[4] Cognition refers to what happens in the mind, such as mental functions like "perception, attention, memory, language, problem solving, reasoning, and decision making.

[7] This study showed that in polysubstance dependent women, verbal learning ability was significantly decreased, though visual memory was not affected.

In addition, alcohol and cocaine use led to more severe issues with verbal learning, recall, and recognition.

One study decided to test the cognitive abilities of participants in rave parties who used multiple substances.

The results of this study indicated that in general, the rave attender group did not perform as well on tasks that tested speed of information processing, working memory, knowledge of similarities between words, ability to attend to a task with interference in the background, and decision making.

[3] Another study that tried to find differences between the effects of particular substances focused on people with polysubstance use who were seeking treatment for addictions to cannabis, cocaine, and heroin.

Because alcohol was a common co-substance for nearly all of the people in the polysubstance use group, it was difficult to tell exactly which substances were affecting certain cognitive functions.

[8] In general, this meant that multiple substances negatively affected the polysubstance group's cognitive functioning.

More specifically, the researchers found that the amount of cannabis and cocaine affected the verbal part of working memory, the reasoning task, and decision making, while cocaine and heroin had a similar negative effect on visual and spatial tasks, but cannabis particularly affected visual and spatial working memory.

[8] These results suggest that the combined use of cannabis, cocaine, and heroin impair more cognitive functions more severely than if used separately.

[14] One study examined the phenotype and genotype of 1,858 participants from 893 families to look at differences in three nicotinic acetylcholine receptor genes found within these individuals.

[13] A 1985 study conducted by Khantzian and Treece found that 65% of their opioid-dependent sample met criteria for a personality disorder diagnosis.

[19] The sociocultural causes are areas in a person's life that might have influenced their decision to start and continue using multiple substances.

As the dopamine subsides, the pleasure adds to the emotional and physical pain and triggers stress transmitters, which in turn creates a craving, which must then be medicated, and thus the cycle begins again.

[17] One study showed that patients who are recovering from an addiction, who have had an eating disorder in the past, often use food to try to replace the substance that they are no longer getting.

[24] In addition to using three different substances without a preference to one, there has to be a certain level of dysfunction in a person's life to qualify for a diagnosis of polysubstance dependence.

[25] One of the bigger challenges that often occurs when trying to diagnose is the fact that people don't always report what they are taking because they are afraid of getting into legal trouble.

It is a good idea that recovering addicts continue to attend social support groups or meet with counselors to ensure they do not relapse.

[30] When looked at through a cognitive-behavioral perspective, addictions are the result of learned behaviors developed through positive experiences.

The therapist will work with the patient to educate them on their addictions and give them the skills they need to change their cognitions and behaviors.

However, according to a study that analyzed the results from the National Epidemiological Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions, approximately 215.5 out of a total of 43,093 individuals in the United States (0.5%) met the requirements for polysubstance use disorder.

A group of researchers chose to look at responses to a survey using the M-Composite International Diagnostic Interview (M-CIDI).

[38] The researchers collected data from 3,021 participants, all between the ages of 14 and 24, to estimate the prevalence, or total number of cases, of substance use and of polysubstance use/dependence.

[39] The researchers compared their results to earlier German studies and found that substance dependence seems to be increasing, at least in Germany.

It has been noted that a larger percentage of women use licit (legal) substances such as tranquilizers, sedatives, and stimulants.

Female addicts are known to be at greater risk for fatty liver disease, hypertension, anemia, and other disorders.