1. Introduction

Drug addiction comorbidities are common in persons with psychiatric disorders. About 55% of persons with psychiatric disorders who are medicated with antipsychotics have drug addiction [1] that precipitate and exacerbate psychotic symptoms. Inability to lessen or stop drug use because of psychotic symptoms and their neurological impact creates significant health problems. An estimated 50–75% [2, 3] of persons with drug addiction also have psychiatric disorders, and up to 31% of individuals with psychiatric disorders have a history of drug addiction [4]. Recurrent relapse and the high level of drug addiction have been associated with an increased prevalence of psychotic symptoms [5].

The evidence of drug addiction has evolved in several ways. Lifetime use rates appear to have increased, and early remission from drug addiction disorders is now common. Sustained drug-free remission is well documented, although rates are still low. Research on drug addiction is leading to knowledge in many areas, including characteristics of drug addiction,

© 2016 The Author(s). Licensee InTech. This chapter is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and eproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. © 2018 The Author(s). Licensee IntechOpen. This chapter is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

reasons for persons with drug addiction (PDDs) seeking substances, effects of different substances upon symptoms, and obstacles to drug use recovery. Dependent drug abusers were noted to be three times likelier to experience psychotic symptoms than nondependent counterparts. This indicates that PDDs are at particularly high risk for psychotic relapse [6].

3. Effects of drug addiction

3.1. Impact on physiology

3.2. Impact upon psychology

problematic [13–16].

3.3. Impact on socialization

Drug addiction affects biological, psychological, and social condition of mental and emotional states, stimulating pleasure centers of the brain. Psychotic symptoms of drug addiction follow:

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Much evidence suggests that drug addiction negatively and directly affects underlying neuropathology of psychiatric disorders. This may enhance addiction vulnerability by disrupting neural substrates mediating positive reinforcement; increasing hallucinations, delusions, and signs of distractibility; and displaying altered patterns of neural activation involving dopamine-rich frontostriatal brain regions, injury, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), hepatitis, cardiovascular, liver, and gastrointestinal diseases. In the longer term, drug addiction impairs daily life by disrupting frontostriatal reward-learning signals. Intravenous drug abuse may induce psychotic symptoms by significantly attenuating the reward prediction error signal in the limbic striatum and the incentive value signal in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex. Drug-induced behavioral changes may occur leading to lower rates of reward-related reinforcement learning (RL). The degree to which drugs disrupt encoding of incentive values in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex and posterior cingulate correlates with the degree to which drugs induce mild psychotic symptoms [3, 5, 7]. According to Bernacer et al. [10], (a) "disturbance in the ways that affected individuals evaluate stimuli and learn associations leads to mistaken evaluation of irrelevant phenomena as motivationally salient and to faulty association of unconnected ideas and events, ultimately leading to the emer-

Drug addiction exacerbates social alienation and increases potential for violent lashing out and low self-esteem, along with poor coping skills. Under these circumstances, emotional, social, or symptom-related cues can provoke recourse to available substances and suicidal ideation. They may also contribute to psychosocial instability, self-image issues, and achievement motivation. In some cases, social hostility and rejection may result. Friends and family of persons also experience distress, tension, and conflict in these relationships. Interpersonal conflicts are often associated with dual diagnoses. Friends and families may be frustrated with ongoing substance misuse that the users themselves may not see as

Short-term impact may devastate the lives of persons and severely disrupt families. Persons may withdraw from their environment with regressive behavior, fail to engage with others, or even notice physical illness and pain [3]. Social exclusion and homelessness may ensue. In the longer term, psychosis and its potential disruption of the capacity to fulfill social roles can result in further burdens. Severe, untreated symptoms may result in social, familial, and occupational

gence of characteristic alterations in perceptions and beliefs."

Drug addiction may contribute to enhanced vulnerability by disrupting neural substrates mediating positive reinforcement. Deficits in cognitive control have been documented in a number of clinical populations with drug addiction. Behavioral and neural profiles occur, including hallucinations, delusions, signs of distractibility, and altered patterns of neural activation involving dopamine-rich frontostriatal brain regions [5, 7].

Drug addiction impacts physical symptoms, including emotional shifts, increased psychosis, cognitive confusion, family conflicts, financial problems, and legal difficulties. This suggests that drug addiction may initially provide relief, but longer term use exacerbates psychiatric symptoms. Individuals also noted that the advantages of quitting include improved physical symptoms, higher self-esteem, and increased social relationships. This suggests that individuals were aware of the impact of drug addiction on psychiatric symptoms and interpersonal relationships. Individuals reported that disadvantages of quitting drugs include withdrawal symptoms, relapse cycles, loss of substance-abusing friends, cravings, and pressure to abuse drugs.

PDD struggle with lifelong addictions to prescription drugs, taken to cope with life events presented physical and psychological stress. As a team, professional nurses working in hospital and community care should be sensitive to PDD and identify strategies for addressing their issues. Positive nursing outcomes improve their quality of life.
