Addiction: Chronic Relapsing Brain Disease

Cocaine, heroin, methamphetamines, alcohol, opium, tobacco, hypnotics, just to name a few. Addiction is a chronic disease that affects the chemicals in the brain. It dysfunctions the circuits in the brain that deal with memory, reward, sex, motivation, behavior, relationships and emotions all mostly resulting in substance use or other behaviors to fulfill those circuit rewards. This world is in a current addiction epidemic on drugs. Let’s try to understand addiction to make it a little clearer.

Addiction, it is all around us, affecting people from all walks of life, it is not limited to certain social classes or lifestyles. It is found in every ethnic group, regardless of gender or age. It affects our neighbors, our friends, and our family either directly or indirectly. Although substances such as alcohol and illegal drugs are two of the most common addictions we hear about, there is a wide range of substances and even activities such as gambling and shopping. There is some debate whether addiction is a brain disease or a choice.

The brain disease concept from this documentary series restricts our understanding of complex behaviors such as drug addiction or alcohol use as a large population of society wonders why these people don 't simply stop the negative behaviors that they are engaging in. This disease perspective sends a message to the public that an addict 's condition is amenable to a medical cure and that the language used is more to describe conditions such as schizophrenia and other such afflictions that have not been brought on by the sufferer themselves and that cannot modifiable by the person 's desire to do better. From the brain disease perspective; addiction is something beyond these people 's control and is in part contributed by genetic dispositions and a chemical imbalance in the brain among other things, and not something based on an individual 's choice and behaviors leading to heavy drug use. The studies from the video, as well as other sources, typically cite the brain as the organ in which addiction is said to reside yet this is not perfectly clear and has not been thoroughly scientifically explored. Images of the brain are shown in the videos, one of a normal healthy person and one of a person who has an addiction. While this is true to an extent,

Is addiction a brain disease? The definition of disease is a disorder in an organism that produces specific signs/symptoms that affects a specific location and isn’t a direct result of any kind of physical injury. Addiction is a compulsive need for any substance or service that can cause a person or organism to form a habit, and is a chronic disease of brain reward and causes dysfunctions in the circuits. Addiction is also characterized by the inability to consistently abstain impairment in behavioral control. The idea that addiction is a brain disease is just about universally accepted among scientist that focus on addiction (Corrigan,2008). However few believe that addiction is not a brain disease because they claim that neural dysfunction is not sufficient for disease. (NCBI, 2012). Some agree that addiction occurs in the brain but should not be considered a brain disease or a disease at all(Lawrence 2013). Substance abuse is the most common addiction that people base their decision upon. These drugs affect the brain and cause different reactions to the rest of the of the body. The types of drugs include: hallucinogens, opioids, sedatives, stimulants, etc. cause different

The National Institute for Drug Abuse agrees by breaking down a more biological understanding of addiction. Their method is known as a "disease model." They believe that it is quite clear that drug addiction is "considered a brain disease because drugs change the brain-they change it's structure and how it works." The disease model consists of some well thought out points. It states that drug addiction is a brain disease because repeated use and abuse of drugs changes the brain. Drug addiction alters brain pleasure centers, so that normal happiness requires higher and more frequent drugs. Brain imaging studies show changes in the brain that are critical to judgement, decision making, and behavior control. The risk for becoming an addict is greatly dependent on one's biology, such as gender or ethnicity. The prepondrance of research indicates neurological effects of repeated drug

It seem that a new connotation has been given to the term ‘drug’. Before in the past, the term was used for the word ‘medicine’. But in the 21st century it’s not only used to describe medicine, but also to reference fatal narcotics, which includes heroin, cocaine, and many other specifications. All these narcotics have an evil affect on the mind and body cells of the addict. The young generations are failing victims of these addictions. I believe that addiction is a brain disease. It is when the addict becomes dependent on a drug and uses it, despite of having knowledge of what the long term harm of it does to one’s health. Addiction is a brain disease, because it can change the structure and functioning of the brain. While I watched the video,

Actually, Drug addiction is a complex illness. It is characterized by intense and, at times, uncontrollable drug craving, along with compulsive drug seeking and use that persist even in the face of devastating consequences.

Whenever someone thinks of what an addict should be, many different images come to mind. It could be the homeless man on the street, the raging adolescent who is struggling, the majority of the prison population. My grandfather himself dealt with his own addiction. He struggled for many years with alcoholism as well as an opiate addiction. Many of my family members cast him out and told him that if he really wanted to stop he would. His addiction went on for years before he was admitted to rehab and even after years of sobriety, he still thinks it was his fault for getting involved in drugs in the first place. It seems as though this is a common theme, in which people believe the addict is the one to blame and they just lack the willpower to stop. However, this is not the case. Continual drug use has the power to drastically affect the addict’s mind and only make it harder to stop substance abuse. Most addicts don’t even know this and soon believe that this is their fault when it’s not. In other words, it’s necessary to deem addiction as a chronic, relapsing disorder that affects the brain and its cognitive processes as this definition can lead many addicts to recovery and a shame free life.

