The Addiction Should Be Defined

Addiction is something which any person can posses, and can experience at some point in their lives. Some people are more prone to a addiction due to outside circumstances, and even though an addict can be damaging to themselves and others around them, addiction shouldn't be considered a

Addiction can be life threatening for the person and his family. Medically, addiction is a state of mind of the affected individual, which means a mental weakness that he or she is unable overcome. When addictions are left untreated, a person is likely to develop some severe to chronic behavioral changes.

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

There are many different definitions for addiction, Merriam-Webster state’s addiction is the compulsive physiological need for and use of a habit-forming substance (as heroin, nicotine, or alcohol) characterized by tolerance and by well-defined physiological symptoms upon withdrawal; broadly : persistent compulsive use of a substance known by the user to be physically, psychologically, or socially harmful. A&E network has capitalized on the impact addictions has on individuals and their families by creating a reality-based documentary show called intervention, that gives viewers an in-depth look into the lives of individuals who have different types of substance addiction. While also providing a look into the lives of family members of

Addiction is now mentioned in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual published by the American Psychiatric Association (DSM). With it being mentioned in this book, the idea cannot be dismissed about it being a disease (Leyton, Marco). This book is used to look up diseases and learn more about the overview, symptoms and possible cures. All of the diseases known are listed. It’s like the dictionary or encyclopedia of human diseases.

A more narrow definition of addiction would be to say that it involves a compulsive use of or mind altering acts or substances. With this type of addiction the individual will have usually developed a physical as well as psychological dependence on the behavior. Which will cause and an increased tolerance for the behavior overtime. As time goes on they will need to keep on delving deeper, and

As we talked about earlier in the semester, when people abuse drugs they affect different bodily functions. The brain is one of the major organs that drugs tend to alter. We know already that the brain controls the body. It is also the place where we develop and use logic and reasoning. In addiction, we see that they lose their sense of moral and reasoning. There main focus is to supply their habit. The body becomes focus on the id, it is the pleasure principle. So,

Is addiction a brain disease? The definition of disease is a disorder in an organism that produces specific signs/symptoms that affects a specific location and isn’t a direct result of any kind of physical injury. Addiction is a compulsive need for any substance or service that can cause a person or organism to form a habit, and is a chronic disease of brain reward and causes dysfunctions in the circuits. Addiction is also characterized by the inability to consistently abstain impairment in behavioral control. The idea that addiction is a brain disease is just about universally accepted among scientist that focus on addiction (Corrigan,2008). However few believe that addiction is not a brain disease because they claim that neural dysfunction is not sufficient for disease. (NCBI, 2012). Some agree that addiction occurs in the brain but should not be considered a brain disease or a disease at all(Lawrence 2013). Substance abuse is the most common addiction that people base their decision upon. These drugs affect the brain and cause different reactions to the rest of the of the body. The types of drugs include: hallucinogens, opioids, sedatives, stimulants, etc. cause different

Addiction is a disease that affects one’s behavior and brain to slowly lose control over drug use. The repeat high provided by drug abuse will overtime cause the brain to crave the drugs and the high that they provide. Opioid drugs that one can be addicted to include, codeine, hydrocodone, morphine, oxycodone, tramadol and more. Some stronger prescription cough medicines will contain opioids. Opioids are often prescribed to relieve pain and are prescribed by doctors often for tooth pain, surgical recovery, injury, and chronic conditions. With the common prescription of drugs containing opioids addiction is becoming more and more common. The article provide speaks of a young man prescribed a narcotic pain reliever for the injury he

Drug addiction is a complex brain disease characterized by compulsive, at times uncontrollable, drug craving, seeking, and use that persist, despite potentially devastating consequences. Scientists are calling drug addiction a developmental disease. It usually starts in adolescence or even childhood and can last a lifetime if untreated (Volkow, 2010). Drug addiction changes the brain over time. The changes in the brain caused by repeatedly using drugs can affect a person’s self-control and his decision making. It also causes intense impulses to take drugs. These changes in the brain, is what makes it so hard and impossible like for the person to stop abusing drugs (addiction, 2010).

Addictions can form from using mood altering drugs such as, nicotine, alcohol, cocaine and caffeine, or behavioral processes as with gambling, eating, sex or shopping (Schwartz 21). Schwartz

I do believe addiction is a disease. Of course we all know that a disease, is something that can consume all or parts of the body. Having an addiction to something such as illegal drugs, can become your disease if not careful. Someone who is constantly wanting more of this particular drug of their choice, and has been using it over a period of time without the same effect it had on them when they first started using the drug, has been consumed by that drug. Now that, that person is addicted and has now let the drug consume their body as well as their life, it has become a disease. While I am not one to smoke, drink or participate in any type of addicting supplement’s, cigarettes can consume one’s life, and have the same effect as a disease

Addiction can come in many forms, you can be addicted to a substance, an activity, even things to

Drugs contain chemicals that disrupts the brain’s communication system and the way nerve cells normally send, receive, and process information ( Drug abuse, 2012). Drugs such as heroin and marijuana contain neurotransmitters that activate nerve cells to send unusual messages. Addictive drugs provide a shortcut to the brain’s reward system by flooding the nucleus accumbens with dopamine, which is tied with pleasure (Help Guide, 2015). Many people are unaware of how

Firstly, the best way to understand this is to critically understand the definition of addiction. From the American Heritage Dictionary, “addiction is a condition involving the use of a substance, such as a drug or alcohol, or engagement in a behavior, such as gambling, in which a person has strong cravings, is unable to stop or limit the activity, continues the activity despite harmful consequences, and experiences distress upon discontinuance.” The truth is that when anyone reads this definition, most of them focus on the first part and get stuck there. An addiction does not only mean being a drug addict or an alcohol addict, which is what everyone thinks but it also involves the compulsive drive to