Addiction
Addiction, to a layman, is an insane attraction or out of control (being hooked) towards a substance, event, person or an activity in an attempt to escape or avoid emptiness, meaningless, monotonous, boredom, loneliness etc, etc in life. Something that normal people found impossible to understand or comprehend. Advice (gentle or harsh), scolding and even beating would not deter them.
Types of addiction:
Substance addictions e.g. heroin, nicotine, alcohol
Behavioral additions e.g. gambling, sex, eating, relationships, work, compulsive physical exercise, internet/tv, shopping, etc
Basically, they are divided into functional and dysfunctional type. Below discussions focused on the dysfunctional like drug, alcohol and
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The addict starts to act out his belief system in a ritualistic manner and his behavior is more out of control.
Because the addict must make emotional sense to himself of the inappropriate behaviour, he turns to denial, repression, lies, rationalizations, and other defences to cope with what is happening. When the addict acts out, he must withdraw into his addictive personality to receive support. He started to isolate himself from others and the loneliness becomes another signal to act out (more alcohol or drugs). This vicious cycle serves to strengthen the addictive process. The behaviour becomes more ritualised. As the addict becomes more controlled by the process, those people around the addict sense his emotional withdrawal and react to it. This is the start of people problems, as the addict manipulates people and treats them as objects. The next thing that happens is for the people around the addict to label him as irresponsible, troubled, tense, crazy, or strange. Stage two, includes the development of tolerance (not able to escape the pain).
Not only the addict is avoiding people now, if possible, people around him also wanted to avoid him because of the many intolerable issues like lies and stealing that the addicts bring forth in the family, neighbourhood or workplace if he is still employable . Relationship starts to dwindle and causes confusion and resentment not only with the addicts but among other family members too.
Because of
Addiction is a chronic brain disease that often results in some sort of relapse. Addiction is characterized by inability to control drug use which results in problems with one’s behaviors and interpersonal relationships. This disease causes compulsive behaviors such as the need to use drugs despite the many harmful consequences that affect the addicted individual and those around him or her. Although for most people, the initial decision to use drugs is a one time lapse in judgement, the brain is easily affected by these drugs if the person decides to use these drugs multiple times. The changes that occur to the brain over time will cause the addicted person’s ability to resist the intense impulses of drugs to be altered causing the addict to often give into the temptation of these drugs. Like other chronic diseases, addiction often involves cycles of relapse and remission. Without treatment or engagement in recovery activities, addiction is progressive and can result in disability or premature death. Drug addiction is an issue that many people deal with whether they are the addict or the addict is their loved one; but with a good source of support anyone can over come the challenges and consequences of addiction.
A short term addict should immediately seek the help of a qualified professional in attending rehab. It can cause serious health problems especially if it escalates. Early effects attributed to substance abuse it impairs the judgement of affected people and results in self-delusion which keeps them locked into an increasingly destructive pattern. It is a serious psychological mechanism which operates unconsciously which in the end causes family problems or relationships with friends, partners and even children
To understand addiction further, it is important to look at how drugs have neurological effects in a human body. Drugs can be ingested in various ways; while some are taken orally, some are smoked (cannabis) while others are injected directly into the blood stream (Heroin). Once in the body, they mainly affect the reward pathway in the brain, known as the dopaminergic pathway, which in turn gives pleasure. Even though all drugs affect the reward and motivation pathways in the brain, their speed depends on the way the drug has been consumed. Over constant use of drugs, the cognitive functions are impaired as the effects become more prominent in learning, memory
Addiction is everywhere, from celebrity tabloids, to television, and possibly to a family member or close friend. There is alcoholism, drug abuse, and gambling addiction; the effects of such are devastating. The purpose of this paper is to address some of the different forms of addiction and types of addictive behaviors.
