Abstract
The World Health Organization Expert Committee on Addiction-Producing Drugs (1964) defined drug dependence as
... a state of psychic or physical dependence, or both, on a drug, arising in a person following administration of that drug on a periodic or continuous basis. The characteristics of such a state will vary with the agent involved, and these characteristics must always be made clear by designating the particular type of drug dependence in each specific case; for example, drug dependence of the morphine type, of cocaine type, of cannabis type, of barbiturate type, of amphetamine type, etc.
Common to all of these types of drug dependence is the concept of “psychic” or “psychological” dependence, which is defined as a drive that requires administration of the drug to produce pleasure or to avoid discomfort (Eddy et al., 1970). Psychic dependence is usually distinguished from “physical” dependence, which is inferred from the appearance of drug-specific, transient abstinence phenomena (autonomic and behavioral) when the drug is withdrawn abruptly. However, as Eddy et al. (1970) pointed out, physical dependence is a powerful factor in reinforcing the influence of psychic dependence. It would seem that the main distinction between psychic and physical dependence is that the former is a vaguely defined cluster of inferences derived from subjective reports of the subject, while the latter is inferred from objective changes in his autonomic nervous system and his behavior.
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Wikler, A. (1980). The Etiology of Opioid Dependence. In: Opioid Dependence. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4684-3866-6_2
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