Addiction The Evil Gene Case Study

1814 Words4 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Cause and effect essay about alcoholism

Addiction: The Evil Gene For several decades, the matter of addiction has been disputed, many believe it to be self-inflicted; others believe it is genetically driven. Researchers are currently proving the former incorrect; they are coming closer to pinpointing the gene that is associated with addiction, more specifically alcoholism. Children of alcoholics, being genetically predisposed to addiction, are more likely to become addicts. The prominent root of the controversy lies in question of whether alcoholism is considered an inheritable disease. “The AMA (American Medical Association) has labeled it a disease for decades… it meets their criteria for classification as a disease” (Ruth np). Alcoholism can breakdown a person’s ability to heal itself like cancer and diabetes, but frequently those who are suffering from addiction additionally face social stigma, feelings of hopelessness, isolation, and low self-esteem. Ruth, addiction researcher and former addict, urges society to change its mindset around those who suffer from addiction; she persuasively …show more content…

In this study a 30-year-old man named George is a functioning alcoholic with a junior marketing executive job and consumes alcohol nightly at social events. George refuses to acknowledge the negative consequences of his excessive drinking habits or any of the red flags that indicate alcoholism: spending an inappropriate portion of his income on purchasing alcohol to satisfy his cravings and deteriorating relationships as he grows more insensitive to their needs and desires. Upon looking at how he spends his leisure time, it is obvious that he suffers from alcoholism (Hayon np). This study supports the idea that alcoholism is very difficult to self-diagnose and that alcoholics frequently prolong seeking treatment as friends and family fail to see the alcoholism as a

Show More
Related

  • Bill Wilson: Leader of the Big Book

    542 Words  | 2 Pages

    “The harmful use of alcohol is a global problem which compromises both individual and social development. It results in 2.5 million deaths each year. An intoxicated person can harm others or put them at risk of traffic accidents or violent behavior, or negatively affect co-workers, relatives, friends or strangers. Thus, the impact of the harmful use of alcohol reaches deep into society.” This is a scary statistic which figuratively states that every thirteen seconds someone dies in a death related to alcohol. CBS news reported that more than 30 percent of American adults have abused alcohol or suffered from alcoholism at some point in their lives. This is a staggering number which is widely overlooked because alcohol is legal. Those who suffer feel helpless and trapped by their addiction being unable to stop and quit on their own. Thankfully a man named, Bill Wilson, lead a group of men to write how to become set free from the slavery of addiction.

    Read More

  • The Con-Artist Named Addiction By Sally Satel

    962 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Overview of Cocaine

    1765 Words  | 4 Pages

    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

    Read More

  • Addiction: A Desease Or A Choice?

    675 Words  | 2 Pages

    Although it has been found true that drug and alcohol dependency can be passed down through hereditary there is no concrete evidence I have found that proves that this is a disease.

    Read More

  • Alcoholism: Recovery Experiences Between Men And Women

    2428 Words  | 5 Pages

    Robinson, David. From Drinking to Alcoholism: A Social Commentary. London: John Wiley and Sons, 1976.

    Read More

  • Alcohol Is Powerless Over Alcohol

    902 Words  | 2 Pages

    Brendan Behan, an Irish poet and writer, stated, “One drink is too many for me and a thousand not enough.” For alcoholics, it is hard to consume one alcoholic beverage and after drinking ten beverages, they feel as though it is not enough and should continue drinking. This is a situation that occurs too often and is a real struggle to overcome. In fact, variations of Behan’s quote have been used in alcohol recovery programs worldwide. But why must some alcoholics use his quote to understand the power that alcohol has over them? There are three contributing factors that lead to alcoholism - mental health, genetic structure, and social environment.

    Read More

  • Is Addiction A Disease Or A Choice Essay

    1474 Words  | 3 Pages

    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

    Read More

  • The Dangers of Alcohol and Alcoholism

    3315 Words  | 7 Pages

    “For every family that is impacted by drugs, there are another 10 to 15 families impacted by alcohol abuse. It's a pretty big deal. We have a tendency to only look at part of the puzzle.” (Kevin Lewis). As a society we tend to categorize the severity of addiction in a way that drugs are the most dangerous and alcohol being just a problem. Because alcohol addiction can be a slow progressive disease many people don’t see it in the same light as drug addiction. An addiction to drugs is seen as being a more deadly and dangerous issue then that of alcohol because a drug addiction can happen more quickly and can kill more quickly. Alcohol is something that is easy to obtain, something that is found at almost every restaurant. People with an alcohol addiction can not hide from alcohol as easy as a drug addict. Approximately 7 million Americans suffer from alcohol abuse and another 7 million suffer from alcoholism. (Haisong 6) The dangers of alcohol affect everyone from children with alcoholic parents, to teenagers who abuse alcohol, then to citizens who are terrorized by drunk drivers.

