Abstract
Addictive disorders are among the most common chronic diseases faced by physicians, and yet they are among the least understood by the average clinician. Most medical schools provide only 1 or 2 lectures on addiction throughout the 6-year course, and information provided by teachers at the bedside is often wrong or misleading.
It is common for physicians to assume that evidence of tolerance and physical dependence (withdrawal) implies the presence of addiction. In reality, many drugs produce adaptive changes in the body that result in the appearance of tolerance with rebound symptoms (withdrawal) when the drug is stopped abruptly.
This chapter is focused on explanation of basic knowledge and aspects concerning main representatives of each group of drugs.