What is the Difference Between Physiologic Dependence/Tolerance, Drug Addiction, and Psychological Dependence?
Patients often fear addiction even more than the prescribing physicians do. Even more than dependence and tolerance, per se, is the fear of being thought of as an addict.[13] Physiologic dependence is the term used to describe the phenomenon of a withdrawal syndrome that most individuals will experience if they take opiates for a long enough time in high enough doses and then abruptly reduce the dose. Physiologic tolerance is the associated term that describes the phenomenon of needing to take more of a medication to achieve the same effect that many individuals will experience if they take an opiate for a long enough duration. These are effects that can happen to any of us if we are prescribed opiates for more than a few days, and although they do not represent true addiction, the terms are often used in a way that suggests they do. It may be necessary to clarify to a pain patient that the development of physiologic dependence on an opioid does not indicate that the patient has become
