Another Type Of Addiction Which Has Always Existed, But

Adolescence is a time where adolescents grow and mature at a rapid rate. It is also a time where adolescents are more vulnerable to taking risks, such as using and becoming addicted to illegal substances, due to raging hormones. Whether or not an adolescent chooses to engage in drug use and abuse depends on their home environment and those they choose to associate themselves with. Adolescents are confronted with an enormous amount of pressure to participate in risky behaviors by their peers. According to Broderick and Blewitt (2015), “risky behaviors are behaviors that constitute a departure from socially accepted norms or behaviors that pose a threat to the well-being of individuals or groups” (p. 389). One such risky behavior is drug use and addiction. Some adolescents use cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine, and prescription drugs in order to get “high”. Adolescents who engage in drug use are likely to become addicted, and thus, their addiction will negatively affect their brain development.

Addictions can form from using mood altering drugs such as, nicotine, alcohol, cocaine and caffeine, or behavioral processes as with gambling, eating, sex or shopping (Schwartz 21). Schwartz

Since “parents are a crucial part of their child’s environment” (Sharma, 2016), it is no surprise that their behavior can affect how their children grow up to be. While yes, people who end up addicted to drugs can come from all sorts of lives there are some circumstances that may help to influence a person’s choice to turn to drugs. The likelihood that a person turns to drugs increases if they experience a traumatic event such as sexual, emotional, or physical abuse (Mirlashari, Demirkol, Salsali, Rafiey, & Jahanbani, 2012). Depending on the level of trauma can influence the level of drug addiction a person may have. If a person witnesses’ violence in their family or they are sexually victimized they are more likely to not only use drugs but to turn to hard drugs like

Addiction is like most major diseases. Consider heart disease, the leading cause of death in the developed world. It's partly due to genes and partly due to poor life style choices such as bad diet, lack of exercise, and smoking. The same is true for other common diseases like adult-onset diabetes. Many forms of cancers are due to a combination of genes and life style. But if your doctor said that you had diabetes or heart disease, you wouldn't think you were bad person. You would think, "What can I do to overcome this disease?" That is how you should approach addiction.

Similarly, Johann Hari explores this underlying social influence throughout his book, Chasing The Scream: The First and Last Days of the War on Drugs, and reaches the conclusion that addiction caused by the lack of bonds with other people (176). The author discusses a couple of research studies, the Adverse Childhood Experiences Study and the other unnamed, pertaining to childhood experiences and potential drug use. In the Adverse Childhood Experiences Study, the researchers observed that children were two to four times more likely to become an addict as an adult each time they endured a traumatic experience (Hari 160). In other words, individuals who suffer from awful occurrences during their youth utilize drugs to cope with the negative, emotional consequences. Comparatively, in longitudinal study examined by Hari, researchers track individuals from childhood to adulthood to determine how parental interactions as a child affect the likelihood of using drugs at an older age (160). Accordingly, indifferent or cruel parenting signified a high probability of heavy substance abuse as an adult, which further suggests that susceptibility to unhealthy use of drugs is considerably impacted by adverse incidents during

Addiction is formed by an initial choice fueled by external beguiling factors. From the time we are born, we know absolutely nothing, our minds are a blank slate. In fact, according to Jean Piaget’s cognitive stages of development, the mind does not begin to think abstractly from concrete ideas or reason until the final stage (formal operational), which lasts all the from age twelve and on. Because of this, we can deduce that at any age in our development, we are susceptible to external factors influencing our behavior. With that being said, a person’s decision to participate in the use of any substance is influenced by much more than their knowledge that it is “wrong”. Peer pressure, stress, curiosity or even medical practices can ignite the choice to abuse substances. The majority of addictions that begin in the pre-teen and teenage years stem from their exposure to drugs and alcohol in the media, many even claim that

In conclusion, this researcher supports the FCP of Addiction Model as it pertains to addiction because it is inclusive of the components closest to a unifying model of addiction. Within the framework of the FCP of Addiction Model lies the biopsychosocial model, but in addition to this model we add environmental and spiritual factors. If we are indeed products of our environment then we must consider environment when building a model of addiction. To this end, we also must include spirituality because it represents the power within us to seek out and determine who we are and who we want to be. When individuals lose sight of this

