Cause And Effect Essay On Drug Addiction

Substance abuse has long been a major problem in our society, with estimations reaching as high as 250 million people worldwide that have used the illicit drug at least once in 2014, and causing more than two hundred thousand drug-related deaths each year (United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, 2016; hereafter UNODC). However, it is not just forbidden substances that are a major cause of harms to individuals but also commonly used recreational drugs, such as alcohol and tobacco products that account for millions of deaths each year. These statistics and particularly the contribution of legal drugs to an overall ‘drug epidemic’ have caused an increasing concern in the validity of current drug classification system. For instance, Nutt, King and Phillips (2010) have recently questioned the accuracy of the present UK classification system under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 (MDA) owing to a lack of specificity and transparency of classification processes, and have proposed a new rationale for drug harm estimation. The most controversy was caused by their alcohol ranking as the most harmful substance. In this essay, report on harmful drugs by Nutt et al. (2010) will be briefly introduced. Then, the controversies and criticisms that followed their findings will be presented. Finally, the critical evaluation of both arguments will follow with concluding notes on the implications of Nutt et al. findings for the UK drug classification system.

The meaning of a word portrays what it encompasses and if the phrase itself is misunderstood then defining what it’s trying to explain can be a studious task. Addiction has been defined by many and holds different meanings based on the context it’s used in. Addiction can be defined as a condition in which a person undertakes the use of substance, or engages in activities, which in turn brings pleasure, and tends to divert oneself from their day-to-day duties and responsibilities. Addiction is mostly related to drug use but it is also used to describe non-drug entities, such as gambling, and Internet addictions (Avena et al, 2008). Researchers (Herbert, J. D., Forman, E. M., 2010) have been keen on identifying the factors that lead to

In society, drugs have been the downfall for many people. There are many reasons that a person may use drugs such as: peer pressure, relief of stress, increased energy, to relax, to relieve pain, to escape reality, to feel more self esteem, and for recreation ("Drug addiction and drug abuse," 2011). What is it that causes the obsession and compulsion to use drugs? Why can some people stop and others go on to become addicts? Addiction is often now defined by the continuing, compulsive nature of the drug use despite physical and/or psychological harm to the user and society ("Drug addiction and drug abuse," 2011).

When people are battling opioid addiction, they can often become unmotivated and tired. This can affect work, parenting, and social life. People who are battling opioid addiction can simply just loose interest. They have no motivation to do the work. They may go to work and sit around all day or even take long amounts of time to complete simple tasks or can't focus on just one task. This can also affect personal hygiene and if you are a parent, it can affect your children's hygiene as well. You may not have the energy to take a shower or brush your teeth or you may not even care. If you don't care to take care of yourself, you are probably not going to take care of another human being.

“Substance Use Disorders” are new to the DSM-5. Previously, the terms “abuse” and “dependence” where used instead. In general, the DSM-5 considers a Substance Use Disorder to be recurrent drug use that causes impairment and continued use, despite substance use related problems. The DSM-5 also focuses on how substance use causes a change in brain functioning. The change is primarily responsible for intense drug cravings, as well as repeated relapses. Finally, the DSM-5 divides use into four groups, including impaired control, social impairment, risky use, and pharmacological criteria (American Psychiatric Association, 2013).

Compare and contrast the medical model of chemical addiction to the biopsychosocial model. Which model is more accepted by the medical fraternity and why? Alcohol and drug abuse is a real problem these days. It is the cause of much suffering and dysfunction within society.

Most people don’t have a regular conversation about addictions and there are many aspects of addiction that some people don’t understand. There are many myths about addictions and some of them are true and some of them are not. The addiction to alcohol is one example that there are many myths about and other addictions are to certain drugs. I will explore some myths about drugs and based on research, state if they are a myth or not.

