Psychological Factors of Addiction Essay

“Meth, not even once” is a popular phrase that is associated with this drug. This drug has many known horrible effects associated with it, plus many effects more I am sure are going to be discovered over time. I am intending to cover the history, effects, the different categories of meth abuse, and the withdrawal effects of Methamphetamine in this paper, and what to do if you suspect someone you know is using meth.

It is believed that certain individuals are predisposed or vulnerable to addiction based on biological, psychological and social influences. The euphoric high produced by many addictive substances is the result of overstimulation of the “pleasure center” of the brain. This is the same area that controls emotions, fear, self-control and overall feelings of wellness. The presence of these foreign chemicals creates a response that the brain will crave as soon as it fades. The brain’s chemistry works against its own health, as it rewires its decision making faculties around the primary goal of finding and taking more of the drug” (1). Many people mistakenly believe that psychological addiction is somehow less serious or real than physical addiction. The psychological aspects of addiction are much more challenging to repair and recover from than the physical addiction. Psychological addiction can last for years or even a lifetime.

Brecht, M., & Herbeck, D. M. (2013). Methamphetamine use and violent behavior: User perceptions and predictors. Journal of Drug Issues, 43(4), 468-482. Retrieved from

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. For example, the following excerpt is from the harrowing Leaving Dirty Jersey: A Crystal Meth Memoir by James Salant:

“I want to be addicted to meth!” Have you ever heard anyone say this? While millions of people use methamphetamines, it would be difficult to find a person that had the desire to become addicted to it. Despite a radical increase in the number of people using this drug and the terrible consequences of doing so, it has recently propelled in popularity. Meth addiction is so common because the use of the drug is prevalent in many areas and because there is little knowledge about the risks involved. Few people comprehend the long-term effects of meth on the brain and the body. Methamphetamine is an extremely powerful drug and is so dangerous because it only takes one time to become seriously

According to the biological perspective, drug use may start off as casual, but through continued use, it produces changes in the brain that influences the onset and maintenance of drug addiction. (Horvath et al., 2013). Drugs have their most prominent effects on the function of neurotransmitters. Almost all major drugs of abuse activate the reward system and cause a flood in the levels of dopamine which is a neurotransmitter that is involved in pleasure. As a result, not only do people learn to associate drug use with pleasure, but the brain also starts to reduce its own natural dopamine production in adjustment to the levels of dopamine produced by the drugs. This is called tolerance, and the consequences of tolerance are highly influential

Methamphetamine: A Love Story is a book documenting the lives of various people who were immersed in the culture of using, selling, and manufacturing methamphetamine. Through interviews with over 30 individuals, Rashi Shukla brings to light the drastic effects that manifested when this drug took over their lives. Shukla aims to “illuminate this dark world,” (Shukla 2016, p. 11), and to provide insight as to why methamphetamine becomes more than just a drug to those involved with it.

The significance of the proposed research is three-fold: (1) Treating METH relapse. METH abuse is the most serious drug problem in the majority of US counties1,2 with behavioral modification therapy being the only support available to METH users after rehabilitation. The development of addiction to drugs of abuse is regulated by a variety of factors, including pre-existing vulnerability. Important basic research in this area addresses questions such as mechanisms driving the shift from controlled to compulsive intake3. As a complement to this work, it is critical that we understand the factors that confer vulnerability to relapse after rehabilitation. These factors include depressive symptoms, stress and motivation, both conscious and unconscious,

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

Among the numerous definitions for addiction, there lies yet another to define it from a biochemical perspective. Milkman (1983) defines it as “self-induced changes in neurotransmission that result in social problem behaviors." This definition encompasses the psychological, biochemical and social aspects of addictive processes. It is not limited to substance abuse and can be applied to any activity characterized by compulsion, loss of control and continuation of the substance despite harm. This has helped investigators gain a better understanding of the nature of addiction.

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?

Drug addiction is a complex problem in society today. Addiction is a condition that extremely affects the person’s mind and body. Addiction also has wide sweeping effects on that person’s social connection and functioning. Unfortunately, many addicts don’t realize the social influence of their addiction until much of their functioning has greatly deteriorated.

“The overstimulation of this reward system, which normally responds to natural behaviors linked to survival (eating, spending time with loved ones, etc.), produces euphoric effects in response to psychoactive drugs. This reaction sets in motion a reinforcing pattern that “teaches” people to repeat the rewarding behavior of abusing drugs ”(“Understanding Drug Abuse). Using addictive drugs floods the limbic brain with dopamine, taking it up to as much as five or ten times the normal level. A person with elevated dopamine levels now has a brain that begins to associate the substance with an outside neurochemical reward (“Your Brain on Drugs”). As a person continues to abuse drugs, the brain adapts to the overwhelming surges in dopamine by producing less dopamine or by reducing the number of dopamine receptors in the reward circuit. The result is a lessening of dopamine’s impact on the reward circuit, which reduces the abuser’s ability to enjoy the drugs, as well as the events in life that previously brought pleasure. The decrease in normal dopamine levels encourages the addict to keep abusing drugs in an attempt to bring the dopamine function back to normal, except now larger amounts of the drug are required to achieve the same dopamine high, an effect known as tolerance (“Understanding Drug Abuse ). That is what leads to the state of addiction, which leaves the person in a cycle of craving, using, withdrawal, and relapse.

“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

A person’s body, in almost every aspect of its being, is addicted when one is a mild to chronic user and abuser. The nervous system, brain, and muscle tissue are all living in anticipation of the next high. So, for the addict, it is crucial that the cycle of behavior, is broken. The addict needs to pull up the anchor that keeps them from moving forward. This means changing environments, patterns and even sometimes friends and social associates.