IC/RC ADC CERTIFICATION SCRIPT
2026 QUESTIONS WITH SOLUTIONS
GRADED A+
◍ What is substance use disorder (SUD) according to DSM-5-TR criteria?.
Answer: A problematic pattern of substance use leading to clinically
significant impairment or distress.
◍ What are the primary neurotransmitters involved in the brain's reward
pathway?.
Answer: Dopamine, serotonin, GABA, glutamate, and endogenous opioids.
◍ What role does dopamine play in addiction?.
Answer: Dopamine reinforces rewarding behaviors and drives motivation
and reinforcement.
◍ Process of addiction: stage one.
Answer: experimental and social use of occasional frequency sometimes as
a result of curiosity, obtaining social acceptance, and thrill seeking. The
experience is eutrophic and there are little noticeable changes.
◍ What is tolerance and how does it develop?.
Answer: Reduced response to a substance requiring increased amounts to
achieve the same effect.
◍ process of addiction: stage two.
Answer: abuse use becomes regular happening without friends sometimes
alone or during the day time. Use may be a result of stress, anxiety, and
trying to maintain eutrophic feeling. Changes in personality, conflict in
relationships, lying.
◍ What is withdrawal and what are two examples of withdrawal symptoms?.
, Answer: Physiological and psychological symptoms after cessation (e.g.,
tremors, nausea).
◍ process of addiction: stage three.
Answer: dependency/addiction daily use and any means necessary to obtain.
result of motivation to avoid pain and escape reality. guilt shame possible
suicidal ideation. Physical deterioration of health. Chance of overdose.
◍ Substance use disorder specifiers.
Answer: in early remission, in sustained remission, on maintenance therapy,
and in a controlled environment
◍ What is the difference between physical dependence and psychological
dependence?.
Answer: Physical: bodily adaptation; Psychological: emotional/mental
reliance.
◍ What is the function of the limbic system in substance use?.
Answer: Regulates emotion, reward, and memory associated with substance
use.
◍ What is cross-tolerance?.
Answer: Tolerance to similar substances within the same drug class.
◍ Five components of effective treatment.
Answer: assessment, patient-treatment matching, comprehensive services,
relapse prevention, accountability
◍ What is intoxication in clinical terms?.
Answer: Reversible substance-specific syndrome due to recent ingestion.
◍ What is the difference between substance abuse and substance dependence?.
Answer: Abuse focuses on harmful use; dependence emphasizes tolerance
and withdrawal.
◍ What is neuroadaptation?.
Answer: Brain adaptation to repeated substance exposure.
◍ What is the half-life of a drug and why is it clinically important?.
, Answer: Time required for half of the drug to be eliminated; impacts dosing
and withdrawal.
◍ central nervous system.
Answer: consists of the brain and spinal cord
◍ peripheral nervous system.
Answer: the sensory and motor neurons that connect the central nervous
system to the rest of the body
◍ What is polysubstance use?.
Answer: Use of more than one substance simultaneously or sequentially.
◍ What is medication-assisted treatment (MAT)?.
Answer: Use of medications combined with counseling to treat SUD.
◍ somatic nervous system.
Answer: the division of the peripheral nervous system that controls the
body's skeletal muscles
◍ autonomic nervous system.
Answer: the part of the peripheral nervous system that controls the glands
and the muscles of the internal organs (such as the heart). Its sympathetic
division arouses; its parasympathetic division calms.
◍ Name two FDA-approved medications for opioid use disorder..
Answer: Methadone and buprenorphine (also naltrexone).
◍ What are the major classes of psychoactive substances?.
Answer: Depressants, stimulants, opioids, hallucinogens, cannabis,
inhalants.
◍ How does alcohol affect the central nervous system?.
Answer: Depresses CNS activity by enhancing GABA and inhibiting
glutamate.
◍ sympathetic nervous system.
Answer: part of the autonomic system that controls the "flight-or-fight"
response in organisms.
, ◍ What is delirium tremens?.
Answer: Severe alcohol withdrawal involving confusion, tremors, seizures.
◍ parasympathetic nervous system.
Answer: the division of the autonomic nervous system that calms the body,
conserving its energy
◍ What are co-occurring disorders?.
Answer: Presence of both SUD and mental health disorder.
◍ What is the difference between a primary mental health disorder and a
substance-induced disorder?.
Answer: Primary exists independently; substance-induced results from
substance effects.
◍ Dopamine.
Answer: A neurotransmitter associated with movement, attention and
learning and the brain's pleasure and reward system.
◍ What is the biopsychosocial model of addiction?.
Answer: Addiction arises from biological, psychological, and social factors.
◍ What genetic factors may contribute to substance use disorders?.
Answer: Genetic predisposition affecting neurotransmission and
metabolism.
◍ Acetylcholine.
Answer: A neurotransmitter that enables learning and memory and also
triggers muscle contraction
◍ Norepinephrine.
Answer: A neurotransmitter involved in arousal, as well as in learning and
mood regulation
◍ Serotonin.
Answer: A neurotransmitter that affects hunger,sleep, arousal, and mood.
