PSY362 - Belhaven University Lectures

Comprehensive discussion of treatment and prevention frameworks: etiological factors (biological, psychological, environmental), competing models (moral, disease, biological, sociocultural), relapse mechanisms, stepped-care principles, and evidence-based community and prevention strategies.

Overview of psychotherapeutic and over-the-counter medications: major drug classes, historical developments, prescribing practices, side-effect and teratogenic concerns, regulatory distinctions, interactions with supplements, and ethical/legal issues around access and informed consent.

Survey of cannabis (THC vs. CBD), therapeutic potentials and cognitive/psychosis risks, plus a taxonomy of hallucinogens (classic psychedelics, dissociatives, entheogens), emerging therapeutic research, and the psychological risks of adverse reactions and long-term perceptual disturbance.

An examination of alcohol and opiate pharmacology, clinical signs of misuse and withdrawal, population-level harms (e.g., aggression, overdose crises), and evidence-based treatment modalities including pharmacotherapies (methadone, naloxone, buprenorphine) and behavioral interventions.

Systematic treatment of stimulant substances (amphetamine class, cocaine, nicotine, caffeine): chemical classifications, acute and chronic physiological/psychological effects, historical trajectories (including epidemics), and public-health concerns such as youth vaping and energy-drink risks.

A focused lecture on neurobiology and psychopharmacology: neuronal structure, neurotransmitter systems, agonist/antagonist mechanisms, pharmacokinetics versus pharmacodynamics, routes of administration, tolerance/withdrawal phenomena, and ethical considerations in prescribing.

Concise course overview that situates addiction within physiological, psychological, historical, and societal contexts—introducing DSM-5 diagnostic criteria, patterns of multi-drug use (including vaping and synthetic opioids), stigma, and the need for prevention and holistic, faith-informed treatment approaches.

Introductory orientation to the course goals and competencies emphasizing a holistic approach to substance use and addiction that integrates physiological/psychological science with a Christian worldview, empathy-focused care, and treatment pathways.