Addiction is defined as a chronic, relapsing brain disease that is characterized by compulsive drug seeking and use, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse. Addiction is normally thought of as drug abuse and alcoholism but people can also be addicted to things such as gambling and sex as well. The controversy on if addiction is a disease or a choice is a continuous debate. Everyone has an opinion on this topic, one side believes it’s a disease, while the other believes it is a choice. Although addiction has been assumed to be a lack of willpower and a weakness, addiction is actually a complex disease that changes the wiring of the brain. Addiction is a brain disease expressed in the form of compulsive behavior (Leshner.) Both devolping …show more content…
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” …show more content…
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
Satel says, “Addiction does indeed discriminate, it chooses those who are bad at delaying gratification” (2). Those who simply cannot resist the instant relief or euphoria are more likely to become addicts. Addiction also preys on those who do not possess the proper skills for gauging consequences. Those suffering from this trait are unable to look ahead at the true horror that awaits them at the end of the long dark tunnel. Another trait that increases the risk of addiction is impulsivity. Impulsive people have issues controlling themselves, and they often make quick decisions that were not through. Impulsivity characteristics often go hand in hand with the previously stated traits, making it one of the hardest to overcome. While personality traits may be genetic or just how we are predisposed, drug use often alters ones entire being, including these traits. So, who is to say if the traits listed above were not birthed from the very womb of drug use itself.
Addiction is the result of a gradual accretion of neurological tendencies based upon the ingestion of a particular substance or the taking of a particular action. It is cumulative, building over time, and varies in strength from individual to individual based on their own abilities to exercise willpower over themselves and their actions. Some people become addicted more easily than others. In the end, addiction is the result of a series of choices made by the individual. These choices usually have a massive impact upon the life of the person, modifying their friendships, family life, professional life and psychological/spiritual well being. The cumulative aspect of addiction is built up by an individual willfully choosing to either not see the direction they are heading in or to not take action even though they sense themselves following the path of an addict. Some kind of deterioration in their life is bound to take place, and willful ignorance is all that could keep one from noticing that. Likewise, addiction can he helped and cured by an individual choosing to do something different, to adjust their habitual reliance on a specific substance or action for pleasure or escape or whatever quality they are searching for. Only the individual can make that choice, but once they have made that choice other people and institutions can help them.
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. The biggest argument is that addiction is a choice not a disease. For those on the other side of the argument they claim just the opposite.
Addiction causes people to lose self-control so it is harder to resist the urge to go back to the addictive substance or drug (Jellinek 1952). For example, some people might have a harder time quitting an addiction if they have frontal lobe lesions. These lesions make it harder for people to make smart decisions of self-regulation therefore making them more susceptible to addiction (Peterson, Rothfleisch, Zelazo, & Pihl, 1990). The lesions are a physical thing that makes it easier for addictions to control people, but addictive substances and drugs also make it easier for people to lose control and make it easier for their addiction to control their actions and their wants.
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 is a disease that affects by ten percent of Americans but countless others, including family and friends, are devastated by it. Addiction is not a choice that a person can make; rather the disease takes away people’s ability to make conscious choice. Science has advanced to show exactly how drugs affect the brain chemically, proving that it is a disease and not a moral failing. Addiction is a disease and should be treated through rehabilitation and community based support groups such as Narcotics Anonymous (NA) and Alcoholics Anonymous (AA), not imprisonment, and the state and federal governments should increase funding and programs for prevention and treatment.
“Addiction is a brain disease expressed in the form of compulsive behavior,” says by Alan Leshner in his article, “Addiction Is a Brain Disease” featured in the book Drug Abuse: Opposing Viewpoints. Addiction has a variety of meanings depending on what your viewpoint of addiction. According to dictionary.com, the concrete definition of the word addiction is, “the state of being enslaved to a habit or practice or to something that is psychologically or physically habit-forming, as narcotics, to such an extent that its cessation causes severe trauma.” Basically various doctors and therapist consider addiction to be a genetic disorder. “Provocative, controversial, unquestionably incomplete, the dopamine hypothesis provides a basic framework for understanding how a genetically encoded trait — such as a tendency to produce too little dopamine — might intersect with environmental influences to create a serious behavioral disorder. Therapists have long known of patients who, in addition to having psychological problems, abuse drugs as well. Could their drug problems be linked to some inborn quirk?” (Nash, and Parker, pg 2 of 8). Along with addiction being possibly a genetic disorder, a minority of scientist believe that the word ‘addiction’ is too broad in its denotation. “If addiction means ‘compulsive, out of control use of a dangerous drug’ is this the same as a person’s being ‘addicted’ to a cell phone? Scientist cannot work or live with this imprecision.” (Erickson, 2 of 253). They believe that the word is misunderstood in denotation. “It is important to correct the common misimpression that drug use, abuse and addiction are points on a single continuum along which one slides back and forth over time, moving from user to addict, th...
