Taylor Greubel
Mrs. Garrels
Biology
May 19, 2014
The Addictive Mind
The human brain is the moist complex and sensitive organ in the entire body. It is constructed of a complex network or billions of sensitive nerve cells called neurons. Neurons are electrically excitable cells that process and transmit information through electrical and chemical signals. One of the down falls of this incredible organ, is the neurological condition that the brain is so prone to, known as addiction. Addiction is the dependency of a particular substance, thing, or activity. Unfortunately, you can become addicted to almost anything in the world. The most common substances the brain becomes addicted to would be caffeine, nicotine, alcohol, and controlled substances.
Addiction is truly a disease; addiction is a chronic relapsing disease that affects your brain and neurotransmitters. Certain things the brain can become addicted to, like for example drugs and alcohol, can change the brains structure and function after repetitive use many people believe that addiction is a choice the addict makes which is untrue. The initial intake of the substance is usually always a conscious decision, but the dependence on a certain substances different for everybody. It may only take one time for the addict to become addicted; every person has a different tolerance level. After the initial intake, the substance is already causing changes in the brain that corrode the self control and ability to make the right behavioral choices. Some may not become addicted while others do; it all depends on the person’s biology. Scientist have discovered that the genetic coding of a person accounts for about 50% of the addicts vulnerability to addiction while the other 50% is the en...
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...Depending on the substance, drugs and alcohol will transform your brains shape and functional ability, but with any substance you can become addicted to, there is always a “need” aspect. The caffeine addiction experiment Jennifer Temple conducted shows that the caffeine intake caused the children to perform at a different level than they would have with no caffeine in their bodies. When caffeine enters your body it mimics the chemical adenosine that is produced by neurons. When you drink caffeine, the neurons are released throughout the entire day and as it produces more, it starts to shut down your nervous system. Caffeine, drugs, alcohol, and nicotine are all just chemical substances used to mimic different natural chemical substances and process to trick our mind. The most complex organ in our body can be so easily tricked and destroyed by man-made creations.
Before giving a broad overview on the definition of the Biopsychosocial (BPS) Model of Addiction, it must be understood that there is no simple unified theory of addiction that is universally accepted in the health world. This makes the definition of the BPS Model of Addiction not just a simple, one to two sentence definition of what this is, but rather a description of the components within the BPS model of addiction. In a broad sense, this model takes the stand that biological, psychological, and social aspects all contribute to the understanding of addiction. In short, the BPS model of addiction is an attempt to further explain addiction – how it occurs, and how it is maintained. Below is an image (Basic Representation of the BPS Model, 2017) representing this model
Koob, G. F. (2011, Winter -). Neurobiology of Addiction. Retrieved from Focus: The Journal of Lifelong Learning in Psychiatry: http://focus.psychiatryonline.org/data/Journals/FOCUS/4266/foc00111000055.pdf
Addiction is an extremely complex, moreover, controversial issue that has affected the many lives of individuals for ages. Addiction is comprised of biological, physiological, psychological, and social components that articulate behavior related to addictive behavior. Although, there are some that will not acknowledge their repetitive behavior as addictive, they
George F. Koob defines addiction as a compulsion to take a drug without control over the intake and a chronic relapse disorder (1). The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders of the American Psychiatric Association defined "substance dependence" as a syndrome basically equivalent to addiction, and the diagnostic criteria used to describe the symptoms of substance dependence to a large extent define compulsion and loss of control of drug intake (1). Considering drug addiction as a disorder implies that there are some biological factors as well as social factors.
A disease is what happens in the body as a result of those choices. As has been noted, many people do believe addiction is a sign of weakness. While the first time may be by choice, once the brain has been changed and affected by addiction. Over time the addict loses substantial control over his or her initially voluntary behavior, and it becomes compulsive (Leshner.) In Marc Branch’s “Drug Addiction. Is It a Disease or Is It Based on Choice? A Review of Gene Heyman’s Addiction: A Disorder of Choice” he discusses and explains Gene Heyman’s opinions on rather addiction is a disease or not. Heyman argues that people do not choose to be drug addicts, rather they make choices that lead to their habit of addiction. Heyman however does not believe addiction is an actual disease. Many others argue that addiction is not an actual disease because people can overcome the addiction without help or treatment. On the other hand, in Alan Leshner’s “Addiction Is a Brain Disease” he declares that addiction is an actual disease and explains “using drugs repeatedly over time changes brain structure and function in fundamental and long-lasting ways that can persist long after the individual stops using them”
The most commonly abused substances are Nicotine, Inhalants, Alcohol, Cocaine, Amphetamines, Prescription medications, Heroin, Ecstasy and Marijuana. 1a(National Institute on Drug Abuse, 2011) Initially, a person may find themselves using substances voluntarily and with confidence that they will be able to dictate their personal use. However, over the period of time that drug use is repeated, changes are taking place throughout the brain, whether it is functionally or structurally. Drugs contain chemicals that enter the communication system of the brain and disturb the way in which nerve cells would typically send, receive, and process information. The chemicals within these drugs will cause a disruption to the communication system by either imitating the brain’s natural chemical messengers or by over-stimulating the brains “reward system” by sending mass amounts of dopamine. As an individual prolongs his or her use of these substances, they may develop an addiction.
