After watching and analyzing Dr. Gabor Maté’s speech about power and addiction, it is extremely evident and clear to see how vague the word “addiction” is and how the global community today has related such a topic to a limited discourse that pertains simply to substance use and abuse. Dr. Maté talks about the various addictions to drugs such as heroin, cocaine, methamphetamines and others throughout his video, however where I agree most with him is when he discusses the need for the substance use and abuse and what can happen as a result.
Maté describes his definition of addiction as “any behaviour that gives temporary relief, temporary pleasure, but in the long term causes negative consequences, harm, and can’t give [the addiction] up despite the negative consequences”(Maté, 2012). I believe the most integral piece of information throughout Dr. Maté’s address is this definition. He does not define addiction as being related to any drug or substance, but rather defines it properly in my opinion by using blanket terminology such as “any behaviour.” Maté then goes on to define the addict, and actually addresses himself as an addict. Although he states that he has never done any drugs, he defines himself as an addict to classical music, and how he has been unable to give up this addiction of his, despite the fact that he has set himself up to face extreme consequences like losing his job to fulfill this need of his.
Dr. Maté’s analysis of an addict also peaked my interest and allowed me to view such situations completely different, in which I am now in full agreement with. Maté describes how an addict gets three things out of the addiction: pain relief, control and power (Maté, 2012). He then asks the question of why are these qu...
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...ver Happened to the Philospher-King? The Leader's Addiction to Power. The Journal of Management Studies, 28(4), 4. Retrieved February 1, 2014, from http://journals2.scholarsportal.info.uproxy.library.dc-uoit.ca/tmp/13821076395056471923.pdf
Maté, G. (2012, October 9). The Power of Addiction and the Addiction of Power. Rio di Janeiro, Brazil. Retrieved January 31, 2014, from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=66cYcSak6nE
Modesto-Lowe, V., Brooks, D., & Petry, N. (2010, April). Methadone Deaths: Risk Factors in Pain and Addicted Populations. Journal of General Internal Medicine. Retrieved 1 February, 2014, from http://search.proquest.com.uproxy.library.dc-uoit.ca/docview/871261884
Parada, H., Barnoff, L., Moffatt, K., & Homan, M. S. (2011). Promoting Community Change: Making it Happen in the Real World. Toronto, Ontario, Canada: Nelson Education. Retrieved January 31, 2014
In this paper I will be comparing and contrasting the Psychoanalytic formulations of addiction and the Cognitive models of addiction. According to Dennis L. Thombs, “people tend to get psychoanalysis and psychotherapy mixed up. Psychotherapy is a more general term describing professional services aimed at helping individuals or groups overcome emotional, behavioral or relationship problem” (119). According to Thombs and Osborn, “Cognitive refers to the covert mental process that are described by a number of diverse terms, including thinking, self-talk, internal dialogue, expectations , beliefs, schemas and so much more” (160). I believe these two factors play a major part in an individual’s life that has an addiction.
Peele, S. (1985). The meaning of addiction: Compulsive experience and its interpretation. Lexington, MA: Lexington Books/Heath.
It is a shame that it took such a personal tragedy “for [Dransfield] to engage so definitively with the experience of addiction…in such an astonishingly short time” (Armand, 1997). His work can only be marveled at and admired for its “richly cosmopolitan tone, its urgent sense of possibility, its sheer ‘cannibal energy’, and its persistent attempt to resolve difficult emotional problems” (Armand, 1997).
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.
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
Tanner, G., Bordon, N., Conroy, S., & Best, D. (2011). Comparing methadone and suboxone in
Sally Satel, author of “Addiction Doesn’t Discriminate? Wrong,” leads us down a harrowing path of the causes and effects that lead people to addiction. It can be a choice, possibly subconscious, or a condition that leads a person left fighting a lifelong battle they did not intend to sign up for. Mental and emotional health/conditions, personality traits, attitudes, values, behaviors, choices, and perceived rewards are just a few of the supposed causes of becoming an addict.
Toates, F. (2010) ‘The nature of addictions: scientific evidence and personal accounts’ in SDK228 The science of the mind: investigating mental health, Book 3, Addictions, Milton Keynes, The Open University, pp. 1-30.
In the book, Addiction & Grace: Love and Spirituality in the Healing of Addictions, May explores how addiction develops and can be treated from a psychological, physiological, and spiritual standpoint. This theme is clearly shown through out the text as it shows addiction from a whole person view. The book covers the development of addiction from desire through the experience of addiction. The key focus on looking at the matter of addiction from multiple stand points in then broken down by explaining how addiction is an issue psychologically, physiologically, and spiritually. By focusing on these three areas the author is able to present the reader with a clear understanding of addiction from all sides of the problem. This is then followed by insightfully exampling the treatment process, specifically through grace as a key focus of overcoming addiction.
Kemp describes that addiction often arises through a pursuit of pleasure, or to reduce pain. (Kemp, 2009a). The addict seeks to avoid the world, often living a narrow set of relations to the world and those in it. (Kemp, 2011).
David Sheff’s memoir, Beautiful Boy, revolves around addiction, the people affected by addiction, and the results of addiction. When we think of the word addiction, we usually associate it with drugs or alcohol. By definition, addiction is an unusually great interest in something or a need to do or have something (“Addiction”). All throughout the memoir, we are forced to decide if David Sheff is a worried father who is fearful that his son, Nic Sheff’s, addiction will kill him or if he is addicted to his son’s addiction. Although many parents would be worried that their son is an addict, David Sheff goes above and beyond to become involved in his son’s life and relationship with methamphetamine, making him an addict to his son’s addiction.
There are many different definitions in which people provide regarding addiction. May (1988) describes that addiction “is a state of compulsion, obsession, or preoccupation that enslaves a person’s will and desire” (p. 14). Individuals who suffer from addiction provide their time and energy toward other things that are not healthy and safe. The book
The biopsychosocial model of addiction theorizes that crossing biological, psychological and social and systemic properties are essential features of health and
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.
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.