Being on the outside of addiction We’ve all heard of addicts but what really qualifies an individual as an addict? Addiction is defined as “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.” (Dictionary.com, 2002) Last Monday, I had the opportunity to observe an open Alcoholics Anonymous session at Calvary Chapel in Reynoldsburg, Ohio. Upon arrival, there were two people already there. One lady appeared to be the facilitator as she was seated at a table with sign in sheets and class material. I quickly introduced myself and explained that I was there to observe as a class assignment. She warmly welcomed me, handed me some reading material and offered me to sit where I pleased. The room was located in the multipurpose room of the church. There were no windows, just an assortment of chairs positioned in a circle for easy discussion. While waiting for the others to trickle in, I was educated that the weekly sessions were formed for addicts to discuss their journey of addiction, and to provide and receive support for their decision to remain sober. The meeting opened with group facilitator making everyone aware that I was a student observer that would be observing for the night. I was asked to introduce myself and I also agreed to keep their stories and names anonymous when writing this paper. It somewhat
The effect of addiction have consumed billions of individuals all over the world, not only consume but also killed. Individuals have relied on drugs to fill the void in their life that is missing. The addict is not only hurting themselves from the drug use but their families, friends, and their community. In this paper, it will give a description of a 21-year-old male named Anthony. Anthony started using marijuana at the age of 20, trying to hide the pain from the death of his sister. Eventually, marijuana was not enough to get Anthony the extra high he wanted which Anthony made the choice to try another drug and eventually it
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
According to DrugAbuse.gov, long-term studies of drug use patterns show that most high school students who use other illegal drugs have tried marijuana first. Teens are often peer pressured into doing drugs; they get to comfortable with them they inevitably reframe to harder and more potent drugs. In Cole Meyer’s short story, “Addiction” the narrator is a struggling teen addict and his addiction continues to worsen as he ages. Meyer uses setting, character and conflict to illustrate the devastating effects of addiction on the individual.
This paper is a reflective report of the authors’ personal observations, thoughts, and experiences from attending one of the ‘Alcohol Anonymous (AA) meetings’ at Burnaby Fellowship Centre Society. It is a drop-in social club for recovering alcoholics and addicts where its members describe their experiences with alcohol or drug addiction, how they came to the society, and how their lives have changed as a result of attending the program. Burnaby Fellowship Centre Society is part of the AA group which is a self-supporting and independent body. Membership is open to anyone who wants to recover from addictions and the only requirement for membership is a desire to stop the addictions. The main purpose of the AA meetings is to help its members
Every day, hundreds of people experience the overwhelming effects of addictions. Individuals can become addicted to virtually any action or item. If individuals use addictive substances, there will be serious medical repercussions. This paper will focus on the idea of addiction through the fields of anthropology, psychology, and sociology, and how these fields have benefitted this prominent issue. Addictions are currently being researched by various social scientists in an attempt to fully understand their causes and cures.
Many people believe the misconception that an addiction is a moral problem and not a disease. To better understand the reasons why an additicition is in fact a disease; I will identify several types of addictions, and the problems associated with them. I will examine reasons why certain people are more susceptible for developing an addiction. Also, I will determine why many addicts deny their problems and many recovery methods addicts use to fight their illness. Researching these issues, will help aid my claim that addiction is a disease.
Addiction- a primary, chronic, neurobiologic disease, with genetic, psychosocial, and environmental factors influencing its development and manifestations. It is characterized by behaviors that include one or more of the following: impaired control over drug use, compulsive use, continued use despite harm, and craving. The difference between addiction and abuse is often times unclear. It’s a difficult call to make as a family member or a close friend that is dealing with a person like this in their life, but ultimately it is a call that only the addict can make for themselves. There are tons of different sources and tests and questions out there that can be done that can
Addiction: is it a disease or a choice? A disease can be described as “a disorder of structure or function that produces specific signs or symptoms, or that affects a specific location and is not simply a direct result of a physical injury.” Knowing this, one can believe addiction is a disease. It is something that is done frequently, that usually does not end, just as a disease; it cannot cease on its own, because it requires some form of treatment. The big question regarding addiction is why people believe it to be a choice opposed to a disease.
In reality, the meeting was held in a colorful classroom, we sat in rows not a circle, but there was coffee on a side table along with wall without donuts. The meeting began with a unison recitation of AA material. Then a young woman named Amari was introduced as the designated speaker for the evening. She identified as an alcoholic and shared her past experiences of feeling like out of place. Her topic was focused on identifying the barriers and inner-struggles that prevented attendees from coming to meetings in the past or present. She (a Black woman) explained that she often identified outside the group and was unable to relate to the majority White people in the meetings. Amari discussed this before
Both of the psychological and biological models explain addiction. In addition, both models take a holistic approach in their arguments. They simply
Americans today tend to not realize we’re slowly being separated from each other. Whether it be electronics keeping us away from the family at night or just social media that keeps us from going outside and actually socializing. It has become a serious problem and it happens more and more as we continue to advance in technology. Not to mention it's forming another problem in the way we’ve shaped our societies so that it's extremely easy to be cut off from human connections without even realizing it. Johann Hari, The author of “The Likely Cause of Addiction” pulled my attention towards realizing that this addiction is a fast paced growing problem. Hari Specifically states,"We have created human societies where it is easier for people to become cut off from all human connections than ever before." He’s basically stating that it’s become way too easy to be disconnected from our society and its gotten worse over time. Honestly I agree with how he thinks, we don’t realize it but we’re all being slowly cut off from our society. Whether we like it or not we’ve created our society to be the way it is, and it caused us to be so easily disconnected from one another.
In the beginning of the meeting, the hostesses both greeted themselves and welcomed everyone to the meeting. They asked if there were any announcements that were needed to be made, and about two persons discussed an AA event that was approaching. It was similar to a retreat that individuals could attend with their sponsors. Another individual shared with the group about different have canceled their AA meetings for the week due to Easter celebrations. That is most likely why
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
“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
This essay is based on a client Ibrahim (30 year old, male) who is currently living with his three siblings with their biological father and step mother. The client has a history of juvenile delinquency with outrageous behavior. Due the suspensions from the school, he has a low academic performance. Currently, he is jobless due to abusing drugs and low academic performance, which made him feel depressed. The purpose of the essay is to evaluate the clients’ problems with the help of consistency theory and understand the possible neurological underpinnings that may have occurred in his brain. Also recommend possible interventions that are most fitting for client.