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What are addictions?

Disorders Due to Substance Use include disorders that result from a single occasion or repeated use of substances that have psychoactive properties, including certain medications. Disorders related to fourteen classes or groups of psychoactive substances that have important clinical and public health consequences are included, and categories are also available for other specified substances.

Typically, initial use of these substances produces pleasant or appealing psychoactive effects that are rewarding and reinforcing with repeated use. With continued use, many of the included substances have the capacity to produce dependence. They also have the potential to cause numerous forms of harm, both to mental and physical health. Disorders due to harmful non-medical use of non-psychoactive substances (e.g., laxatives, growth hormone, erythropoietin, and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs) are also included in this grouping

  • Use of psychoactive substances is influenced by strong cultural meanings and traditions, which may impact the risk for development of a Disorder Due to Substance Use. The cultural milieu in which the substance is used should be considered when determining risk and the presence or absence of pathology. For example, substances may be used regularly as part of religious rituals, celebrations (e.g., New Year’s Eve), culturally sanctioned mystical experiences, specific events (e.g., wakes preceding funerals), or healing activities without resulting in a Disorder Due to Substance Use.

  • Cultural values and interpretations related to the use of psychoactive substances in specific communities, and cultural terms used to describe the substance and its effects, vary greatly across cultures. Knowledge of specific terms and interpretations will improve communication with patients and determination of possible disorder. For example, traditional American Indians who use peyote during worship ceremonies may consider the substance a sacrament rather than a drug.

  • Local availability of a substance affects the prevalence of disorders associated with it. For example, prevalence of Alcohol Dependence is lower in predominantly Muslim countries due to the religious prohibitions against alcohol consumption.

  • Immigration may affect the person’s pattern of substance use due to culture change, including gender roles. This change can lead to higher or lower risk of Disorders Due to Substance Use depending on the characteristics of the sending and receiving societies, the circumstances of migration, and the relative social position in each setting. For example, immigrants moving from a society with high alcohol consumption to one with low alcohol consumption tend to assume the lower risk of disorder of the host country.

Disorders Due to Substance Use are classified by first identifying the substance used. 

 

  • 6C40 Disorders Due to Use of Alcohol

  • 6C41 Disorders Due to Use of Cannabis

  • 6C42 Disorders Due to Use of Synthetic Cannabinoids

  • 6C43 Disorders Due to Use of Opioids

  • 6C44 Disorders Due to Use of Sedatives, Hypnotics or Anxiolytics

  • 6C45 Disorders Due to Use of Cocaine

  • 6C46 Disorders Due to Use of Stimulants including Amphetamines, Methamphetamine or Methcathinone

  • 6C47 Disorders Due to Use of Synthetic Cathinones

  • 6C48 Disorders Due to Use of Caffeine

  • 6C49 Disorders Due to Use of Hallucinogens

  • 6C4A Disorders Due to Use of Nicotine

  • 6C4B Disorders Due to Use of Volatile Inhalants

  • 6C4C Disorders Due to Use of MDMA or Related drugs, including MDA

  • 6C4D Disorders Due to Use of Dissociative Drugs including Ketamine and Phencyclidine (PCP)

  • 6C4E Disorders Due to Use of Other Specified Psychoactive Substances, including Medications

  • 6C4F Disorders Due to Use of Multiple Specified Psychoactive Substances, including Medications

  • 6C4G Disorders Due to Use of Unknown or Unspecified Psychoactive Substances

  • 6C4H Disorders Due to Use of Non-Psychoactive Substances

WHO ICD XI - Addictions

PS: Disorders due to addictive behaviours are recognizable and clinically significant syndromes associated with distress or interference with personal functions that develop as a result of repetitive rewarding behaviours other than the use of dependence-producing substances. Disorders due to addictive behaviours include gambling disorder and gaming disorder, which may involve both online and offline behaviour.

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