Addiction is something that occurs when you become dependent on a substance or activity. When people are overwhelmed, things can become too hard to handle which can lead to addiction. The addiction then takes over their body and they can not control it, they are always craving what they are addicted to and using it to cope which makes them stop thinking straight. People are worried about things that are not in their control such as their environment, culture, friends and family which can make people develop an addiction. In the novel Three Day Road by Joseph Boyden, Elijah and Xavier turned to morphine when things got hard in the war. Both Elijah and Xavier were stressed with the pressures of the war. Many factors influenced Elijah and
Addicts can still pursue normal lives. They can clean their apartment and even have a job. For example, some of the psychiatrist’s patients actually worked jobs while addicted to heroin. Sally states that addicts have time to make other choices and do other things. These addicts could seek out treatment or even quit cold turkey. She has evidence of some of her patients quitting completely. So it is possible for addicts to make other valuable decisions and choices to benefit them and lead them to quitting. However, relapse can occur but during the time they are not using the drug they have a choice to do it or to not do it. Internal and external cues also play a role in use of the desired drug. For example, in the external cues if a person sees something or even hears something it could trigger them into reuse of the drug. Another example, in the internal cues if a person feels stressed or bored that can trigger their reuse as well. There are also factor that can cause the patient to not reuse the drug such as going to jail, disappointing their family, or losing a job. Some of her patients came to a point of self examination and that led them to want to fix their current addiction. The small choices like who to spend time with is crucial during the recovery phase because they could cause relapse. The
Addicts blame others when things go wrong, they make loved ones feel guilty or ashamed, and maintaining an addiction can take a financial toll on a family. Children, pets, and other family members are often neglected and left to fend for themselves when living with an addict. Addiction can also cause separation in a family. Eventually patience runs out and people end up walking away from the addict when they refuse to get help or take responsibility.
The addiction physically affects the individual involved because it pulled him away from the reality he lived in. He was no longer a person that was connected to his job and the life he had. He found himself running from place to place trying to find some level of value, especially as it relates to his inability to function. He was a person who was highly disregarded and did not have the type of function that allowed him to understand and have an appreciation for life. As a result, this was an adverse effect of his condition and more importantly the negative effect of his addiction.
Addiction can become more important than the need to eat or sleep. The urge to get and use the drug can fill every moment of a person's life. The addiction replaces all the things the person used to enjoy.
Sub details-One common disorder is bipolar disorder which is when the addicts may go through various emotions in a short period of time since they soon forget who they really are.
An addict's brain undergoes changes that lead to irrational behavior. Addicts do stupid things, but they are not stupid. The irrational (pre-rational to be more accurate) part of the brain hijacks the rational side of the brain (pre-frontal cortex). This is why they make emotional decisions that seem irrational, and some addicts make poor decisions from fear of withdrawal.
For instance, substance abuse takes over one’s ability to think about the cause and effect of their actions. Many times they tend to steal from family or friends, and when this happens it can result in several fallouts. For this reason, family or friends can no longer trust or invite the individual for social gatherings in fear of them stealing. This effect can disassociate the child from relatives and friends. Also, many substance users neglect their children because their priorities are focused elsewhere. An individual that uses a substance is due to the fact that they want to escape from challenges in their life.
This then results in lack of control when the same outcome can no longer be established. This leads to increasing dosage or behavior to try and achieve the same high or to possibly better it. Substance addictions leave the body constantly craving a good feeling despite the consequences they may have. In order to understand the real mentality of someone with addiction/s is to examine a person in a philosophical and psychological way.
In our society we place high regard in individuals that are independently motivated and generally motivated towards purposes that are considered to be respectable within our society as contributing something. When individuals suffer from addiction deviate from this acceptable behavior they are often ostracized by society and in turn fall into a cycle where they are unable to better themselves not only because of their own addiction but because of the limiting view of an addict in our society. When addiction takes over an individuals being they become less capable of making decisions not related to finding or using a drug. Another aspect of this is the range of what addictive behaviors are considered acceptable in our society where it is
Many people feel too confident and think their life is in control and that there is no ways they can develop a drug habit. Having a drug addiction is overwhelming for many people in our society. A person with a drug addiction will have difficulty accomplishing their goals in life. Anyone can become trapped and loose themselves in drug addiction. Drug addiction has an effect on your body especially your brain. Psychologically, it is mentioned that the age someone starts a drug addiction, the brain stops maturing and this causes issues within your circle of family and contributes to getting caught up in delinquency. It is never too late to seek for help, but the sooner someone seeks drug addiction treatment, the sooner the problem is resolved and has more of a chance to regain control of their life. In reality, refraining from substance abuse helps a person live longer and has a sense of safety by staying away from peer pressure since it’s a main reason most teenagers and adults start the use of drugs or relapse. In real world, there is positive peer pressure and negative peer pressure which can have an effect on a person depending which route the person chooses. Peer pressure is not the only reason people turn to the use of drugs. Personal and family problems, low self-esteem/weight issues/not belonging, losing a family or friend, losing a job, not having friends, all these possible factors may have a negative influence and may cause someone