Counselor Magazine, the Magazine for Addiction Professionals - Do Certain People Prefer Certain Drugs?

Daily E-mail Updates
Get news updates in your Inbox! Subscribe to our Counselor Magazine news syndication E-mail service for quick, easy notifications every time we add content to the site. Enter your email address: Delivered by FeedBurner

SUBSCRIBER LOGIN

News Briefs

Innovative Drugs-of-Abuse Testing System

Concateno plc, Europe's largest provider of drug and alcohol testing programmes, and Royal Philips Electronics announced an innovative handheld drugs-of-abuse detection device.

Concateno-Philips pioneering system will make testing for drugs such as cocaine and heroin quicker, simpler and easier, enabling immediate point-of-care drug test results, similar to current alcohol tests. Concateno and Philips will deliver the new solution to selected customers in the second half of 2009.

Polls

Can Recovering Drug Addicts Drink?

	Yes
	No
	I don't know

Special Offer

Do Certain People Prefer Certain Drugs?

Columns - Research to Practice

Written by Mike Taleff, PhD, CSAC, MAC

Friday, 04 January 2008

As long I as I have been in this field, I have heard claims that certain types of people seem to like certain types of drugs. You hear this in staff meetings, workshops, books, and even at coffee after 12-Step meetings. But, is any of it true? And, what does this mean for treatment?
To answer that question, we need to first look at a basic set of personality parameters that might prefer one drug over another. The research on which this column is based (Feldman, et al., 2007) used the personality types developed by Hans Eysenck (1957, 1967), who theorized humans can be extraverts, introverts, or basically neurotic, among others.

Eysenck suggested that extraverts, those who direct their attention outward, are most often in a low cortical state of arousal and are easily bored. One could, therefore, infer that this type would look for stimulation, such as stimulating drugs. Introverts, who direct their attention inward, are generally high in cortical arousal (thinking and pondering a lot) and would seek depressants in order to bring down the higher arousal they constantly feel. Lastly, those in neuroticism would tend to constantly be anxious, worried, and often have low self-esteem. Because of these feelings, they tend to disengage from others and their environment. It is inferred that they would seek drugs of comfort and escape.

Want to read the entire article? Don't miss out...Subscribe now to Counselor Magazine—or buy the single issue! It's easy. Just follow the links below:

Subscribe to Counselor Magazine
Buy this issue only

If you have any questions, please \n This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it for more information!

Comments

Add New

RSS