Criteria for diagnosing addiction
The DSM-IV is the diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. This is a handbook, published by the American Psychiatric Association, which is used by mental health care professionals that lists different categories of mental disorders and the criteria for diagnosing them. The DSM-IV is used all around the world by clinicians, psychiatric drug regulation agencies, researchers, health insurance companies, pharmaceutical companies and policy makers.
Some criteria from the DSM-IV that may qualify someone for the disease of addiction are as follows:
– You reduce or completely blow off your social, school of recreational activities.
– You increase your time and energy spent on using or getting substances to use.
– You have tolerance; it takes more than it used to in order to feel an effect.
– You have symptoms of withdrawal (i.e. hangovers, irritability, sleeping after binges, “crashing”)
– You have unsuccessful or persistent efforts to cut down or control your using, or you have consequences of using.
– You use longer than you intended to of you use for a longer period of time than you intended to.
– You continue to use even though you know it causes physical of psychological problems or despite knowing that it aggravates a physical of psychological problem.
– You continue to use despite legal consequences.
– You continue to use despite poor performance/consequences at school or work.
You can have the disease of addiction with or without physiological (physical/body) dependence. This means that even if your body isn’t addicted to drugs or alcohol, you may still have the psychological dependence.
