What separates pain and addiction? By very definition they are worlds apart, addiction being the fact or condition of being addicted to a substance, thing, or activity. Where pain is the physical or emotional suffering or discomfort caused by an illness or injury. Although the definition separates the two words they are often portrayed to mean the same thing. They often resemble trauma; a deeply disturbing or distressing experience. A trauma leads to unfulfillable pain, this pain will be covered up by addiction. In the video “What is addiction?” by Dr. Gabor Mate he claims that substance abuse is linked to pain. That substance abuse is made from pain and will leave only pain behind (2014). Addiction can take many forms, all of which can cause …show more content…
Trauma is something that either an individual has witnessed or experienced that changed the way they perceive life. As suggested by Giordano, trauma can create lasting psychological symptoms for the individual (2016, pg 56, Addressing trauma in substance abuse treatment). That experience has burned its way into the users mind to never be forgotten, set on an endless replay. Trauma comes from and leads to pain, as referred to by Dr. Gabor Mate (2014). Pain leaves a hole in a person that eats away at them and makes it bigger until it eventually consumes you. No one wants to feel pain of any kind, whether it be emotional or physical. In a study of 121 outpatients of a substance abuse treatment facility conducted by Giordano, Amanda L., et al in 2016, “The results of [the] study …show more content…
Substance abuse is the most popular addiction with 25-40% of children who were exposed to some form of childhood trauma (Lopez-Patton, Maria et al., 2016, pg1). Illicit substances as well as prescription drugs give the user a high that makes them feel numb, they feel as though they could escape from their pain. This temporary relief from the trauma they suffered will persuade the user to continue to go back and use the substance as much as they can. These people are referred to as addicts. They are perceived as individuals who get high and generally have no future, they are perceived as the scum of the earth. Associated with unprotected sex and other high-risk behaviors that facilitate HIV infection (Lopez-Patton, Maria et al., 2016, pg1). Even though most the population believes that addiction is a choice, it isn’t. Addiction is a compulsion, it must be done, in the addict’s mind they want the pain and trauma to go away, for the sweet release so to speak. In an average person’s mind METH, heroin, even cocaine is a sign that a person has given up on life, that they have nothing left to live for. They haven’t given up on life, that is a sign that they desperately need help, they are calling out for help because they can no longer handle the pain from their
Seeing drug addicts and homeless people is not something new for me. I know that the homeless and the drug user have a story and a reason for why they are living the life that they do. I am aware of withdrawal and I am aware of the urgency of addiction. Nonetheless, this ethnography showed me that sometimes it’s not addiction because they love it but because they physically cannot stop. This also showed me that these people are not docile; they can function and know how to get what they need to survive. However, I do wonder if their want for normalcy ever outweighs their need for drugs.
Gabor Mate 's essay “Embraced by the Needle” addresses important issues on the negative effects that childhood experiences have on the development of addictions, and the long term effects that drugs play throughout an addict 's life. The author states that addictions originate from unhappiness and pain that is often inflicted upon addicts at early age such as infancy. In Mate essay, he uses many patients past childhood experiences to help create a picture of the trauma that an addict faced as child and the link it plays with who they are today. Mate builds an impressive argument based on the way he organizes his ideas on what addiction is, and how it corresponds to a person 's childhood experience. The author does this effectively
Trauma is an incident that leads to a great suffering of body or mind. It is a severe torture to the body and breaks the body’s natural equilibrium. It is defined as an emotional wound causing a psychological injury. American Psychological Association, defined trauma as an emotional response to a terrible event like an accident, rape or natural disaster. Immediately after the event, shock and denial are typical. Longer term reactions include unpredictable emotions, flashbacks and strained relationships. J. Laplanche and J. B. Pontalis assert, “Trauma is an event in the subject life defined by its intensity by the subject’s incapacity to respond adequately to it, and by the upheaval and long lasting effects that it brings about in the psychical organization” (qtd. by Hwangbo 1).
“Trauma is used when describing emotionally painful and distressing experiences or situations that can overwhelm a person’s ability to cope” (John A. Rich, Theodore Corbin, & Sandra Bloom, 2008). Trauma could include deaths, violence, verbal and nonverbal words and actions, discrimination, racism etc. Trauma could result in serious long-term effects on a person’s health, mental stability, and physical body. Judith Herman, from Trauma and Recovery, said “Traumatic events are extraordinary, not because they occur rarely, but rather because they overwhelm the ordinary human adaptations to life” (John A. Rich, Theodore Corbin, & Sandra Bloom, 2008). Trauma does not involve the same experiences for everyone; each individual is unique in that they, and only they, can decide what is traumatic for them.