Drug use and addiction has always been a topic of discussion for many people. None of it being good nonetheless, but it has been a topic on people’s minds. In our society today there is still a stigma attached to drug users and even worse drug addicts. The feelings are always geared towards shaming the user or addict and not much else. The really divisive idea being if addiction is actually a choice a person makes or if it is a disease. Most knowledge and discussion about this either leans one way or the other with both sides not giving in to the opposing sides point of view.

An addict may ask why they are addicted, and others are not. What makes them different, that this disease has taken over their life? Addiction includes biological, psychological, and behavioral factors. It is very dangerous emotionally, psychologically, and physically. Drug addiction or substance abuse is an ongoing uncontrollable need to use drugs, despite the harmful or negative consequences it causes. The person depends on drugs to keep functioning normally as the natural chemical balance of the brain is altered. No matter the reason a person starts abusing drugs, either for excitement, escape or curiosity, it can cause serious, long-term consequences, including physical and mental problems. Addiction or substance abuse is not something that should be taken lightly; anyone can be affected by it. No matter what causes a person to turn to drugs or alcohol, learning the facts about addiction can help them overcome it. With support, belief in themselves and treatment, it is possible to get their life back.

Everyone has a dream, everyone has goals, whether it’s being a doctor, an anesthesiologist, a teacher, or even a goal such as making the basketball team at your school. When drugs are involved or brought into the picture, it makes completing these goals and dreams so much harder. Drug addiction not only destroys those that use the drugs, but also the lives of people close to the addict. Some of the illegal drugs are marijuana, ecstasy, cocaine, LSD, crystal meth and heroin. Drugs are consumed in different ways, by inhaling, taking by mouth, injecting, applying on skin, and smoking. When a person is addicted to a drug, the drug becomes so important that the person cannot manage without it.

Drug addiction is worldwide problem that only seems to get worse with time. Drugs have been used for thousands of years by many different ingenious peoples. Stimulants like tobacco and coca leaves produce different effects than depressants like alcohol but both are highly addictive. Humans emotional habits and experiences create neural path ways of addiction. Our brain starts making these new pathways and before a he or she knows it, something that they enjoyed so much start negatively impacting their lives. Once a person becomes dependent off a drug, it becomes very difficult to get off of because of the horrible withdrawals that follows from quitting. For many people, even without growing up around an environment influenced by drugs or alcohol, some are genetically predisposed to addiction to certain substances. My family is predisposed to alcohol addiction and tobacco addiction. Our environment, childhood, and genetics all individually have a part to play in predisposition to addiction of drugs.

When people think of diseases, what do they think of? Generally we think of heart disease, cancer, diabetes, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease or COPD, etc… One that people do not generally associate with the term “disease” is an addiction, whether a person is addicted to alcohol, methamphetamines, marijuana or over the counter drugs, people often have different sides to this. Some may say that an addiction is a disease; others say that an addiction is just a poor choice of a person’s life. The National Institute on Drug Abuse states that “…drug addiction is a complex disease, and quitting takes more than good intentions or a strong will. In fact, because drugs change the brain in ways that foster compulsive drug abuse, quitting is difficult, even for those who are ready to do so.” Many people think that a disease is something that is always labeled as one while others think that addiction is also a disease. While all people are entitled to their own opinions, there is an answer that can be proven through substantial research. An addiction is a disease.

Frank Zappa once said “A drug is neither moral nor immoral -- it 's a chemical compound. The compound itself is not a menace to society until a human being treats it as if consumption bestowed a temporary license to act like an asshole.” What causes people to be addicted to drugs? Most people know the bad things that will happen to drug users: they become addicted. Curiosity is the first major cause that leads to drug addiction throughout the nation. The second cause is the desire to escape from reality through drugs and can lead the user to become addicted. Lastly, the everyday environment around the individual can push him or her to become addicted to drugs. Drug addiction is a serious problem that is caused by curiosity, escapement from reality, and the environment around us.

What are the reasons behind drug abuse? People from all walks of life have been victims of drug abuse. Some people are depressed and so they try to get away from reality by taking drugs. A person who has been injured could have been prescribed a pain reliever with addicting qualities. That teen that lives down the street gets his pills