Gene-Environmental Theories Of Addiction

Addiction, it is all around us, affecting people from all walks of life, it is not limited to certain social classes or lifestyles. It is found in every ethnic group, regardless of gender or age. It affects our neighbors, our friends, and our family either directly or indirectly. Although substances such as alcohol and illegal drugs are two of the most common addictions we hear about, there is a wide range of substances and even activities such as gambling and shopping. There is some debate whether addiction is a brain disease or a choice.

Susan Ferguson stated that the basal ganglia system and the striatum are thought to create positive and negative

Addiction is thought of a biological nature that is past through genetics according to the biological theory as explained in P2. A contrasting theory of the biological theory would be the classical and operant conditioning theory, this was made by Pavlov. The basis of conditioning theories is that addiction is the end result of the reinforcement of drug use. The drug acts as a reinforcer and gains control over the user’s behavior. In contrast to the biological models of the exposure theories, these conditioning models suggest that anyone can show addictive behavior if they are given reinforcements, regardless of their genetics. The advantage of this

Chemical addiction has been impacted by both genetic and environmental risk factors (Eitan, Jaradat, Hulse, Tay, 2012). To make a better understanding of the process leading to addiction, one must determine genetic factors (Eitan et al., 2012). Chemical addiction is the result of the interaction of many genes related to the central nervous system (Eitan et al., 2012). According to Kovac, chemical addiction is viewed as a matter of collaboration of the environment, society, neurological and chemical mechanisms simultaneously working together in order to form behaviors extremely resistant to change.

To begin, I would like to discuss the benefits of the disease model for addiction. To be fair, this model resonates with me the most. As stated in the Historical Perspectives on Addiction, “By changing the way we talk about addiction, we change the way people think about addiction, both of which are critical steps in getting past the social stigma too often associated with this disease” (Freed, 2012, p.27). I feel that this quote sums up the most significant benefit of the disease model. Not only does it remove stigma, but by removing this stigma you could potentially have more individuals seeking treatment. In addition to this, by removing stigma you move it from an individual’s problem into a public health issue. Therefore, if addiction is a public health issue you would see more services/support systems available. A second benefit of the disease model is that there is evidence that supports the theory (Hall,2017).

Theoretical perspectives of addiction in my opinion are two things which are environment and genetic component. With environment if your home life or environment has drugs around it you're most likely to try the drugs and possibly get addicted to them in my opinion. With genetic component say in your family you have alcoholism for example and you're telling your child that there is a chance that if you're introduced to alcohol you will possibly crave alcohol or will not

My position regarding the importance of biology and genetics on substance abuse and addiction are similar to recent readings, but I feel that free will is a factor in addiction. My father, grandfather, and grandmother were all alcoholics, and I can determine that the

It is widely known that there are multiple biological theories and psychological theories of addiction. In this paper, I will select the genetic inheritance theory of biological theories of addiction and the addictive personality theory of psychological theories of addiction to illustrate how both theories are different and similar. In addition, I will discuss if I would use these theories in my future practice.

Addictions are a diverse set of common and complex diseases that are to some extent tied together by shared genetic and environmental factors. Addiction includes alcohol use disorders, cannabis and cocaine use disorders, nicotine dependence, as well as non-substance–related behaviors. Both genetic and environmental variables contribute to the use and abuse of addictive substances, which may eventually lead to addiction.

Although the collection of findings from several types of genetically informative research designs does provide compelling evidence for the influence of genetics and heritability on the risk for addiction, they do

The biological factors that reasearchers say might influence addiction are genetic factors. Researchers have contributed genetics as a cause since there is “hereditary biological differences that make some individuals either more or less susceptible to drug dependence than others” (U.S Congress, Office of Technology pg. 6). When there are biological influences involved in addiction, and there is one or more family members that have suffered from addiction there could be the possibility of a genetic deposition for addiction.

The three models of addiction examined in this week’s readings include the medical model, the psychosocial model, and the disease of the human spirit model. The medical model “rests on the assumption that disease states are the result of a biological dysfunction, possibly one on the cellular or even molecular level” (Doweiko, 2012, p. 333). Many consider this model and “maintain that much of human behavior is based on the interaction between the individual’s biological predisposition and the environment” (Doweiko, 2012, p. 333). Individuals under this model view free will “as an illusion” (Doweiko, 2012, p. 333). There is controversy regarding this model as “to the degree to which the

This learner believes that behavior and addiction should be accepted as the same as addiction to substances. Working in a substance abuse recovery program has allowed this learner to understand addiction as a behavior. Many individuals have a substance abuse addiction and issues because of their behavior. They have made a choice to use substances and their behavior has taken over their life. Overall, this learner believes that all addictions are just as important as a substance abuse addiction. In fact, it should not be considered the same type of illness despite of it being a food, sex, or even gambling addiction. However, the addictions have to be treated differently based on the type and the individuals. According Smith (2012), “Developing brain science brain science has set the

They assume addicts lack moral principles or self-discipline and that they can quit by simply deciding to. The reality is, people who have struggled with substance abuse have often found it extremely difficult to quit due to the physical and/or mental addiction. Drug have the ability to change the brain patterns and cause health complications, making things harder in the long-term and may determine life or death. Fortunately, because of more research, there are more ways to back out of an addiction and seek help through an enduring and extensive treatment. Factors that affect the likelihood and speed of developing an addiction are environmental and individual factors, including genetics and

When a mother brings her young son along with her to a methadone clinic for her daily dose, each nurse and staff members looks upon the little boy with worry. Is this child in risk of falling into the same patterns simply because his mother will find it difficult to teach him differently? Or, is he predisposed to drug dependence due to his own DNA? While drug dependency has not yet been reduced to a few "undesirable" genes in the human genome, most, if not all, scientists will agree that the risk of drug dependence is largely heritable. Why does drug dependency depend on genetics, and are there environmental factors as well?