Addiction In Children

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 claims the user through physiological dependence that creates a need for the drug of choice on a very basic level. Through repeated substance abuse, the user gains tolerance for the drug, needing it in larger amounts, and on a more frequent basis, until the body cannot function normally without the drug. Withdrawal symptoms now also occur upon attempting to halt use. This is how substance abuse becomes the disease of addiction.

Addiction is when a person cannot stop abusing a drug or substance, even if they want to quit. The effects from continuing drug use take over the mind and body. Drug addiction is classified as a "relapsing brain disease that causes compulsive drug seeking and use, despite harmful consequences to the drug addict and those around them" (NIDA 4). Repeated drug use leads to addiction, which then leads to a disease that changes the brain (CDC).

What is addiction? The most common definition is the condition of being addicted to a particular substance, thing, or activity. Addiction is so much more than that. People with addiction may not realize that their problem is out of control and could be causing problems for themselves or others around them. Addiction becomes an all-time thing and interferes with usual life responsibilities like relationships, social life, work, and health. People that are struggling with addiction, often cannot quit on their own. Addiction is an illness that entails treatment,

A more narrow definition of addiction would be to say that it involves a compulsive use of or mind altering acts or substances. With this type of addiction the individual will have usually developed a physical as well as psychological dependence on the behavior. Which will cause and an increased tolerance for the behavior overtime. As time goes on they will need to keep on delving deeper, and

Addiction is a term used by people who are “dependent” on something, whether it is a drug, caffeine, alcohol or anything a human being does more than once a day. Most people with an addiction do not have control over what they are doing, what they are taking and what they are putting into their body. A person’s addiction may reach a point at which it can become very harmful to themselves and to others. Most likely when a person is addicted to something they cannot control how they use it, when they use it and they eventually become dependent on it to cope with their daily life.

The cost of alcohol and substance abuse in the United States reaches heights of four hundred eighty four billion dollars per year (“Magnitude”). That’s about seven hundred eighty times the amount it cost to diagnose and treat sexually transmitted diseases in the year 2000 (Chesson). The sole purpose of this is not to persuade you one way or the other on this topic. Nor is the purpose to apologize for this social issue. The purpose of this writing is to employ data showing the societal effects parental addictions have on children, to show how this data has remained relevant in society, and to show how it is affecting our future members of society.

Addiction is considered to be more of a behavioural disorder that may or may not include physical dependence. It is present when an individual continues to use a drug regardless of negative consequences on their life. They can sometimes gives up important activities such as work, school, family or other relationships because of the substance use, uses a substance addictively and is unable to stop once they have started, uses a substance for reasons other than that for which it was intended and craves the substance even when they are not in pain.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (USDHHS) reported that more than eight million children younger than age 18 live with at least one adult who is struggling with substance abuse, a rate of more than one in 10 children. The majority of these children are younger than age 5. (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services [USDHHS], 2010). Children that have one or more of their parents that are addicted to drugs are at a higher risk for negative experiences in their lives compared to children that do not, including poorer health, risk for harmful behaviors, physical and mental delays, and a higher susceptibility to using substances themselves. The development of attachment theory by psychologist John Bowlby and family systems

When it comes to preventing addiction, there are factors like environments and influences to consider. As children get older and get closer to their teen years, they are shown drugs from their peers more often and are influenced from going to social events (Palmer et al., 6). Environments have a significant amount of importance when preventing addiction. There are always influences around and they affect how a person thinks and acts. “‘Peer influence’ is often more a matter of the attraction of a particular social group for the teenager than it is a matter of pressure from anyone specifically to drink, smoke, or use drugs”(Room 937). “Exposure to portrayals of alcohol in film, television, and commercials has also been linked to adolescents’

Addiction is a condition that develops when a person consumes a substance that can cause pleasure but the continued use of the substance becomes overwhelming and interferes with ordinary life responsibilities, such as work, relationships, or health because of the urgent need for this substance. In most cases the substances people are addicted to are drugs, and drugs are illegal. As a result, they end up getting caught and being sent to prison. Prison is not the correct place for someone battling addiction, a person battling addiction needs help and guidance. For this reason, drug addicts should be sent to rehab alternatively to prison.

According to medical guidelines, addiction is defined as “a chronic, relapsing brain disease that is characterized by compulsive drug seeking and use, despite harmful consequences” (Paola). Its symptoms consist of weakened control over the substance of choice, lack of ability to process proper thinking and an obsessive consideration for the substance (Wikipedia). When we do something pleasurable our brains are designed to reward us by releasing a chemical called dopamine. This chemical is released in high quantities when drugs are ingested, not only enticing the addict but encouraging him/her to seek after the source from which they obtained pleasure. This part of the brain is called the reward system (Shatterproof). In 1991, the American Medical

Drug addiction is a brain disease caused by the chronic use of a drug which changes the structure and function of the brain. ("Drug Abuse, Addiction, and the Brain", 2016) There are many myths and misconceptions about addiction. Some, if not all, of which inevitably makes it harder for the person who is suffering to regain control and break the evil chain that has got them bound. Myths like he/she doesn’t want to quit, he/she doesn’t need help they just need to stop, and he/she is choosing their addiction over their family and friends. All of these myths are untrue. In fact, many people facing the awful reality of addiction are well aware that they are addicted, in over their heads, and trapped. They also realize that their addiction is costing them very valuable relationships and they are helpless to stop everything in their life from ending up in the gutter.

Addiction is considered a brain disease that changes the way the brain works, thinks and reacts. Genetics is one way to determine means of addiction through linkage and association. Some effects of drug use can cause permanent damage to the brain and cause abnormalities. Although there is no cure for addiction doctors have came up with many different medications to treat symptoms.

Firstly, the best way to understand this is to critically understand the definition of addiction. From the American Heritage Dictionary, “addiction is a condition involving the use of a substance, such as a drug or alcohol, or engagement in a behavior, such as gambling, in which a person has strong cravings, is unable to stop or limit the activity, continues the activity despite harmful consequences, and experiences distress upon discontinuance.” The truth is that when anyone reads this definition, most of them focus on the first part and get stuck there. An addiction does not only mean being a drug addict or an alcohol addict, which is what everyone thinks but it also involves the compulsive drive to