Chemical dependence is a primary illness or disease that is chronic, progressive, and fatal if not treated. This disease is characterized by continued repetitive use of a mood-altering chemical despite negative consequences. Mood altering chemicals include alcohol, benzodiazepines, barbiturates, cannabis, cocaine, amphetamines, nicotine, opioids, inhalants, and hallucinogens. A chemically dependent person is unable to stop drinking or taking a particular mood-altering chemical despite serious health, economic, legal, spiritual, and social consequences. It is a disease that does not see age, sex, race, religion, or economic status.
There is no one single factor that causes an individual to become dependent upon a substance.
Genetics do seem to greatly predispose children of abusers or addicts to become dependent themselves, “family, twin, and adoption studies have convincingly demonstrated that genes contribute to the development of alcohol dependence, with heritability estimates ranging from 50 to 60 percent for both men and women.” “Several studies now suggest that illicit drug abuse and dependence also are under significant genetic influence. In these studies of adult samples, heritability estimates ranged from 45 to 79 percent.” (PH.D Dick, and PH.D Agrawal 111-118) Other risk factors include “lowered self-esteem, lowered tolerance for pain and frustration, few meaningful personal relationships, few life successes, risk-taking tendencies, peer pressure, and psychological illness.”("PN Mental Health Nursing" 133) Many times substance abuse begins with casual or experimental use in adolescence. “Adolescents who report low parental monitoring are significantly more likely to use a variety of substances.” (Shillington 15)”Adole...
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...ectronic Encyclopedia, 6Th Edition [serial online]. September 2013;:1. Available from: Publisher Provided Full Text Searching File, Ipswich, MA. Accessed November 30, 2013. http://ehis.ebscohost.com/eds/detail?sid=e69082d1-c6d1-471f-aa3d-c1299318ca5f%40sessionmgr114&vid=3&bk=1&hid=4102&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWRzLWxpdmUmc2NvcGU9c2l0ZQ%3d%3d#db=edb&AN=39003491
Hill K, Rice L, Connery H, Weiss R. Diagnosing and treating opioid dependence. Journal Of Family Practice [serial online]. October 2012;61(10):588-596. Available from: Consumer Health Complete - EBSCOhost, Ipswich, MA. Accessed November 30, 2013.
Freed C. Addiction medicine and addiction psychiatry in America: Commonalities in the medical treatment of addiction. Contemporary Drug Problems [serial online]. 2011;37(1):139-163. Available from: Consumer Health Complete - EBSCOhost, Ipswich, MA. Accessed November 30, 2013.
Fortinash, K. M., & Holoday Worret, P. A. (Eds.). (2012). Substance-related disorders and addictive behaviors. Psychiatric mental health nursing (5th ed., pp. 319-362). St. Louis, MO: Elsevier Mosby.
Volkows, N. D., & Muenke, M. (2012). Human Genetics. The genetics of addiction, Vol 131(6), 773-777. Retrieved from http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00439-012-1173-3
Adoption studies have also been utilized in addiction research related to genetics. Adoption studies involve the comparison of the concordance and correlation between offspring behavior (e.g. alcohol dependence) and the characteristics of both the biological and adoptive parents. Similarity observed between the o...
This leads to the second school of thought on medically assisted treatment. There has been a great deal of debate about the medication used to treat Opiate addiction, methadone. Many feel that the drug methadone is simply trading one drug in for another, as the addiction to methadone is quick and almost more powerful than an opiate addiction (Nelson, 1994). The withdrawals effects are far more intense with methadone and for this reason it is a lifetime maintenance medication. Some suggest that more rehabilitative programs are needed that would address the social problems the users have to help them recover, instead of the methadone program that is viewed...
McGovern, M. P., Xie, H., Segal, S. R., Siembab, L., & Drake, R. E. (2006). Addiction treatment
In furthering a genetically predisposed and socially-influenced explanation, there is an abundance of considerations when explicating criminal behaviour; for example, a non aggressive, psychologically sound individual may be influenced by peer pressure into recreational drug usage, as “Psychoactive drug abuse commonly results from a combination of low self-esteem, peer pressure, inadequate coping skills, and curiosity.” (Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, 2005) therefore suggesting that light recreational drug abuse can accrue to a dependence due to a multitude of social influences, which invariably leads to further crime in order to financially support an addiction.
