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Essay Analysis of The Human Factor Article

Decent Essays

The Human Factor article states that drug abuse cost a lot of money financially in economic loss; and it is simply heartbreaking. In this article addiction is characterized as a brain disease. Sally Satel says that the world needs to stop worrying about addiction being specified as a brain disease and start focusing on how to stop this addiction. She believes that addicts have the power to reshape their own lives and in doing this they can stop addiction. Americans who abuse drugs affect the world economically and a lot of them end up homeless, unemployed, or catching a disease. A psychiatrist in a methadone clinic in Northeast Washington, D.C. works with patients who are addicted to drugs. Some of her patients suffering from addiction …show more content…

This is how serious addiction to a drug can be. Addicts can still pursue normal lives. They can clean their apartment and even have a job. For example, some of the psychiatrist’s patients actually worked jobs while addicted to heroin. Sally states that addicts have time to make other choices and do other things. These addicts could seek out treatment or even quit cold turkey. She has evidence of some of her patients quitting completely. So it is possible for addicts to make other valuable decisions and choices to benefit them and lead them to quitting. However, relapse can occur but during the time they are not using the drug they have a choice to do it or to not do it. Internal and external cues also play a role in use of the desired drug. For example, in the external cues if a person sees something or even hears something it could trigger them into reuse of the drug. Another example, in the internal cues if a person feels stressed or bored that can trigger their reuse as well. There are also factor that can cause the patient to not reuse the drug such as going to jail, disappointing their family, or losing a job. Some of her patients came to a point of self examination and that led them to want to fix their current addiction. The small choices like who to spend time with is crucial during the recovery phase because they could cause relapse. The

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