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...
Understanding addiction is a complicated subject that inspires controversy and debate. Not only do people want to understand addiction because of the curiosity to understand human beings and human nature, but there are factors that go into the defining of addiction such as public policy and health care coverage. There are two theories that are on the opposite spectrum when it comes to addiction which include the “disease concept” and the “choice theory”. One defines addiction as a disease, something that is out of one’s control, while the other thinks of it as a choice or a moral deficiency that resides in a person. The consequence of this gap is the delay in gaining control over drug abuse. While the people who support the choice theory see
The reason addicts have lost control is because they have suffered permanent physical neurological changes based in their brains and nervous systems. The disorder manifests in long term obsessive-compulsive behaviors outside the realm of the addicts own control. It is true enough that the use of chemicals begins with chosen behavior. But if alcoholism or addiction develops, the problem has moved outside the realm of free choice. It has developed into a long term mental and physical neurological disorder. All the emotional 'feelings' involved in drug or alcohol seeking are based in neurology. Addiction is based in physical dependency created by altered neurotransmitter balances, and driven by millions upon millions of new living, functioning active neurological pathways which have been established to sustain the condition in the addicts brain. The new neurological pathways are permanently established, and they will not just disappear. The primary neurological disorder is only complicated by physical dependence on the substances. The physical dependence on the substances is secondary! Physical drug withdrawal does not change the underlying neurological addictive disorder. After drug withdrawal, long term overpowering cravings are predictable. T...
For several decades the matter of addiction has been disputed, many believe it to be self-inflicted, while others believe it is genetically driven. Researchers are currently proving the former incorrect, as they are coming closer to pinpointing the gene that is associated with addiction, more specifically alcoholism. Children of alcoholics are more susceptible to become addicts because of their genetic makeup.
Addiction, also known as substance use disorder, is the dependence on any type of drug, legal or illegal; alcohol and nicotine being two examples. Addiction occurs because “Drugs contain chemicals that tap into the brains communication system and disrupt the way nerve cells normally send, receive, and process information” (Understanding Drug Abuse). This disruption teaches the brain and person to keep repeating the sensation they get when using drugs, causing the individual to develop addiction problems. The sensation occurs from a rise in dopamine levels in the brain; so when an individual consumes alcohol and drugs, their dopamine levels boost. When the addiction develops, the individual’s brain changes, restricting them from making logical decisions, leading to uncontrollable cravings for whatever drug they are
A disease should be considered as an uncontrollable illness that can negatively impact one’s life for a consistent amount of time (Kneale, and French). Diseases are not wanted nor would one fuel the disease’s progression by continuously repeating the same behavior. Some particular diseases are genetically transmitted and are apparent at birth. An addiction, on the other hand, is the repetition of a particular behavior regardless of the consequences. If the behavior is stopped, then it is not uncommon for withdrawal symptoms to become evident. An addiction is something that is carried out through personal choice and is controllable based upon the actions that are being taken (Digilio). An addiction can be stopped at an...
Addiction is a progressive, chronic, and ultimately a fatal disease. It is progressive in the sense that if it is left untreated it will get worse. Chronic means long term. Once one becomes dependent, it is like diabetes, in that diabetes is an incurable disease that can only be controlled. Long-term addictions have the high potential to lead to death through overdose, AIDs, suicide, or an accident (Aronson 17). The cycle of addiction tends to follow a pattern.
Addiction is a psychological condition that comes up when a person takes a drug or engages in an activity, which becomes compulsive and interferes with the ordinary responsibilities in life (Leshner, 1997). The addicts in most instances do not know that their behaviors affect others, and that it is out of control. Addiction is a physical addiction, or the biological state, whereby the body adapts to the presence of a drug to the extent that the body becomes tolerant. Because of the tolerance, there is always a reaction when an individual stops the consumption of the drug. However, the majority of the addictive behaviors is not related to the physical tolerance or exposures to cues. In most of the times, people have a compulsive need to use the drugs as a form of reaction towards emotional or psychological stress that they face. Since addictive behaviors are psychologically based, most of the people tend to switch from one form of drug to another.