It involves various factors, theories, and health risks, all of which are the foundations of personal philosophies of how addiction works. From a psychological perspective, numerous theories and explanations that deal with addiction exist. According to Burns (1997) as cited in Hanson, Venturewlli, and Fleckenstein (2009), “the explanations can include escape from reality, boredom, inability to cope with anxiety, destructive self-indulgence, to the point of constantly desiring intoxicants, blind compliance with drug-abusing peers, self-destructiveness, and conscious and unconscious ignorance regarding the harmful effects” (p. 57). Substance use disorders, such as alcohol, have indeed been linked to genetic and other biological components; however, this link was nourished and shaped by psychological, cultural, and social comments. For a theory to be truly effective, it must provide more, be more, than a mere acknowledgement a genetic predisposition. Rather, it should encompass their culture and lifestyles, immediate environmental influences, community and social
The second reason alcoholism should be considered a disease is because of addiction. Addiction is defined in the Webster dictionary as, an unusually great interest in something or a need to do or have something (“Addiction” 1). Many other drugs such as marijuana, meth, and heroine are commonly known as highly addictive substance. Alcohol on the other hand is widely forgotten to be one of those substance. In an article titled,” What is Addiction”, Henry R. Kranzier, MD and Ting-Kai Li, MD looked further into what is addiction is really
Most people have a confused idea of alcoholism as a disease that invades or attacks your good health. Use of such a strong word such as "disease" shapes the values and attitudes of society towards alcoholics. A major implication of the disease concept is that what is labeled a "disease" is held to be justifiable because it is involuntary. This is not so. Problem drinking is a habit in which the so-called "alcoholic" simply has decided that the benefits of drinking outweigh the liabilities; it is all a matter of personal choice. An alcoholic participates in or causes many of their own problems by their behavior and the decisions they make, so why should they be viewed as helpless victims of a "disease"(Skipper 1)? Alcoholism should not be
Margaret, thank you for your easy to follow discussion on the disease and moral models. I do agree with the disease model that some individuals are more prone to being an alcoholics than others because of their body chemistry. There is a saying, “you are a light weight,” some people use this term lightly, but it can also mean that their bodies are not able to properly digest the alcoholic in a manner that doesn’t affect them so rapidly as others. Miller (1993) explains that alcoholism develops because the body is not able to metabolize it properly. As you mentioned both models explain that both models have similar beliefs that denial implies they are weak.
Addiction is a complex disease that is influenced by several factors including: genetic, developmental, experiential and environmental factors (Goldstein & Volkow, 2002). Alcohol dependence, otherwise referred to as alcoholism, is characterized by frequent use of alcohol resulting in intoxication, a preoccupation with alcohol, compulsion to seek and consume alcohol, the inability to limit alcohol intake and the emergence of negative emotional state when the drug is absent (Gilpin & Koob, 2008; Ernst et al., 2012; Kunce, & Newton, 1989; Crews, 2012). There is an estimated 85,000 deaths annually caused by unhealthy alcohol consumption. Medical issues such as liver disease, neurological problems and malignancies, in addition to behavioral and
Many drug addicts go back and forth into the correctional system due to their drug and alcohol addiction. They are suffering from an addiction that they need help in overcoming, or else they will find themselves getting it the best way they know how. They will prey on the community by robbing and stealing to support their habit. The question is should they go to jail or should they get help for this habit? The answer is quite simple they should be offered help within the justice system to help deter crimes in the community. But in order to do this the offender must be willing to take the first step in gaining recovery from this addiction by admitting he or she has a problem. This will allow him or her help needed to overcome this addiction. Many offenders have been arrested over and over again to support a habit that they need to feed, and it seems like a waste of time and effort in trying to get help from a drug treatment program that they have to pay for, because they can’t afford it. Many drug treatment centers are too expensive, that it turns away the drug addicts that are in need of help and are crying out for the help. It seems like they would have to get arrested for the problem in order for it to be paid for, there is no way around it. Some drug programs ask for medical insurance, and many offenders do not have medical insurance let along afford to pay for it. Therefore, they continue to use drugs and alcohol due to no form of support or help unless they get arrested
Drug addiction has long been and still is a typical issue around the world. Jesmyn Ward writes about the effect of drug addiction in her community in DeLisle and the toll it took in her life and Rog’s life. There are different reason why people get addicted and various levels to which people become dependent on drugs, but the main thing I am going to be addressing is the multiple perspective on the causes for addiction. The ones I am going to explore are Low Income neighborhoods, social, financial, Dysfunctional family and personal responsibility/choice. The societal and personal factors are the most common because they have to do with emotional instability. Emotional instability results into Drugs. Many do not know how to deal with the
What if I was to tell you that everything you know about addiction is untrue? What if I was to say that our pre-conceived views on addiction were based on ignorance. It’s pretty simple really, it’s about CONNECTION NOT addiction.
