What is psychological dependence

The body can function normally, but the brain craves a drug

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_is_psychological_dependence

Psychological dependence is the subjective feeling that the user needs the drug to maintain a feeling of well-being; physical dependence is characterized by tolerance (the need for increasingly larger doses in order to achieve the initial e…

http://www.question.com/link/drugaddi.html

The answer is A. A dependence that directly affects the body’s function is physical dependence.

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20081118173503AAWvMJx

Related Questions Answered on Y!Answers

Whats a situation where using a drug leads to psychological dependence before physical dependence?

Q: Any help would be great- its just for an assignment.

A: Cocaine and Crack Cocaine is one.My friends father has been through addiction, he then stopped, then he came into a fair bit of money, and just the thought of having money, and being able to buy it again made him start again (this was around a year after he stopped)

Would video game addiction be a psychological dependence or physical dependence?

Q: I know that physical dependence would have to be a chemical drug causing dependence, but could it be that the strong emotions that some video game addicts feel could some how trigger chemical imbalances?

A: Video games are not addictive, either psychologically or physically. They may be habit forming but there is no diagnostic category in DSM (the diagnostic manual for psychiatry in the US) for video addiction. Addiction and dependence are limited to drugs.Video games and many other things can be very habit forming and you can spend too much time playing them. The mechanism is not known but it would be highly similar to anything else that we like ALOT and keep repeating. Those neurochemicals involved in reward and pleasure (e.g., dopamine) and arousal/stimulation (e.g., norepinephrine) are probably involved but these changes would not cause imbalances. Period.

when you start smoking which comes first,the physical or psychological dependence?

Q: i’ve been a smoker for 35 years.after getting sick on the first cigarette,the cravings started immediately and i think i was mentally addicted before i bought my second pack.i quit once for boot camp and didn’t suffer too much because of the physical and mental stress they put you through for 9 weeks.i went back to smoking because the mental cravings never stopped.any opinions from long term smokers out there.i want to quit but my addiction seems impossible to overcome.

A: Smoking is definitely more of a psychological addiction than a physical one. It is important for you to realize this but what is equally as important is for you to have some self belief. Everyone has the power to quit no matter how long they have been smoking. You have already put yourself on the road to failure by stating “i want to quit but my addiction seems impossible to overcome”. If you really want to quit you must discover the reasons why you smoke and then eliminate or change these thought processes. As soon as I dealt with my psychological reasons for smoking I quit, first time and more importantly for good.Once you deal with the psychological side of smoking it makes the quitting process easy, no matter your level of addiction. All that is required is a bit of motivation, self belief and determination. You can stop smoking, others have smoked longer than you and quit. How, by believing that they could. Give yourself more credit, you are stronger than you think. Visit our blog for more information and to download our free book.Good Luck and Good Quitting