Drug Abuse—Delirium

Delirium is a condition that features rapidly changing mental states. It causes confusion and changes in behavior. Besides falling in and out of consciousness, there may be problems with

• Attention and awareness
• Thinking and memory
• Emotion
• Muscle control
• Sleeping and waking

Causes of delirium include medications, poisoning, serious illnesses or infections, and severe pain. It can also be part of some mental illnesses or dementia.

Delirium and dementia have similar symptoms, so it can be hard to tell them apart. They can also occur together. Delirium starts suddenly and can cause hallucinations. The symptoms may get better or worse, and can last for hours or weeks. On the other hand, dementia develops slowly and does not cause hallucinations. The symptoms are stable, and may last for months or years.

Delirium tremens is a serious type of alcohol withdrawal syndrome. It usually happens to people who stop drinking after years of alcohol abuse.

People with delirium often, though not always, make a full recovery after their underlying illness is treated.

• Delirium (Medical Encyclopedia)
• Delirium tremens (Medical Encyclopedia)

Also called: Substance abuse

Drug abuse is a serious public health problem that affects almost every community and family in some way. Each year drug abuse causes millions of serious illnesses or injuries among Americans. Abused drugs include

• Methamphetamine
• Anabolic steroids
• Club drugs
• Cocaine
• Heroin
• Inhalants
• Marijuana
• Prescription drugs, including opioids

Drug abuse also plays a role in many major social problems, such as drugged driving, violence, stress, and child abuse. Drug abuse can lead to homelessness, crime, and missed work or problems with keeping a job. It harms unborn babies and destroys families. There are different types of treatment for drug abuse. But the best is to prevent drug abuse in the first place.

NIH: National Institute on Drug Abuse

• Drug abuse (Medical Encyclopedia)
• Drug dependence (Medical Encyclopedia)
• Toxicology screen (Medical Encyclopedia)