According to Leshner, drug addiction is a chronic brain disease that is expressed in the form of compulsive behaviors (Leshner, 2001). He believes that drug addiction is influence by both biological, and behavioral factors, and to solve this addiction problem we need to focus on these same factors. On the other hand, Neil Levy argues that addiction is not a brain disease rather it is a behavioral disorder embedded in social context (Levy, 2013). I believe, drug addiction is a recurring brain disease that can be healed when we alter and eliminate all the factors that are reinforcing drug addiction.
A summary of the article “Addiction: Choice or Compulsion” will explain the theories and models of addictive behavior. The moral model shows addiction as a voluntary act, which the addict can control. The medical model portrays addiction as a disease and compulsive behavior that the addict has no control over. The introduction of the third model will suggest that it is neither compulsive nor voluntary (Henden, Melberg, & Rogeberg, 2013).
Drug abuse and addiction are issues that affect people everywhere. However, these issues are usually treated as criminal activity rather than issues of public health. There is a conflict over whether addiction related to drug abuse is a disease or a choice. Addiction as a choice suggests that drug abusers are completely responsible for their actions, while addiction as a disease suggests that drug abusers need help in order to break their cycle of addiction. There is a lot of evidence that suggests that addiction is a disease, and should be treated rather than punished. Drug addiction is a disease because: some people are more likely to suffer from addiction due to their genes, drug abuse brought on by addictive behavior changes the brain and worsens the addiction, and the environment a person lives in can cause the person to relapse because addiction can so strongly affect a person.
Addiction is a very strong word that brings along many negative connotations. When we think of an addiction we imagine someone who depends on a certain substance, most likely alcohol to have their needs met. Addiction is defined by the Webster dictionary as, "a compulsive 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." Even though our society sees addiction and only applies the word to drug addicts and alcoholics, there is a much wider range of subjects that fall under the umbrella of what an addiction truly is. An addiction is a dependency on any kind of materialistic object that you use on a day to day basis that brings
The world involving drug addiction is a taboo topic to many. However, drug addiction is a very real topic that occurs worldwide. The widespread use of drugs is not restricted to the United States, with roughly five percent of the world’s population using in the past few months (Mosher & Akins, 2014). Many scientists, doctors, and specialists study addiction and try to find an explanation for why so many become addicted.
So, it is clear that addiction is all around us and can attack anyone of us at any given time. Even studies conducted show that people neglect to speak around their dependency for two primary reasons. Foremost, because people do not comprehend, or they bear a total misconception to their addiction, that they do not realize that addictions can be critical to their overall wellness. Moreover, second, many people believe being an addict will never happen to them, but, in reality, most addictions start off as simple little habits. Such as starting with one drink after dinner and before you know it you are drinking several drinks a day. However, one does not opt to be addicted to a substance, because addictions are physical defects in the brain, a disease, and not one’s choice.
Addiction The brain is the control center of the body. It controls thoughts, memory, speech, and movement(1).Also The brain like any part of the human body have some diseases such as Alzheimer's, Insanity, and addiction(1). three aspects of addiction that will be highlighted here are the similarities between drug addiction and food addiction, the differences between them, and what exactly an addiction is.
Humans are environmentally and genetically predisposed to developing motivated addictive behavior. Addiction is a brain disease and a behavior disorder. All behaviors are choices. Choices that adolescences make at a young age directly affect the outcomes of their futures. Many factors contribute to an adolescence, becoming an addict or exhibiting drug seeking behavior.
Drug addiction is a very big problem in today’s society. Many people have had their lives ruined due to drug addiction. The people that use the drugs don’t even realize that they have an addiction. They continue to use the drug not even realizing that their whole world is crashing down around them. Drug addicts normally lose their family and friends due to drug addiction.