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Causes of drug addiction essay
Case study on impact of addiction on family
Causes of drug addiction essay
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There has been many theories and reasons as to why someone becomes addicted to drugs and alcohol. It can be argued that people become addicted to drugs because they have a mental disorder, are weak minded, it’s genetic, or peer pressure. Either way, all maybe true, depending on the person. Although there are many theories of how addiction began, a “person who becomes addicted to a substance is still often regarded as the sole culprit and consequently treated as a criminal in modern society” (Thombs & Osborn 2013 pg. 18). Many people do not understand why or how people become addicted to drugs. It is often assumed that drug abusers lack morals, principles, or the willpower that is needed and that they should be able to stop using drugs instantly. …show more content…
In the beginning stages, an abuser may relapse many times but it’s their drive and determination that will keep them pressing forward. I believe the key to someone relapsing is not to scold, ridicule, nor make them feel bad or guilty in any way. If they feel as if they have let their loved ones or counselor down, it may send them back down the path of destruction. Honesty, love, trust, and support are the best things to give and continuing giving while on this journey. It may seem hard in the beginning especially if you are the love one. You may never understand how and why things have gotten to this point but it is important not to dwell on the past and look towards a brighter future. Someone who has never been addicted to drugs or alcohol will never fully understand someone who has and this is why I believe it is also important to educate their support system too. There may be some offenders who will need to be committed to an in house treatment facility and some who can do outpatient. It will take some evaluating and many test to be ran to determine what treatment option is best for the client. There also needs to be a concrete team of physicians, nurses (aids), counselors, and recovered addicts to help aid in the process of …show more content…
I did not grow up in the ghetto nor in the inner city where most crack houses are, where drug dealers, and pimps hang out. I have seen drug dealers, crack heads, cocaine addicts, prostitutes, and any other addiction in neighborhoods around the city. I have uncles that are addicted to alcohol and one that has been addicted to drugs. I am guilty of judging them and asking why they won’t just get help. As a teen my cousins and I would be mean to them and laugh at them for being drunk, stumbling, and slurring their words when they talk. I will admit it was not the Godly thing to do but I was young and dumb and surely I did not know any
Once these individuals in rehab serve there sentence the majority of them, won’t look straight to the next opportunity to get high, but the next opportunity for a better future after being encouraged in rehab to accomplish something in life, compared to someone’s attitude coming out of prison. One story involved a man named Richard with his wife Marcia. She was an addict who was often jailed for it, but Anthony believed like many others that “addiction can be overcome with proper help. He believed that the solution was to get her into a mental hospital [and] get her whatever she needs – Xanax, morphine, to get her chemical imbalance right. Show her some respect. (114)” Give her some working skills, so once she gets out she is capable of being successful but instead she kept getting “kicked down the steps” by the criminal justice system. The jailing and torture of addicts is routine to people serving cases for drug related offenses, who are often not built to endure prison, let alone jail. “The Justice Department estimates that 216,000 people are raped in these prisons every year. (This is the number of rapes, not the number of rapes – that is much higher.) (109)” This is ultimately shows the simple fact that many people are not built to endure
Sally Satel, author of “Addiction Doesn’t Discriminate? Wrong,” leads us down a harrowing path of the causes and effects that lead people to addiction. It can be a choice, possibly subconscious, or a condition that leads a person left fighting a lifelong battle they did not intend to sign up for. Mental and emotional health/conditions, personality traits, attitudes, values, behaviors, choices, and perceived rewards are just a few of the supposed causes of becoming an addict.
This experience helped me to recognize the internal struggle that a substance abuser faces on a continuous basis. In addition, I know that an individual can have a difficult time changing their behavior even when they have a strong desire to change; the smallest thing can cause a person to relapse.
In 2010, an estimated 23.5 million Americans were addicted to alcohol and/or drugs and needed treatment or supportive services (Partnership for drug free kids). Most people make the assumption that those that are addicted to a substance are just making poor choices. I will have to admit that I was one of those people that thought that it should be easy to quit something so toxic. It wasn 't until I did the research myself that I found addiction is actually a disease. It takes a lot more then willpower to just stop using something that a person 's brain has become so accustomed to. With all of the advances in science we now have a better idea of what leads to addiction. This doesn 't mean that poor choices and life decisions don 't attribute to addiction, but these causes increase the likelihood of an individual becoming addicted to a substance. The majority of individuals that abuse drugs or alcohol will admit to having a history of childhood trauma, alcoholics in the family, or drug use in their social circle.
The multi-causal model of drug abuse takes into account social and individual causes of addiction, both distant and immediate, that lead to a disposition to using drugs, drug use and the social and individual consequences. Why a person becomes addicted to drugs or alcohol is different for everyone. Some are genetically predisposed, some learn it from their environment (i.e. family or friends), and still others use it to avoid a trauma they have experienced. The case history describes a client that had both social and individual causes for her alcohol use and subsequent dependence.
Those who abuse drugs need to have proper treatment in order to refrain from continuing their addiction after prison by being sent to a rehabilitation facility, or in the case that money is not available, a free program or sober living household instead of putting them in jail. The use and abuse of drugs in our country is a large and rising issue. A start to solving this problem is as simple as having those arrested instead sent for a cure for their addiction. Each user sent to rehab is another user cured from our world and more drugs off the streets. The reduction of drugs will come one step at a time, and this could be a huge step forward if the leaders of our nation are willing to give it a try.
