Denial of an Addiction
It is hard to put into words the exact reason a person becomes addicted to something such as drugs, alcohol or even gambling. Addiction can be described as becoming so dependent on something that their tolerance could be raised to dangerous levels. When an addicted person needs larger doses, it is because the amount that they originally started with does not provide that “reward” that it once used to. This could lead to a dangerous downfall including disability or even death. One of the hardest parts of the addiction is when the user is in complete denial that there is even a problem.
The theory of positive and negative reinforcement has been used as one way to try and explain the addiction. The positive reinforcement is the “addition of a stimulus or event that will increase the frequency of a certain behavior” (Two Theories of Drug Addiction, Positive Reinforcement and Negative Reinforcement., 2012). The negative reinforcement would be deleting the desire or urge to use the substance.
Before the addiction is in full swing, there are various stages the user will experience. There are many stages that the user will go through. The first stage would be experimentation. At this point, the person is not considered a user, yet. They are curious about the substance, the effects and the attraction that others also have in the substance. They may have friends or family members that talk about it. It may have been a case of peer pressure the first time the person uses the substance, or the person may try it as a coping mechanism to deal with stressful situations, such as the loss of a loved one, or a job. For some individuals it goes no further than the experimentation stage, for others it begins the “recreati...
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...medicalnewstoday.com/info/addiction/
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Two Theories of Drug Addiction, Positive Reinforcement and Negative Reinforcement. (2012, August 13). Retrieved from www.psychpost.org: http://www.psychpost.org/2012/08/two-theories-of-drug-addiction-positive.html
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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.
People argue whether drug addiction is a disease or a choice. Today, I will be discussing this argument in hopes to have a better understanding as to why this topic is so controversial. Throughout my research, I easily found information on this topic and I am still not sure I have found any answers.
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. For example, the following excerpt is from the harrowing Leaving Dirty Jersey: A Crystal Meth Memoir by James Salant:
Addiction in itself is very complex, there are many components to comprehending how addiction can affect a person’s well-being and livelihood. There are times when a person is undoubtedly dependent, for example on food and water for survival. There are additional fundamentals in a person’s life they may feel are vital to their survival. Low on the scale of impairment is exercising, a person can become addicted to exercising, but there will not be extremely harmful consequences, unless taken way too far, unlike if the person were to become addicted to a harmful drug such as methamphetamine, that would negatively affect their life in an extreme way. Eventually, the substance becomes the most important object in the person’s life, and it is their
When Jeanna became addicted so young she disrupted the normal development of the part of the brain that handles the abilities to plan ahead, handle complex tasks, and inhibit inappropriate behavior (Buzzed intro and Brain basics ppt slide 22). Jeanna showed the positive incentive theory of addiction. The hedonic value she gets from the methamphetamine does not equal the anticipated feeling. She expects the meth to make her feel numb, but she continuously has to take more and more of the drug to feel the same effect. As stated in our addiction powerpoint, “In chronic addicts, positive-incentive value of drug is out of proportion with pleasure actually derived from it” (Addiction ppt slide 9). This is important pertaining to the class because she is feeding her addiction more as she gains tolerance to the dosage of drug she initially took. The episode did not explain how severe her withdrawal was when Jeanna stopped using, but they did emphasize that she was using because of the pain of losing her son. I find this important because there is an emotional aspect to her drug abuse. She is numbing her emotional pain and this drives her to take more and more of the drug in order to reach the initial feeling she felt when she took meth the first time after her son
Addiction is something that may seem inevitable, but at the end it’s entirely the fault of a person who is addicted. In the article, “the power of habit” by Charles Duhigg, it states how Angie Bachmann became addicted to gambling and how it was entirely her fault because she kept accepting the offers from casinos and many other reasons. Both the casino and Angie knew what they were doing by Angie letting herself get into the situation and the casino encouraging it. She started out as a well-settled housewife. When everybody left the house, she ended up all alone without having much to do. Because of this, one day, as she was passing through the streets, she decided to visit a casino for a change. “She knew gambling could lead to trouble, so
The fact that addiction is a brain disorder is a new detail that I learnt from the HBO video. As pointed out by Dr. Volkow, addiction as a brain disease renders the addicts unable to control themselves in relation to curbing their addiction problem. In conceptualizing addiction as a brain disease, Volkow illustrates this standpoint with the fact that the brain has a “natural reward system” that facilitates the learning of “behaviors that are necessary for survival” (NIDA 2006). Learning that the abused drugs take over this system – the dopamine system of the brain - was pivotal in finally grasping the rationale behind referring to addiction as a brain disorder. The brain with time becomes dependent on the abused drugs. This arises from the fact that natural rewards no longer have the capability to produce “normal levels of dopamine or pleasure” (NIDA 2006). As time goes on, the continued intake of drugs subsequently makes the addict lose all control over their use and dependen...
