Genetic Factor Model Essay

Is Substance Abuse A Mental Disorder? Substance abuse disorder, or what is referred to now as substance use disorder, is a condition where reliance to various substances, may it be licit or illicit, continues to permeate the lives of the sufferer, even to the point that this reliance is detrimental to the person’s life. This definition is merely an oversimplification of the said disorder. In reality, the criteria for substance use disorder has been “defined and redefined over the past several decades and these definitions have now achieved international acceptance” (Oxford, 2012). As an evidence, the recently published DSM-5 has made major revisions to the definition of substance use disorder; the revisions are the removal of the relation of substance-use with the law, the addition of craving as one of the criterion, and the elimination of the dependence symptoms (Fitzgerald, 2012, p. 609). Nonetheless, despite these efforts to improve the diagnosis for substance use disorder, several critics argued that the aforementioned syndrome is inappropriate to be classified as a mental health disorder. From this criticism, it is then necessary to define what a mental disorder is and what the criteria are to be classified as such. Upon defining the meaning of mental health disorder, it is now then possible to conclude whether substance abuse is a mental disorder or not.

(Attick, 1970). One opinion given from the teacher, supports this theory suggesting behaviour issues are passed down from the parents (Appendix 3). In her profession she has experienced children who grew up in loving foster or adoptive homes, with no exposure to crime or drugs but the children still displayed poor behaviour, were very disruptive and were in and out of schools for fighting, thieving and drug involvement. This led them to be taken back into the care system. It was later discovered their biological parents were involved with substance abuse and had served time for violent crimes (Appendix 3). Atriumexperts.com (2016) agree that violent behaviour is a genetic influence. Traits such as fearlessness, temper, hyperactivity, depression and a difficult and uninhibited temperament are passed down from family. These are traits that may lie within the genetics of a child but will become more prominent if surrounded by adults who display this

References Prescott, C. A., Madden, P. A. F., & Stallings, M. C. (2006). Challenges in genetic studies of the etiology of substance use and substance use disorders: Introduction to the special issue. Behavior Genetics, 36(4), 473-482.

The question of nature vs. nurture has been the focus of many debates, especially within the discipline of psychological sciences. This paper will examine the views that exist regarding the importance of contributions to the risk of addiction, specifically, genetic (nature) vs. environmental (nurture) contributions through a review of

Due to this overlap of patients with mental There is also research, which reveals that around 75% of those in programs for substance use disorder, also require treatment for co-occurring mental health disorder. Furthermore, individuals reporting mental health problems report a higher alcohol consumption rate at higher risk levels. Not only does this show a high rate of mental health and substance use co-inhabiting in massive numbers of patients, but also indicates that there is a need for not just treating substance use disorder but also treating mental health disorders as well. The co-occurrence of mental health and substance use is known commonly as Dual Diagnosis. It is estimated that dual diagnosis effects between 30% and 90% of those in substance use treatment (Crome, etc.

Early Prevention and De-Criminalization: A Change in the Addiction Outlook Addiction to drugs and alcohol has taken epidemic scale in the recent decades, the number of people affected by this disease has been increasing steadily and the age of drug and alcohol use initiation has sadly been decreasing, children as young as 12 years old are reported as addicts. The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) estimated that 22.5 million Americans aged 12 and older self-reported needing treatment for alcohol or illicit drug use in 2014. Drug abuse and mental health disorders are commonly seen as coexisting conditions. They are among the top conditions that cause disability and carry a high burden in society.

Individuals who suffer with mental illnesses are more likely to abuse drugs. According to the National Bureau of Economic Research there is a “Definite connection between mental illness and the use of addictive substances.” Alone people who are afflicted with some sort of mental illness, are thought to consume 38 percent of all alcohol, 44 percent of all cocaine, and 40 percent of cigarettes. There are many reasons and theory's to why this trend occurs. Depending on the case, the involvement of drugs can cause mental illness. Drugs such as meth, cocaine, and heroine, can change the way a brain works. The use of these drugs, and others can cause a multitude of different mental illness's, ranging from depression or anxiety, all the way to schizophrenia and cognitive impairment. In other circumstances, an individual may turn to drugs to help them manage their symptoms. Another reason is that mental illness, and addiction are caused