    Read More

  • Dry: A Memoir

    1541 Words  | 4 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Alcohol Abuse: Alcoholism as a Disease

    2169 Words  | 5 Pages

    The problem of alcohol abuse has been recognized for thousands of years, but only more recently have we begun to see alcohol addiction as a treatable disorder. According to the Classical Disease Model of `Alcoholism,' habitual use of alcohol can be identified as a disease. Webster's Dictionary defines the concept of `disease' as follows: "Any departure from health presenting marked symptoms; malady; illness; disorder." Therefore, as many occurrences of alcohol excess provoke such symptoms, it is somewhat understandable that `alcoholism' is classified as a disease. The Classical Disease Model appears to offer a hopeful option. Treatment and sobriety can allow people to lead fulfilling lives. Adjacent to the notion of alcoholism as personal failure or moral deterioration, the Classical Disease Model appears to be a more desirable concept as it provides a motive for the alcoholic to seek treatment and gain sympathy, minimizing personal guilt. As alcoholism is seen as a progressive and, to an extent, hereditary illness for which those afflicted are not accountable, victims avoid being ostracized from society (Jellinek, 1960). Labeling the problem as a `disease' allows the medical profession to take responsibility for the treatment of alcoholism, which puts the problem in a more favourable light than if it were in the hands of psychologists or social workers, thus detaching the stigma connected with the problem while it is put on a par with other diseases such as diabetes or cancer. However, critics of the Classical Disease Model believe stigma helps reduce alcohol problems and aids the alcoholic. Any effort to reduce the stigma which is faced by the alcoholic will reduce pressures to moderate consumption and could have the additional ...

    Read More

  • Drug Addiction as a Disease

    899 Words  | 2 Pages

    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...

    Read More

  • Sociological Perspectives on Alcohol Use, Problems, and Policy

    2339 Words  | 5 Pages

    This research paper will help enable sociologists to determine what the ongoing effects have on an alcoholic and further provides information on the long-term effects that society has to deal with. The significance of alcoholism and sociology is the ability of sociologists to research and discover how human behaviour is affected on many aspects of its effects on a person. An alcoholic can be described as someone who is addicted to drinking alcoholic beverages in excess. What starts out as social drinking can lead to excessive drinking and the many problems associated with alcohol abuse and i...

    Read More

  • Addiction in Adolescents

    992 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Pros and Cons of Drinking Alcohol

    1299 Words  | 3 Pages

    Alcohol abuse is the most common problem, nowadays. In fact, majority of people drink alcohol repeatedly to the point where they have difficulty to stop. Statistics show that, as much as, “40% of college students report drinking five or more drinks in one episode” (Walters & Baer, 2006). Alcohol has become more popular over the years as advertisements, simultaneously with commercials of it, filled the media. It also is easily accessible and cheap in comparison to other psychoactive substances. On the other hand, alcohol safety awareness programs are barely noticeable. My research will present how alcohol and its abuse gets into people’s lives and how it influences their physical and mental health, as well as, social existence.

    Read More

  • Argumentative Essay On Nature Vs Nurture

    1075 Words  | 3 Pages

    Researchers have placed more emphasis on nature because of addictions (Agin).. For this reason, there is the same amount of chances to be an alcoholic as there is to have a mental disorder if someone in the family has had or was either because of genes. Newspaper reports, “scientists are on the verge of discovering the gene for alcoholism.” (McLeod). Gaten himself in 1883 suggested that human society could be improved by “better breeding” (McLeod). What Gaten is trying to say is that the children of two adults would not have any mental disorders or be an alcoholic if there was better breeding. The behavioral genes are the genes that gives inheritance of alcoholism, or addiction. So, behavioral genes can give inheritance of alcoholism or other addictions by the wrong breeding. In summation, if one's grandparent or even an ancestor has an addiction, there will be a good chance that the breeds will have the same type of

    Read More

More about Addiction The Evil Gene Case Study

Open Document