Argumentative Essay On Behavior Addiction

786 Words2 Pages

We hear people say, “She is addicted to drugs.”, “I play video game the whole day, am addicted to it.”, or even “He is addicted to piano, he cannot live without it!” The definition of addiction is in controversy due to its expansion of its categorization. The word was originally used to denote chronic brain functioning and mental disorder which involves loss of behavior control triggered by substances such as drug. However, recent studies suggest to include behavior addiction, since they recognize that particular behaviors seem to show symptoms and mechanisms that is similar to what are caused by addictive substances. Moreover, the word is sometimes frankly used to negatively describe individuals who devote to particular activities, but I claim …show more content…

Many sources including: The World Health Organization’s (WHO) International Classification of Diseases, Eleventh Edition (ICD-11), American Psychiatric Association’s (APA) Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5), and American Society of Addiction Medicine’s (ASAM), quote substance addiction to denote the word addiction. For instance, ASAM defines addiction as a chronic disease of brain reward, motivation and memory which cause dysfunction in biology, psychology, society and spirit (Smith 1). The characterized symptoms include inability to abstain, impairment in behavioral control, craving for rewarding experiences, diminished recognition of substantial personal and interpersonal problems and a dysfunctional emotional response (Smith 3). The definition includes the chronic, relapsing features of the disease, symptoms of loss of inhibitor control, dependence, and compulsion and adverse impact on individuals and society. Therefore, substance addiction is included in the definition of addiction. Furthermore, drug and alcohol addiction have been recognized for a long time; they are continuously included in DSM since its first edition in 1952 (Baysinger 1). Since all the detailed definitions provided by these authoritative associations are supported by significant clinical data and research, mental disorder caused by …show more content…

Dr. Barry J Everutt at the Department of Psychology and Behavioral and Clinical Neuroscience Institute in University of Cambridge mentions that researchers recognizing some similar features between addiction and disorders involving compulsive behavior such as compulsive eating or gambling (465). In fact, DSM-5 included gambling as a source of addictive disorder together with the other addictive substances but differed other behaviors such as Internet use, compulsive sexual behavior. The reason to APA’s conclusion was that gambling had enough in common with substance addictions whereas others had insufficient evidence (Grant 301). On the other hand, ICD-11 attempted to expand its categorization but they did not. DSM-5 is aimed to provide a common research and clinical language to mental health problems whereas ICD-11 is meant for clinical utility in broad range of settings, global applicability, and scientific validity. Although the conservative categorization of the definition of addiction provided in ICD-11, I consider that more behaviors should be included as addictive behaviors as long as there are sufficient data and pieces of evidence to prove that there are commonalities of symptoms and

Open Document