The Growing Percentage of Males and Females Suffering with Substance Use Disorder Jerrelda Drummer Sanders SOWK 751 Dr. D. Freeman December 4, Fall Semester 2015 Southern University at New Orleans Males and Females Suffering with Substance Use Disorder 2. About 24 million Americans over age 12 (or 9% of the population) have used an illegal drug (mostly marijuana) or abused a medication in the past month, (APA 2013). A drug is (1) any substance that affects the physical or mental functioning of a living organism, especially one used for the treatment or prevention of an ailment or disease or (2) a stimulant or narcotic taken otherwise than medically

Dual Diagnosis: Combating Drug Addiction and Mental Illness Through the Creation of Government Assisted Programs Drug addiction and mental illness are two topics that are becoming more popular for discussion in American households. As stated from DrugAbuse.com, “mental illness is common amongst a population suffering from substance abuse and addiction. The relationship is so strong that many people believe the drugs play a causative role in the development of the mental illness. In most instances, this is not the case. In the United States, approximately 8.9 million people have both a mental health and a substance abuse issue”. This overwhelming amount of the United States population is often give as a dual diagnosis making persons suffering

Introduction Substance use disorders (SUD’s) are defined when the recurrent use of drugs and / or alcohol give rise to an array of clinically significant behavioral and physical health problems (Agley, 2016; Dwinnels, 2015). Substance use disorders impair individuals’ safety and quality of life and often co-occur with depression disorders (Dwinnels, 2015; Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration [SAMHSA], 2014). According to the 2014 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, approximately 21.5 million Americans aged 12 or older had SUDs within the past year (Montgomery, 2015; SAMHSA, 2014). Currently, it is estimated that 20.2 million people with SUDs did not receive appropriate care (SAMHSA, 2014; Small, 2016).

As an example, individuals suffering from an anxiety disorder may start using a substance (eg. alcohol or drugs) in an effort to decrease their distress. These substances produce positive, rewarding short-term effects to the individual (Stewart & Conrod, 2008). However, this has negative long-term effects and can result in alcohol dependence. Hall and colleagues (2009) found that people with comorbid generalized anxiety disorder and substance use disorder had higher rates of alcohol and drug use in order to relieve symptoms of their anxiety, compared to those with only generalized anxiety disorder. In further support of this pathway, research has shown that 75% of the time an anxiety disorder is present in an individual before a substance use disorder develops (Smith & Book, 2008). However, Kushner, Krueger, Frye, and Peterson (2008) note that this does not demonstrate the anxiety disorder caused the comorbid substance use disorder in these 75% of cases, nor that the substance use disorder caused the anxiety disorder in the remaining 25%; it is merely a

Substance Use Disorder’s (SUD) have become an escalating issue in the mental health field over the last few decades. The alarming incline to drug related and co-occurring maladaptive behaviors has created a dedicated science to better understand and define this problematic situation. Definition allows the therapeutic process to evolve around the symptomatic problem in order to deliver the hope of recovery. Social stigmas often view drug abuse and addiction as one in the same, but when viewed by the clinician, they take on an important role in defining treatment. Drug abuse is viewed as a reoccurring use of a substance outside of its intended purpose resulting in negative consequences. The use of drugs in any form, is often voluntary and has a high risk factor of developing dependency that leads to addiction. The American Society of Addiction Medicine has characterized addiction by the inability to consistently abstain, impaired behavior control, craving, diminished cognitive behavior in regards to relationships, and dysfunctional emotional response (ASAM, 2011). At this point, the progressive substance use cannot be changed without a course of treatment. The therapist’s subscription to a particular pharmacological theory, such as the disease model, behavioral/environmental model, or diathesis-stress model can determine the therapeutic approach.

Mental health disorders and substance abuse can have a significant impact on the health of individuals, their families and their communities. These disorders are among the top conditions that cause disability and carry a high burden of disease in the United States, resulting in significant costs to families, employers and publicly funded health systems. By 2020, mental health and substance use disorders will surpass all physical diseases as a major cause of disability worldwide (SAMHSA, 2014). In addition, drug and alcohol use can lead to chronic diabetes and heart disease. Addressing the impact of substance use alone is estimated to cost Americans more than $600 billion each year.

Jessica, I would like to say that I enjoyed reading your forum about substance abuse and substance use disorder. Individuals that are substance abuser does not have to have substance use disorder (Doweiko, 2015). Substance abuse does not always turn to the physical addiction of the substance (Doweiko, 2015). However, neither substance abuse nor substance use disorder are more important than the other. In both substance abuse and substance use disorder, the individual that uses the substance most likely feel that the incentive for repeating the use is more powerful than it is to not use (Doweiko, 2015). Many healthcare and human service professionals are not properly trained to treat substance abuse nor substance use disorder (Doweiko, 2015).

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