Yasmine Zazi
Essay 2: Diagnosis/ Addiction
Question 2: What is the nature of addiction?
In “Rat Park”, Slater discusses the debate on the nature of addiction. Bruce Alexander argues that drug addiction is not caused by physical dependence or chemical alteration to the brain; instead, he says other factors play a role, and he makes several conclusions about the nature of addiction based on his studies. I agree with Bruce Alexander’s theory of addiction because I believe environmental factors can cause drug abuse. For example, a peer group that encourages drug use will play a role in using drugs.
Many people use drugs to deal with painful psychological feelings because they think it’s a solution, when it’s actually a problem. Environmental factors can also make it harder for the addict when he/she tries to recover because they
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have to avoid certain situations or people. The people you used to use drugs or drink with would need to be kept at a distance. Another cause of drug use is curiosity. Many teens have heard about drugs and how it can make you feel and act different, which causes them to be curious and makes them want to experience it. An example of how environment plays a role in drug use is teens seeing their friends or family members behaving differently when using drugs, which makes them want to see how it really feels. Many people use drugs to escape their reality, because they are not happy with their life at home, school, or are just not happy with their life. Many people become so involved in drugs that they become addicted and are not aware of the health risks of using drugs. On page 166, Alexander, Coambs, and Hadaway thought of a few different experimental conditions for the rats. The experiment was called the ‘seduction condition’ and the investigator put sixteen rats in a fancy rat park and kept the other sixteen in a laboratory cage where they were cramped and isolated. Rats hate bitter and morphine is bitter, so the researcher gave the morphine water and regular tap water to both sets of rats. The researchers found out that the cramped and isolated rats drank the morphine water and the rats in the fancy rat park resisted drinking the morphine water. When rats are put in a friendly environment they avoid anything that would interrupt their normal behavior, like drugs for example. The seduction experiment showed that opiates do not attract powerfully.
Having stress, experiencing early physical or sexual abuse, witnessing violence, being around peers who use drugs and drug availability are all environmental factors that can cause drug addiction. Peer pressure is a very strong factor for younger people in starting to use and abuse drugs. People who are addicted can quit once they are in a different environment. Rats in the small cages stopped taking the drugs when they were introduced into the society of the “rat park”. Rats in the cramped, isolated and saddening cages had no better alternatives for enjoyment other than drug use.
Another example of how your environment affects drug addiction is by looking at the Vietnam vets on how they stopped using the drugs after coming back from war. U.S. servicemen in Vietnam were addicted to heroin which is the most addictive substance produced. Heroin is a very powerful narcotic because when someone becomes addicted, it is almost impossible to quit. When the Vietnam vets returned to their lives in the U.S., the number of soldiers that were addicted to heroin became very
low. Some people become addicted while some do not because the risks for addiction are determined by a person’s social environment. When an individual has more risk factors, there is a greater chance that taking drugs can lead to an addiction. A person’s environment is very important and that includes many different influences, for example, from family, friends and their quality of life. Factors such as peer pressure, physical and sexual abuse and stress can greatly influence drug abuse and addiction in a person’s life. Experiencing drug abuse by other family members also plays a role for the children to develop drug abuse later in their lives. There will also be an increase in drug abuse if the parents are the ones who are abusing drugs. Children may learn that using drugs is normal when they notice their parent’s drug abuse habits. Being more accepting for drugs generally increases for the children who see drug abuse in the family. When a person goes through different experiences, it causes massive stress in their life which increases the risk of turning to drugs. Examples of stressors are witnessing violence or experiencing other kinds of trauma. There is also an increased risk for drug abuse for people with a history of physical or sexual abuse. Peer pressure and drug availability are factors that influences the decision to abuse drugs and causes addiction. Being around a peer group involved with alcohol and other drugs causes a person to become more likely to take drugs and drink. The easier it is for a person to get drugs, the more likely they will use drugs. Bruce Alexander’s theory of addiction makes sense to me because environmental factors cause the development of drug abuse. A peer group that encourages drug use will play a role in using drugs. The seduction experiment and looking at the Vietnam vets on how they stopped using the drugs after coming back from war also shows how the environment plays a use on drug use.
Many people dislike the term ‘addiction’ in relation to drugs or other substances, particularly as it infers that a person is powerless over their use of a particular drug or in some circumstances, a number of substances. Whilst others maintain it is this powerlessness that is the foundation of diagnosis and treatment – that treatment is not possible without recognition of addiction itself as the ‘problem’ being addressed. The professional and public perception of addiction is complicated. There are many approaches and models to explain addiction, the role of the addict, and their environment. This essay will compare and contrast two of these approaches, the medical/disease and the social model. Initially this essay will describe the origins of each model, and follow by explaining their respective strengths and weaknesses, and finish with an overview of the key differences between them. This essay will conclude by demonstrating that a holistic approach, and a cross-pollination of these models is the most successful approach to treating addicts. As is the case for all diseases, there are multiple treatment options, and as ever person is different, the results in each individual cannot be predicted.
