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Causes of drug addiction essay
Causes of drug addiction essay
Health implications of drug abuse
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Do we all suffer from a certain addiction? Have you ever thought that one wrong choice changes your life completely? There is great responsibility in being capable of making choices in our lives. We have the choice of what kind of life we are living; we are a consequence of the choices we make every day. So we have to escape out of Addiction. People become addicted to anything firstly by trying it out. But then changes in the brain takes place as a result of chemicals or behaviors, so we can consider it initially as a choice but by the time it's changed into a disease. But why do some people become addicted while others don’t? I agree that we are addicted to something as addiction is a state of being locked up to a routine that …show more content…
About 23.5 million people in the United States are addicted to a wide range of drugs and alcohol. However, there are millions more who may be addicted to things and activities that are outside the scope of drugs and alcohol. While it is true that people can technically be addicted to anything, the term addiction is used liberally and can lose its’ true meaning. It is important to understand what addiction really is, what it does and some general things and activities that people can engage in an addictive personality
Genetics play some major role in addiction as addiction has an inherited component, it may be running in families. That it can be passed down from parent to child by way of genes that means that the offspring of addicts are 8 times more likely to develop an addiction Concerning the study of Washington University, St. Louis, a review showed that around 33-71% of Nicotine addicts, 48-66% of alcohol addicts and 49% of gambling addicts their addiction is due to genes which were inherited from their parents. Moreover, based on the differences between the identical and non-identical twins study which showed that 50-60% of addiction is due to genetic factors. These statistics have been confirmed by other studies. Also for some people, addiction isn't a choice Addiction is like most major diseases that they can't manage. Regard as a heart disease so they have to be strong enough to control themselves in order to recover from
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.
Volkows, N. D., & Muenke, M. (2012). Human Genetics. The genetics of addiction, Vol 131(6), 773-777. Retrieved from http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00439-012-1173-3
The nature-based view is that expression of addiction (phenotype) is based upon genetic predisposition (genotype). Numerous genetic studies on pedigree have been conducted over the years. The majority of the results of these studies indicate that monozygotic twins have higher concordance of addiction than dizygotic twins. More specifically, the more genes shared, the more similar the propensity for addiction.
Genetics predispose an individual to having an increased chance of becoming codependent upon drugs or alcohol. Studies of twins and of families that are prone to addiction suggest that about 50% of the risk for drug addiction is genetically based (EBSCOhost). One well-characterized relationship between genes and alcoholism is the result of variation in the liver enzymes that metabolize alcohol (NIH). The result of the liver breaking down the alcohol faster is a higher tolerance. Individuals with a higher tolerance to alcohol, need to drink more than the average person in order to seek the same biological effect. When heavy drinkers suddenly stop or significantly reduce their alcohol consumption, the neurotransmitters prev...
Addiction is something that may seem inevitable but at the end it’s entirely the fault of a person who is addicted. In the article by Charles Duhigg ‘the power of habit’ Angie Bachmann got addicted to gambling, it was because of her fault as she kept accepting the offers from cassino and many other reasons.. Both knew what they were doing but still Angie let herself get into the situation, and the casino encouraged it. She was a well settled housewife, when everybody used to leave the house she was all alone. One fine day, while passing through the street she took a visit to casino just for a change.
Lanthrop’s argument that substance abuse is caused by both your environment and genetics is very intriguing. Not only does Lanthrop use strong medical and statistical evidence in his statement, he uses personal experience. By using his personal experience in his argument, Lanthrop establishes credibility or ethos with his readers as well as emotional appeal or pathos. By establishing credibility and appealing to the emotional side of readers Lanthrop effectively argues that substance abuse is impacted by a person’s environment and their genetic code. However, out of the two main causes of substance abuse, genetics has the greatest impact on one’s substance abuse issue.
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
So, it is clear that addiction is all around us and can attack anyone of us at any given time. Even studies conducted show that people neglect to speak around their dependency for two primary reasons. Foremost, because people do not comprehend, or they bear a total misconception to their addiction, that they do not realize that addictions can be critical to their overall wellness. Moreover, second, many people believe being an addict will never happen to them, but, in reality, most addictions start off as simple little habits. Such as starting with one drink after dinner and before you know it you are drinking several drinks a day. However, one does not opt to be addicted to a substance, because addictions are physical defects in the brain, a disease, and not one’s choice.
Addiction is a very strong word that brings along many negative connotations. When we think of an addiction we imagine someone who depends on a certain substance, most likely alcohol to have their needs met. Addiction is defined by the Webster dictionary as, "a compulsive need for and use of a habit-forming substance (as heroin, nicotine, or alcohol) characterized by tolerance and by well-defined physiological symptoms upon withdrawal." Even though our society sees addiction and only applies the word to drug addicts and alcoholics, there is a much wider range of subjects that fall under the umbrella of what an addiction truly is. An addiction is a dependency on any kind of materialistic object that you use on a day to day basis that brings
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.
It is important to consider how addiction to drugs begins. “Genetics accounts for approximately half of an individual’s vulnerability to addiction, including effects of the environment on gene function and expression” (Volkow). This basically means that once a person is exposed to drugs, they are more likely to become addicted to drugs after that exposure if their genes make them more vulnerable to addiction. Consequently, not every person who is exposed to drugs will develop an addiction because they do not have the genetic make-up that makes them an addictive person, meaning that: “…predisposing genes interact with [exposure to drugs] and other environmental factors to create vulnerability” (Volkow). People cannot change their genetic make-up to prevent themselves from becoming addicted to drugs. They can only limit their exposure to a drug filled...
Creating my personal genogram was a valuable experience for me. By mapping out my family’s structure, and considering the dynamics of the relationships therein, I am able to see how each member of my immediate family took on specific roles and that addictions are present on both sides of my family. My paternal grandmother, Ginny, was an alcoholic and passed this trait to my father. My mother demonstrated signs of substance abuse through smoking and drinking, and both parents passed these to my sister and me: Whitney struggled with various addictions, the most severe of which was methamphetamine and I have had an ongoing struggle with smoking and past experiences with anorexia.
According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) (2010), “Scientists estimate that genetic factors account for between 40 and 60 percent of a person’s vulnerability to addiction,” (p. 8). This statistic emphasizes how significant the genetic makeup of an individual is in relation to addictive substances (p. 8). There are additional trends that lead to enhanced levels of addiction.
Humans are environmentally and genetically predisposed to developing motivated addictive behavior. Addiction is a brain disease and a behavior disorder. 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 drug seeking behavior.
Drug addiction is a very big problem in today’s society. Many people have had their lives ruined due to drug addiction. The people that use the drugs don’t even realize that they have an addiction. They continue to use the drug not even realizing that their whole world is crashing down around them. Drug addicts normally lose their family and friends due to drug addiction.