◍ Gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA).
2026 QUESTIONS WITH SOLUTIONS
GRADED A+
◍ What is substance use disorder (SUD) according to DSM-5-TR criteria?.
Answer: A problematic pattern of substance use leading to clinically
significant impairment or distress.
◍ What are the primary neurotransmitters involved in the brain's reward
pathway?.
Answer: Dopamine, serotonin, GABA, glutamate, and endogenous opioids.
◍ What role does dopamine play in addiction?.
Answer: Dopamine reinforces rewarding behaviors and drives motivation
and reinforcement.
◍ Process of addiction: stage one.
Answer: experimental and social use of occasional frequency sometimes as
a result of curiosity, obtaining social acceptance, and thrill seeking. The
experience is eutrophic and there are little noticeable changes.
◍ What is tolerance and how does it develop?.
Answer: Reduced response to a substance requiring increased amounts to
achieve the same effect.
◍ process of addiction: stage two.
Answer: abuse use becomes regular happening without friends sometimes
alone or during the day time. Use may be a result of stress, anxiety, and
trying to maintain eutrophic feeling. Changes in personality, conflict in
relationships, lying.
◍ What is withdrawal and what are two examples of withdrawal symptoms?.
, Answer: Physiological and psychological symptoms after cessation (e.g.,
tremors, nausea).
◍ process of addiction: stage three.
Answer: dependency/addiction daily use and any means necessary to obtain.
result of motivation to avoid pain and escape reality. guilt shame possible
suicidal ideation. Physical deterioration of health. Chance of overdose.
◍ Substance use disorder specifiers.
Answer: in early remission, in sustained remission, on maintenance therapy,
and in a controlled environment
◍ What is the difference between physical dependence and psychological
dependence?.
Answer: Physical: bodily adaptation; Psychological: emotional/mental
reliance.
◍ What is the function of the limbic system in substance use?.
Answer: Regulates emotion, reward, and memory associated with substance
use.
◍ What is cross-tolerance?.
Answer: Tolerance to similar substances within the same drug class.
◍ Five components of effective treatment.
Answer: assessment, patient-treatment matching, comprehensive services,
relapse prevention, accountability
◍ What is intoxication in clinical terms?.
Answer: Reversible substance-specific syndrome due to recent ingestion.
◍ What is the difference between substance abuse and substance dependence?.
Answer: Abuse focuses on harmful use; dependence emphasizes tolerance
and withdrawal.
◍ What is neuroadaptation?.
Answer: Brain adaptation to repeated substance exposure.
◍ What is the half-life of a drug and why is it clinically important?.
, Answer: Time required for half of the drug to be eliminated; impacts dosing
and withdrawal.
◍ central nervous system.
Answer: consists of the brain and spinal cord
◍ peripheral nervous system.
Answer: the sensory and motor neurons that connect the central nervous
system to the rest of the body
◍ What is polysubstance use?.
Answer: Use of more than one substance simultaneously or sequentially.
◍ What is medication-assisted treatment (MAT)?.
Answer: Use of medications combined with counseling to treat SUD.
◍ somatic nervous system.
Answer: the division of the peripheral nervous system that controls the
body's skeletal muscles
◍ autonomic nervous system.
Answer: the part of the peripheral nervous system that controls the glands
and the muscles of the internal organs (such as the heart). Its sympathetic
division arouses; its parasympathetic division calms.
◍ Name two FDA-approved medications for opioid use disorder..
Answer: Methadone and buprenorphine (also naltrexone).
◍ What are the major classes of psychoactive substances?.
Answer: Depressants, stimulants, opioids, hallucinogens, cannabis,
inhalants.
◍ How does alcohol affect the central nervous system?.
Answer: Depresses CNS activity by enhancing GABA and inhibiting
glutamate.
◍ sympathetic nervous system.
Answer: part of the autonomic system that controls the "flight-or-fight"
response in organisms.
, ◍ What is delirium tremens?.
Answer: Severe alcohol withdrawal involving confusion, tremors, seizures.
◍ parasympathetic nervous system.
Answer: the division of the autonomic nervous system that calms the body,
conserving its energy
◍ What are co-occurring disorders?.
Answer: Presence of both SUD and mental health disorder.
◍ What is the difference between a primary mental health disorder and a
substance-induced disorder?.
Answer: Primary exists independently; substance-induced results from
substance effects.
◍ Dopamine.
Answer: A neurotransmitter associated with movement, attention and
learning and the brain's pleasure and reward system.
◍ What is the biopsychosocial model of addiction?.
Answer: Addiction arises from biological, psychological, and social factors.
◍ What genetic factors may contribute to substance use disorders?.
Answer: Genetic predisposition affecting neurotransmission and
metabolism.
◍ Acetylcholine.
Answer: A neurotransmitter that enables learning and memory and also
triggers muscle contraction
◍ Norepinephrine.
Answer: A neurotransmitter involved in arousal, as well as in learning and
mood regulation
◍ Serotonin.
Answer: A neurotransmitter that affects hunger,sleep, arousal, and mood.
◍ Gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA).