Addiction is a dependence on a substance where the individual who is affected feels defenseless and unable to stop the obsession to use a substance or prevent a particular behavior. Millions of Americans have addictions to drugs, alcohol, nicotine, and even to behaviors such as obsessive gambling. Pharmacotherapy is a treatment process in which a counselor can use a particular drug to counter act an addictive drug or behavior. Not all counselors agree with this type of treatment. However in order to provide a client with an ethical treatment and unbiased opinions they should be made aware of all scientific evidence of different treatment options. “Thus, attention to addiction pharmacotherapy is an ethical mandate no matter what prejudices a counselor may have” (Capuzzi & Stauffer, 2008, p. 196). Some particular pharmacotherapy’s a counselor may use for the treatment of addiction are Bupropion (Wellbutrin, Zyban), Disulfiram (Antabuse), Naltrexone (ReVia, Depade), Methadone (Dolophine), and Buprenorphine (Temgesic, Suboxone).
Liehr, P, Marcus, M, Carroll, D, Granmayeh, K L, Cron, S, Pennebaker, J ;( Apr-Jun 2010). Substance Abuse; Vol. 31 (2); 79-85. Doi: 10.1080/08897071003641271
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.
Addiction, like other diseases, has the tendency to be genetic. “Addictive drugs induce adaptive changes in gene expression in the brain’s reward regions” (Bevilacqua and Goldman 359–361). The disease is also influenced by environmental conditions and behavior. Addiction genes can be passed down through family members of many generations. If one has addiction in their genes tries a drug and someone who does not have addiction in their genes and tries the same drug, it is more likely that the person with the gene will become addicted over the one without. Environmental conditions can also be a factor because someone’s lifestyle could contribute to addiction. Factors such as stress and peer pressure can influence drug or alcohol abuse. Behavior can also contribute to addiction because if a person’s attitude is obsessive and they have an addictive personality, they could become addicted to a substance. In “Addiction is Not a Disease” Daniel Akst explains actual diseases are Alzheimer’s and Schizophrenia, not addiction. For example, Akst mentions that “addicts tend to quit when the going gets hard” (Akst.) He also clarifies that addicts have the choice to have that extra drink or those extra pills every
Genetics predispose an individual to having an increased chance of becoming codependent upon drugs or alcohol. Studies of twins and of families that are prone to addiction suggest that about 50% of the risk for drug addiction is genetically based (EBSCOhost). One well-characterized relationship between genes and alcoholism is the result of variation in the liver enzymes that metabolize alcohol (NIH). The result of the liver breaking down the alcohol faster is a higher tolerance. Individuals with a higher tolerance to alcohol, need to drink more than the average person in order to seek the same biological effect. When heavy drinkers suddenly stop or significantly reduce their alcohol consumption, the neurotransmitters prev...
The person is dependent on the choice of substance because it seems to get them through the day with no problems or is like a gate way to happiness for them. There are different types of substances defenders such as depressants, stimulants and hallucinogens. These three categories contain alcohol, caffeine, and marijuana just to name a few. In society today, substance dependence is the main source that leads to substance abuse. Once the person is use to using these substances it will become a consistent thing and will also become a part of their daily routine. As an example, my aunt who lost her husband some time ago uses the stimulant nicotine. She first used nicotine as a stress reliever but now it has become an everyday thing. She smokes at least 3 packs of cigarettes a week. Since this started out as a stress reliever it has become a daily routine, and because of the amount of nicotine that is inhaled she now has lung cancer. Substance dependence can often get out of hand if people allow it to. Once the person becomes comfortable with the substance that person often becomes addicted to
Slutske, W. S., D’Onofrio, B. M., Turkheimer, E., Emery, R. E., Harden, K. P., Heath, A. C., et al. (2008). Searching for an environmental effect of parental alcoholism on offspring alcohol use disorder: A genetically informed study of children of alcoholics. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 117, 534-551.
It is important to consider how addiction to drugs begins. “Genetics accounts for approximately half of an individual’s vulnerability to addiction, including effects of the environment on gene function and expression” (Volkow). This basically means that once a person is exposed to drugs, they are more likely to become addicted to drugs after that exposure if their genes make them more vulnerable to addiction. Consequently, not every person who is exposed to drugs will develop an addiction because they do not have the genetic make-up that makes them an addictive person, meaning that: “…predisposing genes interact with [exposure to drugs] and other environmental factors to create vulnerability” (Volkow). People cannot change their genetic make-up to prevent themselves from becoming addicted to drugs. They can only limit their exposure to a drug filled...
Creating my personal genogram was a valuable experience for me. By mapping out my family’s structure, and considering the dynamics of the relationships therein, I am able to see how each member of my immediate family took on specific roles and that addictions are present on both sides of my family. My paternal grandmother, Ginny, was an alcoholic and passed this trait to my father. My mother demonstrated signs of substance abuse through smoking and drinking, and both parents passed these to my sister and me: Whitney struggled with various addictions, the most severe of which was methamphetamine and I have had an ongoing struggle with smoking and past experiences with anorexia.