Drug Addiction And Its Psychological Approach

This paper will discuss Chemical Dependency or Substance Dependency and Substance Abuse in Adolescents; specifically the development, progression and biopsychosocial of dependency and abuse in the adolescent population. The definition of epidemiology and diagnosis will be addressed. Lastly three treatment options including the range of severity will be provided.

When dealing with addictive behaviors in Psychology, people find that adolescents are more likely to get involved with addictions and uncontrollable wants with things such as alcohol, smoking, drugs, sex, and much more. With those subjects listed, the age groups more prone to opening up doors to these addictions are the ages of 18-23. This is said for a number of reasons. There is loneliness from living away from home, there is more personal responsibility to manage, there is a desire to escape hard challenges of independence, there is a fear of not finding an occupational foothold in the future, there is more availability and diversity of illegal substances, and there is much more partying with peers (Pickhardt, 2012). When growing into the stages of adolescence, different urges and wants that are hard to turn away from appeal greater to the minds of a youth than simply turning away. This age group falls under the temptation of peer pressure, which could also be a leading cause to the addictions as well. Sometimes, when first developing an addiction to something, it is easier to walk away when not commonly opening up to it everyday. Once the beginning stages of addiction pass, it becomes harder to turn away from what they have been used to doing for a great period of time which is proven to ultimately lead to destruction of ones body, mind, and life.

Brain imaging studies in the areas of the brain responsible for decision-making, judgment, learning, and memory, and behavior control have showed significant changes that can alter the way the brain works in individuals who have a drug addiction (Goldberg, 2011, p. 148). When drugs enter the brain, they interfere with the communication systems and also interfere with neurons

Drug Addiction as a Psychobiological Process The emphasis is on biological mechanisms underlying addiction, although some other factors influencing drug addiction will also be discussed. The presentation is limited primarily to psychomotor stimulants (e.g., amphetamine, cocaine) and opiates (e.g., heroin, morphine) for two reasons. First, considerable knowledge has been gained during the past 15 years regarding the neurobiological mechanisms mediating their addictive properties. Second, these two pharmacological classes represent the best examples of potent addictive drugs, and the

Neuroscience and psychology seem to have been working together to try to understand how and why certain behaviors transpire in a person’s personality, and what makes or motivates a person to do the things they do. One of the most analyzed wonders that mark motivation, the thought developments, and the social interaction, is the analysis of drug obsession. Through advance forms of scanning the brain with imaging equipment like positron emission tomography (PET) and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) have advanced the knowledge of drug addiction and how the brain is affected (Volkow, Fowler, & Wang, 2003,para 2). This paper will examine the brain structures and functions, the influence of

Society as a whole is impacted greatly by substance abuse and addiction. Not only does it hurt the abuser directly, but it also becomes an enormous financial and social burden on society. Addiction wrecks families, and also highly correlates with poverty because the drug abuser ends up giving everything that they have to keep their addiction going. It also places extraordinarily high demands on the education, criminal justice, and social service systems. Children and babies both are dangerously impacted by the addiction of their parents and the same addiction is likely to even show up in their own lives later on. Drug babies are being born every day already addicted to the same substances their mothers have abused; they are the ones who truly suffer the greatest consequences of the effects of addiction. Teenagers are peer pressured by the alcohol and beer industries to drink; many alcoholics in our society are a result from binge drinking while in college and even in high school. People bound by these addictions who never get the help they truly need or lose their family and feel alone often commit suicide because they feel they are unimportant to society and that ending their own lives is their only means of escape.

The biological approach to substance use disorder states that the drug taking behaviour is a result of imbalance between three interacting but separate neural systems. The amygdala- striatum, the prefrontal cortex and the insular cortex. The amygdala-striatum, system is responsible for automatic and habitual behaviours. The prefrontal cortex is also involved this area with respect decision making, that is being able to forecast consequences of certain behaviours with regards to drug use, and the insular cortex that is located within the lateral sulcus. This area is involved with self awareness and cognitive

“ The frontal cortex of the brain and underlying white matter connections between the frontal cortex and circuits of reward, motivation and memory are fundamental in the manifestations of altered impulse control, altered judgment, and the dysfunctional pursuit of rewards (which is often experienced by the affected person as a desire to “be normal”) seen in addiction, despite cumulative adverse

Substance abuse and the addiction to these substances that can result takes a terrible toll on families and friends of an addict. The problem becomes even larger when we look at all the millions of addicts in society when we consider drugs, alcohol, smoking and all the other substances that people can become addicted to. These are addictions that have a powerful physiological effect on people but then there are behavioral addictions such as gambling. It has been commonplace over the past couple decades to regard those who face addiction as having a disease, but there are increasing numbers of experts who say this view is wrong.