According to the American Psychological Association, which states that about half of a person’s tendency toward drug addiction can be blamed on genetic factors. The genes might not make the person experiment with drugs, but when the person does begin to dabble, the use could quickly spin out of control due to these underlying genetic factors. The home in which a person grows up has a great deal of influence over drug use and abuse. A study in the Archives of General Psychiatry bears out this theory quite well, as researchers looked at drug and alcohol use in genetic twins who had been raised in different homes. Those who grew up in homes that were disrupted by divorce and mental illness, and those who grew up in homes where drugs and alcohol were at play, were more likely to become abusers when they grew up. It’s possible that living in homes like this causes such intense stress that using drugs seems like a reasonable solution, but it’s also possible that growing up in a home like this normalizes drug abuse. As the child grows and sees parents abusing substances, that child learns to also abuse substances. The effects of genetics and environment can often be hard to separate, and many statistics cited in the media fail to take this into account. Children of substance use parents are likely to inherit many of the genes that would make them predisposed to

The disease of addiction is a three, fold it affect you physically, mental, spiritually and I would have to say emotional. This disease can manifest in anyone of these area at different time individual life.

Like any Psychological disorder, Addiction is a serious problem and should be treated as such. So many times it goes unnoticed or untreated as a result of the person with the addiction not knowing they have one, let alone how to take care of it on their own. The leading causes to an Addiction are: Social issues, mental health issues,and difficulty coping with thoughts or feelings.

There are several theories on addictions. I have been exposed to one from a very early age. Addiction is not something that is intentionally planned. In my mother’s case, it was all a learned behavior from her friends. It all started as a casual beer here and there while hanging out with her associates. She engaged with her friends more often and with that came the frequency in which she drank. I believe it was an act just to feel accepted and part of the group. Years kept going by and alcohol and drugs became a necessity. Her body’s biochemistry had changed without her realizing what she had done to herself. I believe all three are a real problem and the individuals who are affected by the addiction do no really understand what is going

It has been discovered that most people who struggle with drug addiction began experimenting with drugs in their teens. Teenage drug abuse is one of the largest problems in society today and the problem grows and larger every year. Drugs are a pervasive force in our culture today. To expect kids not to be influenced by the culture of their time is as unrealistic as believing in the tooth fairy (Bauman 140). Teens may feel pressured by their friends to try drugs, they may have easy access to drugs, they may use drugs to rebel against their family or society, or they may take an illegal drug because they are curious about it or the pleasure that it gives them.

According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NHI) (2012a), deaths regarding drug use has doubled since the 1980’s, furthermore it is stated that there are more illnesses and disabilities from drug abuse than any other avoidable health condition. There are many reasons why young people may choose to indulge in the risky behaviour that is drug use. Individuals may feel pressured by their peers, take this action out of curiosity or use it as a method for dealing with physiological or psychological problems (Better Health, 2012). A study performed by Miller and Plant

When someone says, “You get that laugh or that smile from your father or your mother.” You don’t always believe them, but in some studies today it is said that if your parents or anyone in your family has a history of a drug addiction those traits in their genes have a decent chance of being passed down to the children causing problems for them later in life. According to the Drugs and Addiction article in the 2009 Addiction Journal, “Family, twin and adoption studies suggest that the heritability of substance use disorders is moderate to

What causes a man to risk losing his family or worse his freedom for the ability to get high? What causes a parent to risk not only their own health by smoking but also the health of their children? The answer is addiction. Alan I. Leshner, PhD states that the “essence of addiction [is an] uncontrollable, compulsive drug seeking and use, even in the face of negative health and social consequences.” He goes on to say, “This is the crux of how many professional organizations all define addiction, and how we all should use the term. It is really only this expression of addiction - uncontrollable, compulsive craving, seeking and use of drugs - that matters to the addict and to his or her family, and that should