How does tolerance relate to addiction

Many people believe these are just different words for the same thing — addiction. This is a common misconception. Here we aim to clear up the widespread misunderstanding about these terms. Tolerance is the physical aspect of substance or drug dependence. A person has developed tolerance to a substance when their body no longer responds to the original dose, requiring a higher dose of the medication in order to get the effect they initially experienced with a lower dose.

According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse NIDA , the development of tolerance is not addiction, though many drugs that lead to tolerance have the potential to lead to addiction. With some prescription medications , tolerance develops very gradually over many months and is not necessarily a cause for concern if the doses remain reasonably low and the prescribing physician continues to monitor the patient and determines that the benefits outweigh the risks.

However, some drugs can rapidly lead to tolerance, and if they are highly addictive, can lead to dependence that accelerates to addiction in a very short time — sometimes in a matter of days i.

Several different body and brain mechanisms can contribute to the development of alcohol or drug tolerance, but with highly addictive substances, it happens at a cellular level. This inhibition causes several chemicals in the cell to maintain the firing of impulses. Thus, the effect of a given dose of morphine is diminished.

Once a person has developed tolerance to a substance, their body and brain can become dependent on it.

A person will experience withdrawal symptoms i. How does dependence happen? Depending on the substance and its addictive properties, dependence can sometimes happen after just a couple of uses or after just a few days of repeated use. Dependence can occur whether the substance is a prescribed medication i. Alcohol and many other drugs affect your central nervous system, which includes nerve cells neurons , your brain and its circuits and neurotransmitters.

At Fort Behavioral Health, our team of therapists and addiction specialists provides a wide array of treatment options, including our residential treatment program for tolerance, dependence, or addiction. If you are struggling with any type of substance abuse , we can help you begin to recover, no matter the severity of the use. First, however, it is important to understand the differences between tolerance, dependence, and addiction.

Therefore, it takes a higher dose of the substance to reach the same effect as when they were first used. Developing tolerance differs between substances used and is therefore categorized as short-term, long-term, or learned. For example, cocaine tolerance occurs over short periods, whereas tolerance to prescription drugs usually occurs over long periods. Drug dependency occurs when a person stops using a drug and their body experiences withdrawal.

Withdrawal involves experiencing physical and mental symptoms when quitting drugs or alcohol, and experiencing withdrawal can come from various substances ranging from caffeine to heroin. Prescription medications used every day over time can also lead to dependence. Weaning, or gradually quitting the substance, is an effective way to avoid withdrawal symptoms.

However, a person who is dependent on a substance is not necessarily addicted to the substance. Addiction is a disease, whereas dependence and tolerance are not.

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