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.
The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines trauma as a very difficult or unpleasant experience that causes someone to have mental or emotional problems usually for a long time (Merriam-Webster, Incorporated, 2015). From a medical perspective trauma is describe as severe damage to a person’s body. Trauma can be cause by multiple factors in a person life. Trauma could stem from a distressing experience of a physical or psychological nature. In recent years’ major natural disasters and acts of terrorism have become more prominent and devastating creating long lasting traumatic effects in individuals lives. Trauma can have a lasting negative impact on a person’s life. The lasting effects of trauma can have a negative effect in development as well as
Some people argue that the drug users aren’t the heroin victims. One writer notes, 'The parents of the user who steals from them, abuses them, physically, emotionally and mentally, the siblings who suffer the loss of care and love but who also get abused and used by the user, the kids of the user who learn that the parent's desire for smack is greater than the desire to be a parent,' are the real heroin victims (Fitzgerald, 2000). This problem therefore effects not only the user but the society living around them as well.
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
Young adults with opioid addictions worry what their friends, family and even doctors will think of them and hesitate to seek professional help. The result is that teen addiction often remains unaddressed, and it inevitably worsens without treatment. As a society, there is a lack of education about addiction as a disease, so most people simply don’t know how recovery works. Recovery from addiction is long and painful, and the stigma around addiction only prevents people from getting the help they need making it crucial for society to look past the stigma that people in recovery are always on the brink of relapse, a false conception that affects self-esteem and relationships. According to the Institute of Medicine, “Stigma is most likely to diminish as a result of public education and broader acceptance of addiction as a treatable disease” (The Stigma of Addiction 1). By reducing the stigma of opioid addiction, young adults will no longer fear judgement from seeking
It has become one of the major social problems of our day, leaving a great number of families and communities within our country devastated and without hope of recuperation for any of their afflicted members and loved ones. Growing to become a big social challenge affecting all aspects of the American society, addiction rates have escalated to enormous proportions within the country as reported by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA). Addiction has been described as a chronic brain disorder,” resulting from adaptations in the brain that leads to changes in behavior”, according to Dr. Nora Volkow, who also assert that it can be treated (NIDA 2006).
Drug abuse and addiction are issues that affect people everywhere. However, these issues are usually treated as criminal activity rather than issues of public health. There is a conflict over whether addiction related to drug abuse is a disease or a choice. Addiction as a choice suggests that drug abusers are completely responsible for their actions, while addiction as a disease suggests that drug abusers need help in order to break their cycle of addiction. There is a lot of evidence that suggests that addiction is a disease, and should be treated rather than punished. Drug addiction is a disease because: some people are more likely to suffer from addiction due to their genes, drug abuse brought on by addictive behavior changes the brain and worsens the addiction, and the environment a person lives in can cause the person to relapse because addiction can so strongly affect a person.
Drug abuse dates as far back as the Biblical era, so it is not a new phenomenon. “The emotional and social damage and the devastation linked to drugs and their use is immeasurable.” The ripple of subversive and detrimental consequences from alcoholism, drug addictions, and addictive behavior is appalling. Among the long list of effects is lost productivity, anxiety, depression, increased crime rate, probable incarceration, frequent illness, and premature death. The limitless consequences include the destruction to personal development, relationships, and families (Henderson 1-2). “Understandably, Americans consider drug abuse to be one of the most serious problems” in the fabric of society. And although “addiction is the result of voluntary drug use, addiction is no longer voluntary behavior, it’s uncontrollable behavior,” says Alan Leshner, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse (Torr 12-13).
Drug abuse has been a hot topic for our society due to how stimulants interfere with health, prosperity, and the lives of others in all nations. All drugs have the potential to be misapplied, whether obtained by prescription, over the counter, or illegally. Drug abuse is a despicable disease that affects many helpless people. Majority of those who are beset with this disease go untreated due to health insurance companies who neglect and discriminate this issue. As an outcome of missed opportunities of treatments, abusers become homeless, very ill, or even worst, death.
Drug addiction is a very big problem in today’s society. Many people have had their lives ruined due to drug addiction. The people that use the drugs don’t even realize that they have an addiction. They continue to use the drug not even realizing that their whole world is crashing down around them. Drug addicts normally lose their family and friends due to drug addiction.
Drug abuse and addiction not only has negative effects in the lives of the people involved, but also in the lives of their close relatives, friends and immediate society. It leads to disintegration, failure in school, loss of employment and violence. Although intake of drugs is a voluntary and conscious decision initially, continuous intake of drugs changes the brain and challenges the self-control of the “addicted person” and inhibits the ability to resist extreme desire for drug intake.