According to Leshner, drug addiction is a chronic brain disease that is expressed in the form of compulsive behaviors (Leshner, 2001). He believes that drug addiction is influence by both biological, and behavioral factors, and to solve this addiction problem we need to focus on these same factors. On the other hand, Neil Levy argues that addiction is not a brain disease rather it is a behavioral disorder embedded in social context (Levy, 2013). I believe, drug addiction is a recurring brain disease that can be healed when we alter and eliminate all the factors that are reinforcing drug addiction.
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.
He ran a series of experiments that he called Rat Park. The experiments led him to conclude that drugs like heroin and cocaine don’t cause addiction, the user’s environment does. Alexander constructed Rat Park with wheels and balls for play, plenty of food and a mating space, with 16 rats of both sexes mingling with one another. He tested a variety of theories using different experiments to show that the rat’s environment played the largest part in whether a rat became addicted to opiates or not. In the experiment, the social rats had the choice to drink fluids from one of two dispensers. One had plain tap water, and the other had a morphine solution. He found that the caged rats ingested larger doses of the morphine solution, more than Rat Park rats. The Rat Park rats preferred the plain water. Even when the rats in cages were fed nothing but morphine water and then moved to Rat Park, the rats voluntarily went through withdrawal. Based on the findings, the team concluded that the drugs do not cause one’s addictions. Rather, how a person’s environment feeds their addiction. Feelings isolated, lonely, hopeless, or a lack of control based on unsatisfactory living conditions is what make a person dependent on substance addiction. Alexander once said, " I f I lived like that in a cage, I'd get as high as possible too."(Duhigg 10) Alexander’s goal was to prove that drugs do not cause
This becomes such common practice that many times the addiction is more than physical, but emotional need sets in. Why should one suffer the pain of life when it takes so little to escape them? “One cubic centimeter cures ten gloomy sentiments,” (54). It is found to be too easy to avoid all of their problems with one little pill, vial, needle, blotter, leaf, or bottle. The drug seems to be the easiest way, the path of least resistance.
Toates, F. (2010) ‘The nature of addictions: scientific evidence and personal accounts’ in SDK228 The science of the mind: investigating mental health, Book 3, Addictions, Milton Keynes, The Open University, pp. 1-30.
The term addiction can be interpreted in many ways, concering both illegal and legal substances. Not only can one become addicted to a substance, but also activities like gambling, shoplifting, and sex. Prior to considering addiction, one must first understand what constitutes a substance. Levinthal (2002) describes a drug as a chemical substance that changes the functioning of the body when ingested (4). Although illegal drugs may come to mind when hearing this definition, alcohol and tobacco fit under this criteria as well. For the purpose of this essay, controlled and regulated (licit/legal) substances will be focused upon. Alcohol is a regulated substance that can be thought of as a social drug (Levinthal, 2002, p.192) and arguably tobacco
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.
Many environmental factors contribute to a person’s proneness to substance abuse. These factors include but are not limited to stress, early physical or sexual abuse, witnessing violence, peers who use drugs, and drug availability. (Addiction Science) The desire to be accepted within a particular group often creates an enormous amount of stress in teens. This stress and feeling of alienation is a driving force towards drug use. Research has shown that, “Another important environmental factor is the amount and quality of emotional and social support a person receives. Teens who reported having an adult they trusted and could talk to, for example, have a lower risk of addiction than those who don’t.”(Environmental Factors) An impoverished environment increases the likelihood of substance abuse and addiction as well. Those who are apart of a lifestyle of poverty often experience incarceration and dropping out of school. Those who drop out of school, are unemployed or live in unsafe areas are at “higher risk, especially if their home environment has already exposed them to dru...
Drug abuse is part of everyday life, most of us know someone who is or was abusing drug at some point. A way to simplify a difficult time in our life, we find an exit in a product that numbs our brain to the surrounding. People find addiction through drugs, activities and action that creates chemical reaction within our bodies. Whether you love jumping off the empire state building or inject yourself with a drug, you are looking for a high that your body enjoys. The body creates chemicals which stop our self-control. According to the CDC website, “Deaths from drug overdose have been rising steadily over the past two decades and have become the leading cause of injury death in the United States.” (Birnbaum HG, web).
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.
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.
Illegal drugs are used by people as a way out when feeling down about themselves. As the effects of the drugs may stay the same throughout, causes show that there are a large number of reasons for use. Being lonely, isolated, and frustrated in life help start off the drive to escape. In many cases, using drugs is a coping mechanism, especially in teens. Emotions become numb as people try to escape the pain of reality. This is seen in the youth of today as they deal with everyday pressures.. Drug abuse can make people think they are re-creating their former negative self image. This rebellious action gives the attention that is desired. From trying to fit in to hiding from problems, people will always have a choice. In the end, the reality of drug use is damaging to the user's body, mind and relationships.
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 ...