Persons who suffer from addiction often need help in order to break the cycle of abuse. With a variety of treatment options available to addicts counselors have a plethora of treatments to choose from and utilize in helping clients stop abusing. Teaching clients the skills to stop abusing drugs and alcohol involves various approaches and techniques geared toward the client’s individual needs. Addiction counselor use specific techniques to assist clients in learning how to live healthy lives without drugs and alcohol.
George F. Koob defines addiction as a compulsion to take a drug without control over the intake and a chronic relapse disorder (1). The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders of the American Psychiatric Association defined "substance dependence" as a syndrome basically equivalent to addiction, and the diagnostic criteria used to describe the symptoms of substance dependence to a large extent define compulsion and loss of control of drug intake (1). Considering drug addiction as a disorder implies that there are some biological factors as well as social factors.
Addiction, like other diseases, has the tendency to be genetic. “Addictive drugs induce adaptive changes in gene expression in the brain’s reward regions” (Bevilacqua and Goldman 359–361). The disease is also influenced by environmental conditions and behavior. Addiction genes can be passed down through family members of many generations. If one has addiction in their genes tries a drug and someone who does not have addiction in their genes and tries the same drug, it is more likely that the person with the gene will become addicted over the one without. Environmental conditions can also be a factor because someone’s lifestyle could contribute to addiction. Factors such as stress and peer pressure can influence drug or alcohol abuse. Behavior can also contribute to addiction because if a person’s attitude is obsessive and they have an addictive personality, they could become addicted to a substance. In “Addiction is Not a Disease” Daniel Akst explains actual diseases are Alzheimer’s and Schizophrenia, not addiction. For example, Akst mentions that “addicts tend to quit when the going gets hard” (Akst.) He also clarifies that addicts have the choice to have that extra drink or those extra pills every
There are many assumptions of why an individual may use different substances and perhaps go from a “social” user to becoming addicted. Understanding the different theories models of addiction many help in the process of treatment for the addict. Although people in general vary in their own ideologies of addiction when working as a clinician one must set aside their own person beliefs. Typically as a clinician it is best for the client to define how they view their addiction and their view may encompass more than one of the five theories. Some theories suggest genetic and other biological factors whiles others emphasize personality or social factors. In this study three theories are defined and given to three different people with different cultural backgrounds, different ideologies, different experiences, and most importantly different reference point of addiction.
Without contrast, the primary reason for drug abuse in individuals comes from the conscious state of addiction. According to Webster’s, addiction is described as “the fact or condition of being addicted to a particular substance, thing, or activity (Hacker, 2011).” Sure, human nature’s desire to conform to peer pressure might cause one to first try a certain drug, but the euphoric mental states found in drugs mentally trap many individuals into becoming dependent upon these sensations. With that being said, these sensations vary depending on the type of drug used.
Drug abuse and addiction are issues that affect people everywhere. However, these issues are usually treated as criminal activity rather than issues of public health. There is a conflict over whether addiction related to drug abuse is a disease or a choice. Addiction as a choice suggests that drug abusers are completely responsible for their actions, while addiction as a disease suggests that drug abusers need help in order to break their cycle of addiction. There is a lot of evidence that suggests that addiction is a disease, and should be treated rather than punished. Drug addiction is a disease because: some people are more likely to suffer from addiction due to their genes, drug abuse brought on by addictive behavior changes the brain and worsens the addiction, and the environment a person lives in can cause the person to relapse because addiction can so strongly affect a person.
People become addicted because it’s a form of a coping mechanism used in tough life situations. I know this first hand. Even after leaving the situation itself, it was still hard for me to get out of it. I never realized that with doing what you want, you lose what you need, except that drug. The drug is always there, and because it’s always there, it’s easy to make it apart of your
Humans are environmentally and genetically predisposed to developing a motivated addictive behavior. Addiction is a brain disease and a behavior. All behaviors are choices. Choices that adolescences make at a young age directly affect the outcomes of their futures. Many factors contribute to an adolescence becoming an addict or exhibiting a drug seeking behavior. Nearly all drugs of abuse increase dopamine release. Dopamine is an important neurotransmitter in drug abuse and addiction. Dopamine plays a role in reward motivated behaviors, motor control and important hormones. It’s known as the “feel good hormone” which is why people abuse drugs that increase the release of dopamine. Since life is unpredictable, our brains have evolved the ability to remodel themselves in response to our experiences. The more we practice an activity the more neurons developed in order to fine-tune that activity causing addictive behaviors to be detrimental.
There are many addictions in the world, and drug addiction is the biggest. People may experiment with the drug for many reasons. “If your drug use is causing problems in your life, then you likely have a drug abuse or addiction problem”.(Lawrence Robinson pg.1) Many people start out using drugs by peer pressure or out of their own curiosity. Stress, anxiety, lows self-esteem and depression could be another factor to start using drugs. The drug takes over your body and gives you a good feeling that many people tend to enjoy. The urge to use the drug can keep increasing rapidly after the first use. The urge can become so severe that your mind can find many other ways to deny the factor of addiction. Very few drug addicts can feel and realize when they have crossed the line with drugs. A drug addicts mind can build up a very large tolerance for the drug that they start to abandon the activities they used to do on a daily basis like showering, hobbies, socializing and even being associated with family members. The person with the addiction will continue to use the drug knowing that it is harming there body, but they don’t have any remorse. A drug addict will often try to hide their problem, so they can continue to use without anyone’s input. Family and friends may try to use preaching methods or tell the user that they need to stop using the drug. This method is not ...