Most people try drugs the first time because of peer pressure and not having the strength to say no, others is because they want to try new things and be cool with a certain group of kids at school. All it takes sometimes is one time, one pull, and one session for someone to get hooked to a certain drug and be an addict. Drug addiction has a deep impact on the brain that can cause the inability to learn, make good judgment, and alters vision and memory. Addiction is chronic, often relapsing brain disease that causes compulsive drug seeking and use, despite harmful consequences to the addicted individual and to those around him or her. (National Institute on Drug Abuse) The components of drug addiction are endless. They usually contain chemicals that tap into the brain’s communication system and disrupt the way nerve cells normally send, receive, and process information. The

Addiction is a disease in which the body must have medication to eschew physical and psychological withdrawal symptoms. When utilizing this type of medication, behaviour becomes compulsive and uncontrollable. Addiction leads to people making irrational decisions that interfere with ordinary life responsibilities. There have been drugs that increase, the cause of addiction, such as: marijuana, opioid, pain relievers, and cocaine. Addiction endeavored a compelling and influential impact on the brain that is distinguished in three different categories: craving for the object of addiction, loss of control over its use, and continuing involvement with it despite adverse consequences. (Understanding Addiction. 2011)https://www.helpguide.org/harvard/how-addiction-hijacks-the-brain.html

In the modern era both addiction and substance abuse are serious issues. In order to fix these issues we need to understand the different types of addiction and the difference between addiction and substance abuse. Firstly we need to understand what substance abuse and addiction are, let us start by looking at their definitions. Substance abuse is when someone misuses a specific substance for example alcohol. Addiction is when that someone repeatedly misuses the substance, so much so that they no longer have control, over whether they use the substance or not, and when to use the substance. The difference being; that addiction is repeated substance abuse and by being so is a different, and more dangerous problem then substance abuse.

Substance abuse and addiction have become a social problem that afflicts millions of individuals and disrupts the lives of their families and friends. Just one example reveals the extent of the problem: in the United States each year, more women and men die of smoking related lung cancer than of colon, breast and prostate cancers combined (Kola & Kruszynski, 2010). In addition to the personal impact of so much illness and early death, there are dire social costs: huge expenses for medical and social services; millions of hours lost in the workplace; elevated rates of crime associated with illicit drugs; and scores of children who are damaged by their parents’ substance abuse behavior (Lee, 2010). This paper will look at

The use of drugs is a controversial topic in society today. In general, addicts show a direct link between taking drugs and suffering from their effects. People abuse drugs for a wide variety of reasons. In most cases, the use of drugs will serve a type of purpose or will give some kind of reward. These reasons for use will differ with different kinds of drugs. Various reasons for using the substance can be pain relief, depression, anxiety and weariness, acceptance into a peer group, religion, and much more. Although reasons for using may vary for each individual, it is known by all that consequences of the abuse do exist. It is only further down the line when the effects of using can be seen.

“The overstimulation of this reward system, which normally responds to natural behaviors linked to survival (eating, spending time with loved ones, etc.), produces euphoric effects in response to psychoactive drugs. This reaction sets in motion a reinforcing pattern that “teaches” people to repeat the rewarding behavior of abusing drugs ”(“Understanding Drug Abuse). Using addictive drugs floods the limbic brain with dopamine, taking it up to as much as five or ten times the normal level. A person with elevated dopamine levels now has a brain that begins to associate the substance with an outside neurochemical reward (“Your Brain on Drugs”). As a person continues to abuse drugs, the brain adapts to the overwhelming surges in dopamine by producing less dopamine or by reducing the number of dopamine receptors in the reward circuit. The result is a lessening of dopamine’s impact on the reward circuit, which reduces the abuser’s ability to enjoy the drugs, as well as the events in life that previously brought pleasure. The decrease in normal dopamine levels encourages the addict to keep abusing drugs in an attempt to bring the dopamine function back to normal, except now larger amounts of the drug are required to achieve the same dopamine high, an effect known as tolerance (“Understanding Drug Abuse ). That is what leads to the state of addiction, which leaves the person in a cycle of craving, using, withdrawal, and relapse.

At this point, drug use does not raise dopamine levels or produce a “high”; instead, the user keeps taking the drug to stave off painful withdrawal symptoms.

“Addiction is a brain disease expressed in the form of compulsive behavior,” says by Alan Leshner in his article, “Addiction Is a Brain Disease” featured in the book Drug Abuse: Opposing Viewpoints. Addiction has a variety of meanings depending on what your viewpoint of addiction. According to dictionary.com, the concrete definition of the word addiction is, “the state of being enslaved to a habit or practice or to something that is psychologically or physically habit-forming, as narcotics, to such an extent that its cessation causes severe trauma.” Basically various doctors and therapist consider addiction to be a genetic disorder. “Provocative, controversial, unquestionably incomplete, the dopamine hypothesis provides a basic framework