"Drugs, Brains, and Behavior: The Science of Addiction." Drugs, Brains, and Behavior: The Science of Addiction. Feb. 2007: 1-30. SIRS Government Reporter. Web. 20 Jan. 2014.
Main Point: What defines an addiction? According to Psychology Today, “Addiction is a condition that results when a person ingests a substance…. or engages in an activity….that can be pleasurable but the continued use/act of which becomes compulsive and interferes with ordinary life responsibilities, such as work, relationships, or health.” This can range anywhere from drug use to eating disorders, to gambling, to even texting in today’s generation. Shocking to say the least, especially when most people do not even know they are addicted or are an addict until they realize this definition.
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
When a person first uses drugs, it is voluntary. After repeated use the user has becomes conditioned to keep using. The reason this happens is because drugs effect the brain’s reward center by filling it with dopamine. This makes the user feel pleasure by using which then makes the user want to keep using. When comparing this to classical conditioning the Neutral stimuli would be the environmental stimuli associated with drug administration, the unconditioned stimulus would be drugs effect on the brain, and the unconditioned response would be the reward received by doing drugs. After repeated use the conditioned response is now the environmental stimuli associated with drug use and the conditioned response is the reward received by doing drugs. Like with Pavlov’s dogs’ triggers response to the lab assistant and bell, Addicts can have triggers as well. Certain smalls, locations and situations can trigger and addict to use. For example, every day from work an addict sits down on their back porch and smoke a marijuana cigarette. The back porch would then become a trigger. So, every time the addict sits on their porch they then crave the marijuana cigarette. When someone is clean or sober, these triggers can lead to
Addiction is something that may seem inevitable but at the end it’s entirely the fault of a person who is addicted. In the article by Charles Duhigg ‘the power of habit’ Angie Bachmann got addicted to gambling, it was because of her fault as she kept accepting the offers from cassino and many other reasons.. Both knew what they were doing but still Angie let herself get into the situation, and the casino encouraged it. She was a well settled housewife, when everybody used to leave the house she was all alone. One fine day, while passing through the street she took a visit to casino just for a change.
Humans are environmentally and genetically predisposed to developing a motivated addictive behavior. Addiction is a brain disease and a behavior. 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 a drug seeking behavior. Nearly all drugs of abuse increase dopamine release. Dopamine is an important neurotransmitter in drug abuse and addiction. Dopamine plays a role in reward motivated behaviors, motor control and important hormones. It’s known as the “feel good hormone” which is why people abuse drugs that increase the release of dopamine. Since life is unpredictable, our brains have evolved the ability to remodel themselves in response to our experiences. The more we practice an activity the more neurons developed in order to fine-tune that activity causing addictive behaviors to be detrimental.
Nagle, Jeanne. Everything You Need to Know About Drug Addiction. New York: The Rosen Publishing Group, 2012.
There are many addictions in the world, and drug addiction is the biggest. People may experiment with the drug for many reasons. “If your drug use is causing problems in your life, then you likely have a drug abuse or addiction problem”.(Lawrence Robinson pg.1) Many people start out using drugs by peer pressure or out of their own curiosity. Stress, anxiety, lows self-esteem and depression could be another factor to start using drugs. The drug takes over your body and gives you a good feeling that many people tend to enjoy. The urge to use the drug can keep increasing rapidly after the first use. The urge can become so severe that your mind can find many other ways to deny the factor of addiction. Very few drug addicts can feel and realize when they have crossed the line with drugs. A drug addicts mind can build up a very large tolerance for the drug that they start to abandon the activities they used to do on a daily basis like showering, hobbies, socializing and even being associated with family members. The person with the addiction will continue to use the drug knowing that it is harming there body, but they don’t have any remorse. A drug addict will often try to hide their problem, so they can continue to use without anyone’s input. Family and friends may try to use preaching methods or tell the user that they need to stop using the drug. This method is not ...