“The truth is most families discover is that no one can cure another person’s addiction. Only addicts can do that for themselves.” The textbook definition of addiction is a persistent, compulsive dependence on a behavior or substance. Some researches speak of two types of addictions; substance addictions (such as alcoholism, drug abuse, and smoking) and process addictions (such as gambling, spending, shopping, eating, and sexual activity. Users that are guilty of any one of the addictions listed above are so caught up in their behavior they may not be aware of the problems it is causing for themselves or others.
Katie is an everyday 35 year old woman; she has a wonderful husband and 2 small girls, a great job and looking up the ladder of success. Over the past few years, she has dedicated herself to having success at work and success with having a loving family. Anyone would meet Katie and her husband, Lewis, would think they have everything anyone could ever want. Even with her seemingly perfect life, Katie hides a secret. Katie has succumbed to a life of prescription drug addiction.
There has been controversy surrounding the most recent issue on drug addiction, especially when it comes to treatment opportunities. To start, many people in our country don’t know how to define addiction or understand how drugs affect the brain. A drug addiction physically takes over the brain and body, and in many cases inflicts a psychological issue on an individual. For example, anxiety or depression. Addicts can also experience physiological symptoms that are uncontrollable and intolerable. Many scientists and psychologists have performed extensive research on the mind of an addict, proving its disease-like nature. There are treatment options for those with disease, some with similar characteristics to those that treat universally known
Society as a whole is impacted greatly by substance abuse and addiction. Not only does it hurt the abuser directly, but it also becomes an enormous financial and social burden on society. Addiction wrecks families, and also highly correlates with poverty because the drug abuser ends up giving everything that they have to keep their addiction going. It also places extraordinarily high demands on the education, criminal justice, and social service systems. Children and babies both are dangerously impacted by the addiction of their parents and the same addiction is likely to even show up in their own lives later on. Drug babies are being born every day already addicted to the same substances their mothers have abused; they are the ones who truly suffer the greatest consequences of the effects of addiction. Teenagers are peer pressured by the alcohol and beer industries to drink; many alcoholics in our society are a result from binge drinking while in college and even in high school. People bound by these addictions who never get the help they truly need or lose their family and feel alone often commit suicide because they feel they are unimportant to society and that ending their own lives is their only means of escape.
My aunt, who raised me as a child, battled with cardiovascular heart disease. The doctor had warned earlier when she was around 40 years old. She knew that her lifestyle and weight was putting her life in danger. I tried to get her to eat a healthier diet and exercise daily. She could not get herself to lose weight and get healthy. She suffered a two strokes a few years ago that nearly took her life and left her paralyzed on one side of her body. Of course, no one told her that she would not get the treatment she needed to recover because she got what she deserved. The doctor warned her many times. Everyone knew her diet, weight, and lifestyle lead to her strokes. But no one went
Based on our readings and my understanding some of the cause(s) of substance abuse and addiction have many factors that can play a key role. For example our text book points out that some people want to escape their reality, or numb their emotional pain. It can also be social pressure from peers or our own upbringing (Doweiko 2015).
Drug addiction is one of society 's biggest problems and it is rampant among teenagers and young adults and one of the most abused drugs is marijuana. Cannabis sativa or marijuana usually grows throughout tropical and temperate climates and then plant 's stems, leaves, flowers, and seeds are then dried. What attracts to most users is the mind altering effect these parts produce which is addictive to some extent. It is usually smoked as cigarette, or in a pipe. It is also smoked in blunts, in which cigars will be emptied of tobacco and refill with marijuana or sometimes it is combined with another drug. It can also be brewed as tea or mixed in food. Hashis is a more concentrated, resinous form which is sticky black liquid, hash oil. The