The Problem Of The Addiction

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 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.

In order to better understand addiction as a disease as opposed to a moral dilemma it first must be broken down. First you must look at the way in which the chemicals affect the brain. The first attempt at partaking in any mind altering substance can be looked at as a choice to the individual. However what happens after that first

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.

Is addiction a disease? This question has long been debated and not just among the medical community. It seems if you ask this question to any random people you can find varying opinions on the issue. Stanley Peele's wrote an article which argues that addiction is not a disease and the growing influence of addiction as a disease will create problems within our society. Stanley presents several arguments for his points, however these are not strong enough arguments for people to consider his point of view. Addiction is not a disease, because addiction is a choice, it's something a person does and not has, and it refers to a behavior. This essay will expand on Stanley Peele's arguments.

At the end of the course, it would only make sense that we turn to the question that we considered at the beginning of the course: What is addiction? Although the many decades of research on the topic have focused on many of the same topics, there are still disagreements on the answer to this question. Despite differences in opinion related to some of the most basics aspects in the field, there have been improvements in treatment and the way the topic is discussed. When I began this course, I was firmly ground in the belief that addiction is a disease, but there were some different parts of the course that have encouraged me to reexamine my initial understanding of addiction. This final paper will detail the process in which my beliefs at the

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.

Addiction is formed by an initial choice fueled by external beguiling factors. From the time we are born, we know absolutely nothing, our minds are a blank slate. In fact, according to Jean Piaget’s cognitive stages of development, the mind does not begin to think abstractly from concrete ideas or reason until the final stage (formal operational), which lasts all the from age twelve and on. Because of this, we can deduce that at any age in our development, we are susceptible to external factors influencing our behavior. With that being said, a person’s decision to participate in the use of any substance is influenced by much more than their knowledge that it is “wrong”. Peer pressure, stress, curiosity or even medical practices can ignite the choice to abuse substances. The majority of addictions that begin in the pre-teen and teenage years stem from their exposure to drugs and alcohol in the media, many even claim that

Addictions are strongholds and bondages that are more often than not difficult to overcome. The addiction holds a person’s well-being captive which result in unusual behavioral patterns. According to Gabor Maté and Arold Langeveld “addiction means be to a slave” relatively speaking when a person is addicted in reality they are a slave to the stimuli. Furthermore the outcome of addiction will result in behavioral patterns that will satisfy the 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.

There are a selective few that may feel that addiction is a choice and not a brain disease. There are various possibilities that may lead to an individual voluntarily using drugs. It is very doubtful that it is due to brain disease but in fact to stimulate a craving that is not essential to sustaining life. Psychologist Marc Lewis argues; “The brain changes with addiction,” he writes. “But the way it changes has to do with learning and development — not disease.”

The disease model of addiction and the moral model of addiction provide completely different explanation for the tendency of substance abuse. The disease model of addiction predates to 1784 when the American physician Benjamin Rush published a pamphlet which discussed alcoholism in medical terms and outlined treatments for what he considered was a “disease” (Atkins, 2014, p. 52). This model of addiction generally argues that it is not the individuals fault for their addiction to drugs and that not all, but some people, will inevitably become addicts in the future (p. 52). Inversely, the moral model of addiction does not view addiction as something that an individual “cannot control,” rather this model looks at addiction as something that an individual can certainly control but that the individual does not chose to because of “weak moral character” (p.52). Although both of these models have been, and still are, widely applied to other substances, the most common substance that it was used was for alcohol.

Addiction is all around us. It may be that cup of coffee in the morning for the caffeine stimulation, the cigarette that is smoked for the nicotine, or an alcoholic drink used to relieve a stressful day or situation. For some, the addiction may not be to a substance, but to compulsive behaviors such as gambling, playing video games, or shopping. Consequences to addictions can impact an addict’s physical or mental state. Addiction can also have detrimental impact on the people that surround them. Watching a relationship fall apart because a person has an addiction to drugs, alcohol, or another addictive behavior is a sad thing to happen to anyone. Unfortunately, those with addictions usually won’t admit they even

Addiction is a dependence on a substance in which the affected individual feels powerless to stop. Millions of Americans have addictions to drugs, alcohol, nicotine, and even to behaviors such as compulsive gambling and shopping. Recent studies suggest that millions of Americans are addicted to food, as well.