Drug addiction and its underlying neurobiological basis: Neuroimaging evidence for the involvement of the frontal cortex, drug addiction will lead to changes “in the brain dopaminergic pathways (specifically the anterior cingulate (AC), orbitofrontal cortex (OFC), and the nucleus acumens (NAc) which may lead to a reduction of sensitivity to biological rewards and it decreases the individual’s control over seeking and eventually taking drugs.” When the person takes too much drugs, the brain will desensitize to the drugs. If other people offer drugs to this person, the person will take the drug without thinking. The desensitized brain will react more and more slowly to the reactions. As we can see, compared to video game addiction, drug addiction has more negative effects on a person’s

Drug addiction, is not generally considered a mental health disorder, even though some consider it a shortcoming. The facts have shown that drug addiction has both physical and psychological dimensions. The body craves the effects that the drugs have on the brain. Some people with addictions develop later on severe depression or anxiety. On the other hand, some people that are bipolar or have a psychological issue utilize drugs to try to attain an equilibrium. The lines between the two are often blurry.

Drug addictions are a very complicated subject to explain due to the fcact that there is so many types of addictions that we may not have the sufficient information to sustain the facts. People underestimate the effects of something so simple as drinking a beer or even smoking cigarette but in fact it is more dangerous than you think. Alcohol and Nicotine are the most common type of addiction that is a slowly but deadly killer. This paper should give you a more extend amount of information on to what people are at risk of ingesting substances that are highly addictive and the dangers people face when taking prescribed medications.

Drug addiction can be defined as the overwhelming involvement of drugs that impacts an individuals daily life functioning. To help better understand drug addiction I chose to give up adding additional salt to my food for 30 days. Prior to the project I figured I would miss the taste of salt being added to my food, but I figured it would be easy. To my surprise it was not as easy as I entailed. Starting from week one I unconsciously went to grab salt numerous times, because grabbing the salt, pepper, and Old Bay is part of my ritual when I am going to sit down to eat. Also, during week two I noticed I was shifting my behavior to avoid certain foods. In fact, I caught myself skipping some meals because I no longer found the same joy in eating as I use to. That alone would be surprising to both my friends and family, because I love food. People have made jokes before that the way to my heart is to take me out to somewhere where I can eat. As well as, I do see the importance of eating a suffice breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Actually due to a lack of eating, I found myself being overly tired, and often times having to take a nap after class and sometimes a second nap. Being tired definitely got in the way of getting all of my schoolwork done. I found it taking twice as long to get through a homework assignment. As I had mentioned at midnight after the project had ended my plan was to make a big bowl of pasta and to add loads of salt and butter to it, and that is exactly what I

Have you ever dealt with the effects of drug addict? A drug is a person who is addicted to drugs or alcohol, which has a psychological effect when ingested or otherwise introduced into the body. The effects of drug use can vary depending on the person. According to “Causes and types of narcotic addiction: A Psychosocial View” in the Psychiatric Quarterly it says, “The causes of drugs stem from the manner of which you were introduced to it whether it be by abnormal curiosity, chance encounters with addicts and narcotic peddlers, or prolonged illness” (Ausubel). The effects of drugs can be have different effects on everyone differently depending if its for pleasure or for relieving pain Most of the effects of drugs occur in the brain, where it increases the level of dopamine at a specific site possibly giving the addict the pleasure they were feigning for (Robbins). As a child I didn’t know much about drugs except for what your parents and teachers at school tell you which is, “Just Say No.”

Drug abuse is a developed psychic and physical interaction between a living organism and a drug whether an animal or a human being. It is characterized by behavior that includes compulsion to take drugs in order to experience the psychic effect. Sometime it is to avoid the discomfort of the absence of the drug in the body system. Drug addiction causes intolerance so that drug addict can be dependent on drugs more than one drug (Geneva, 2003)