal substances in ways that differ from prescribed and legal limits. Substance abuse may recurrently compromise the affected person’s professional capacity, lead to continuous use despite the persistence of social and relational problems and he/she may be exposed to physically or legally dangerous situations.
Addiction presents the same pathological conditions as abuse, to which we need to add three fundamental concepts: tolerance, which indicates the need to consume increasingly high doses to produce the same effect initially obtained with smaller quantities; withdrawal, the physiological state of adaptation which becomes manifest as withdrawal symptoms, thereby instigating the consumption of the substance in order to avoid withdrawal symptoms; time management, mostly employed to obtain, consume the substance and overcome its effects.
Abuse and addiction may present with cocaine, heroin, cannabis, amphetamines, hallucinogens, inhalants, hypnotics and anxiolytics, painkillers, phencyclidine, anabolic steroids, nicotine, caffeine.
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