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Is addiction a disease essay
Essays on addiction a disease
Is addiction a disease essay
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In the article, The Fantasy of Addiction, Peter Hitchens talks about his views on the addiction to any substance. He believes that to even use the word addiction in relation to someone with a substance abuse problem is weakening the free will of people. Telling drug abusers that their body is to blame, rather than letting them deal with the consequences of their decision only reduces the chance of them making a true effort to stop using. It gives the abuser something to blame other than them. He also believes that places that are put in place to help people get over their addiction only weaken an addict, making the addict believe their addiction is a disease. In the article, Hitchens also talks about consciousness. If consciousness has no role
In the short story “a demotic dilemma” written by Carson Mccullers deals with how a parent has to be responsible and must sacrifice their wants and need to take care and provide for their family. As well as the negative effects of a dysfunctional family on a young child. Therefore, it talks about a woman by the name of Emily's that has two children a boy named Andy and a girl named Marianna. Moreover, in the short story Emily's husband Martin has his job translocated by the company he works for to a big city away from the southern life away from family and friends. Which, resulted in Emily losing her stability and social life causing her to relieve this stress and life of isolation by drinking her sorrows away causing her to stumbles down
Everyone’s lives are affected by the decisions they have made and past experiences they have had. In the novel A River Runs Through It, author Norman Maclean uses the theme of experiences to portray the difficulties a person can face throughout life. Although Norman and Paul are brothers and bond through fly fishing, they are two different people who have different life paths. Norman chose to get a stable job and live a domestic life, whereas Paul chose to become a bachelor and a lower class reporter. The main character is Norman himself, and he also experiences the difficulties his troubled brother Paul is faced with. Unlike his brother, Paul has chosen a different route in life, and he has an addiction problem. As a result of Paul’s alcoholism, his life is destroyed by financial issues, family disconnects and gambling.
Neil Postman, in his 1985 book “Amusing Ourselves to Death” asserted that Aldous Huxley’s worry, we are becoming a passive and trivial society controlled by what we love, is coming true. Now, more than ever, these fears are becoming reality. Our society’s addiction to drugs and the stigma against the communication of emotions are causing us to fall down the slippery slope that is leading to an oppressive society similar to that of the one depicted Huxley’s Brave New World. ****
The author of “Fahrenheit 451”, Ray Bradbury connects many issues in his society to a distant future where everyone can not read and question any aspect of their society do to the advanced technology in which the government controls everyone. Bradbury comes to this conclusion because as growing up he has always been fascinated by sci fi books and space adventures. As a young author Bradbury struggled to make a living out his writing. He first made the news articles in the LA times and then his most famous novel is Fahrenheit 451 .The novel concludes many aspects but the major conflicts that stood out to me were multiple marriages , addiction, and teen violence.
Drugs are recognized as the forbidden realm by society that satisfies an inner drive. As individuals, we often examine why people use drugs instead of why society condemns a variety of drugs. Andrew Weil, the author of Why People Take Drugs, analyzes the emotional bias and different conceptions of what drugs are, and how the desire for an altered consciousness is an innate trait. Weil applies his personal experience, and the study of children as they grow as his evidence to support the idea that as humans the desire for this altered mental perception exists from birth. Although studies do not focus on where the longing for an altered consciousness evolved from, Weil’s hypothesis and evidence is convincing that this drive is innate. Thus,
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.
Nic Sheff wrote a masterpiece that is viewed both as a fiction as well as the educational and life changing book. It became one of the most selling books due to its portrayal of the effects of drug addictions. Tweak gives a chronology of events that transpired during growth time of the character both in a forward and backward manner. Nic in the first pages of the book gives as some faint reason as to why he got hooked to drug addiction. It is at this point that we come to learn about his backgrounds and family life. He was brought up in a privileged family where his stepmother is an artist while his father is a writer working for the national magazines. The family dwells in the city of San Francesco although it has another house in the rural. Their family is popular and well known which means they have a great connection and knowing several people in the journalism world. What made a great turning point in Nic’s life was his parents
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.
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.
Jerry is a thirty-five year old jewish, homeless, heroin addict. Because of his life style and disabilities, Jerry is at risk for several nutritional deficiencies. Because Jerry has a heroin addiction, he is at risk for anorexia nervosa from not eating enough or spending money on drugs rather than nutritious food. He is also at risk for HIV/AIDs, and bacterial and viral infections from the sharing of needles which could lead to being too sick to eat, vomiting, diarrhea, and dehydration. All factors leaving Jerry malnourished. According to the article, “Nutritional assessment of drugs” 92.4% weighed under the mean weight of the populations, and 55.7% had weight loss above 5%. Being a heroin addict, Jerry could be more worried about where he’s getting his drugs from rather than his food.
A disease is what happens in the body as a result of those choices. As has been noted, many people do believe addiction is a sign of weakness. While the first time may be by choice, once the brain has been changed and affected by addiction. Over time the addict loses substantial control over his or her initially voluntary behavior, and it becomes compulsive (Leshner.) In Marc Branch’s “Drug Addiction. Is It a Disease or Is It Based on Choice? A Review of Gene Heyman’s Addiction: A Disorder of Choice” he discusses and explains Gene Heyman’s opinions on rather addiction is a disease or not. Heyman argues that people do not choose to be drug addicts, rather they make choices that lead to their habit of addiction. Heyman however does not believe addiction is an actual disease. Many others argue that addiction is not an actual disease because people can overcome the addiction without help or treatment. On the other hand, in Alan Leshner’s “Addiction Is a Brain Disease” he declares that addiction is an actual disease and explains “using drugs repeatedly over time changes brain structure and function in fundamental and long-lasting ways that can persist long after the individual stops using them”
Addiction is a condition that results when a person ingests a substance or engages in an activity that can be pleasurable but the continued use or act of which becomes compulsive and interferes with ordinary life responsibilities. As for this, Anne Sexton’s poem “The Addict” informs the reader about her own personal struggle with depression as she becomes addicted to her pharmaceutical pills in the attempt of slow suicide. In fact, the reader may assume that Mrs. Sexton is troubled in a way that she abuses her pills that make her feel numb to the breach of death. Instead, this poem has a deeper meaning in a way that she portrays the addiction to be of marriage and war within her life. However, a closer analysis of the poem describes not only to be of addiction itself but the many trials of depression it took her to become addicted enough to kill her own life away.
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.
Addiction has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember, from my earliest memories of my father, until now as I am a licensed professional in the field of addiction as well as a person in long term recovery myself.
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.