When going through withdrawal

Withdrawal

Withdrawal can refer to any sort of separation, but is most commonly used to describe the group of symptoms that occurs upon the abrupt discontinuation/separation or a decrease in dosage of the intake of medications, recreational drugs, and alcohol...

, craving is a psychological urge to administer a discontinued medication or recreational drug.

Duration

The duration that cravings last after discontinuation varies substantially between different addictive drugs. For instance, in smoking cessation

Smoking cessation

Smoking cessation is the process of discontinuing the practice of inhaling a smoked substance. This article focuses exclusively on cessation of tobacco smoking; however, the methods described may apply to cessation of smoking other substances that can be difficult to stop using due to the...

, a substantial relief is achieved after approximately 6–12 months, but feelings of craving may temporarily appear even after many years following cessation.

Cravings may be triggered by seeing objects or experiencing moments that are associated with the drug or usage of it, and this phenomenon, termed post acute withdrawal syndrome

Post Acute Withdrawal Syndrome

Post-acute-withdrawal syndrome is a set of persistent impairments that occur after withdrawal from alcohol, opiates, benzodiazepines and other substances...

, may linger the rest of the life for some drugs. For the alcohol withdrawal syndrome

Alcohol withdrawal syndrome

-Protracted withdrawal:A protracted alcohol withdrawal syndrome occurs in many alcoholics where withdrawal symptoms continue beyond the acute withdrawal stage but usually at a subacute level of intensity and gradually decreasing with severity over time. This syndrome is also sometimes referred to...

, the condition gradually improves over a period of months or in severe cases years.