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GLOSSARY OF TERMS |
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Craving
– a person will feel a strong need, desire, or urge to use
alcohol or drugs, will use alcohol or a drug despite negative
consequences, and will feel anxious and irritable if he or she
can’t use them. Craving is a primary symptom of addiction. |
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Denial
– The thought process in which a person does not believe he or
she has a problem, despite strong evidence to the contrary. It
is a way of protecting oneself from painful thoughts or
feelings. |
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Detoxification (or “detox”)
– A process that helps the body rid itself of substances while
the symptoms of withdrawal are treated. It is often a first
step in a substance abuse treatment program. |
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Follow-up care
– Also called continuing care. Treatment that is prescribed
after completion of inpatient or outpatient treatment. It can
be participation in individual or group counseling, regular
contact with a counselor, or other activities designed to help
people stay in recovery. |
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Halfway
house/sober house
– A place to
live for people recovering from substance use disorders.
Usually several people in recovery live together with limited or
no supervision by a counselor. |
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Inpatient treatment
– Treatment in a setting that is connected to a hospital or a
hospital-type setting where a person stays for a few days or
weeks. |
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Loss of control
–
a
person often will drink more alcohol or take more drugs than he
or she meant to, or may use alcohol or drugs at a time or place
he or she had not planned. A person also may try to reduce or
stop drinking or using drugs many times, but may fail. |
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Outpatient treatment
– Treatment provided at a facility. The services vary but do
not include overnight accommodation. Sometimes it is prescribed
after inpatient treatment. |
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Relapse
– A recurrence of symptoms of a disease after a period of
improvement; a person in recovery drinks or uses drugs again
after a period of abstinence. |
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Relapse
prevention
– Any strategy
or activity that helps keep a person in recovery from drinking
alcohol or using drugs again. It may include developing new
coping responses; changing beliefs and expectations; and
changing personal habits, lifestyles, and schedules. |
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Residential treatment
– Treatment in a setting in which both staff and peers can help
with treatment. It provides more structure and more intensive
services than outpatient treatment. Participants live in the
treatment facility. Residential treatment is long term,
typically lasting from 1 month to more than 1 year. |
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Self-help/12-Step groups
– Support groups consisting of people in recovery that offer a
safe place where recovering people share their experiences,
strengths, and hopes. AA’s 12 Steps help the members recover
from addiction, addictive behavior, and emotional suffering.
These groups are free and are not supported by any particular
treatment program. |
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Supportive living
– Also called transitional apartments. A setting in which the
skills and attitudes needed for independent living can be
learned, practiced, and supported. It provides a bridge between
supervised care and independent living. |
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Therapeutic community
– Long-term residential treatment that focuses on behavioral
change and personal responsibility in all areas of a person’s
life, not just substance use. |
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Tolerance
– a person will need increasingly larger amounts of alcohol or
drugs to get high. |
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Treatment plan
– A plan that provides a blueprint for treatment. It describes
the problems being addressed, the treatment’s goals and the
specific steps that both the treatment professionals and the
person in treatment will take. |
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Treatment team
– A team of professionals (e.g., clinical supervisor, counselor,
therapist, and physician) responsible for treating a person and
helping his or her family. |
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Trigger
– Any event, place, thing, smell, idea, emotion, or person that
sets off a craving to drink alcohol or use drugs. |
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Withdrawal symptoms
– In
some cases when alcohol
or drug use is stopped, a
person may experience withdrawal
symptoms from a
physical need for the substance. Withdrawal symptoms differ
depending on the drug, but they may include nausea, sweating,
shakiness, and extreme anxiety. The person may try to relieve
these symptoms by taking either more of the same or a similar
substance. |
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| Click Here For A Listing of Acronyms |
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