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Addiction doesn’t just affect one person, it affects everyone, and it’s expensive. You have to take in account the physical cost to the individual, the emotional cost to the individual and his or her friends and family, and the public cost of incarcerating individuals for crimes related to addiction, hospitalizing anyone harmed due to addiction, and rehabilitation programs. Addiction is not something we can ignore. It’s a disease of society, and as a society, we have to deal with it. According to the CDC, 570,000 people die due to drug use. My life was greatly changed by addiction when someone very close to my family became part of that statistic.
A family friend of ours, Eric, passed away due to addiction. At first, his addiction didn’t seem
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At that time, I had never experienced the death of someone I knew. It seemed like something that happened to other people, not me, but it happened. He was one of my dad’s best friends and my dad was devastated. I didn’t hang out with Eric a whole lot, I mainly babysat his kids, but when I did, it was a great time. I didn’t really grieve when he died. I was sad that he died, but I was more sad for his wife and kids. I visited them a few times after it happened, and it was heartbreaking. His oldest child, Lily, had horrible nightmares and she was sleep deprived because of it. She was barely functioning. She was nine. When I was nine, the worst thing I thought could happen to me was having to go to school everyday to see this girl who always picked on me. I think that has to be a child’s worst nightmare, to lose a parent. Eric’s second oldest child, Dalton, stopped talking for weeks and he wouldn't eat. And Laythan, his youngest, was confused about the whole situation, but he was so young that he won’t really remember his dad. And his wife, she hasn’t been the same since. For a long time after he died, she would cry whenever she saw my dad because Eric loved him like a brother. It made me sick to see how much pain came from this, and if I could go back, I would make sure this never happened. There were many ways we tried to help them while they were grieving, but we couldn’t help them in the way they wanted to be helped; We couldn’t
Addiction may be defined as the chronic use of drugs alongside the problems resulting from their use. Despite the person being aware of the consequences of using the drug, he continues to use it. If not attended to, addiction may cause serious social problems and even death (Hanson et al. 36). In order to address drug addiction, it is vital to understand addiction itself and where it stems from.
Addiction controls people in many ways. Some addictions can even lead to death if not stopped early on. Addiction to any kind of substance or drug is not an easy thing to quit. It is hard to quit because it is not physically hard but also mentally hard to end an addiction. Addiction controls people by making them lose control of their actions and cravings. Also addiction controls people by changing their circadian rhythms which make it hard to stay away from what they are addicted to.
The consequences that follow the use of any drug are unfavorable. Although many individuals may see drug addiction as a mere lifestyle choice, it is a problem that many individuals suffer from and inevitably a growing issue that leaves major social and economic impacts.
Over the years many individuals from various places over the world have been consumed by the effect of addiction. Some of these individuals have also had the misfortune of being killed. Many people feel as though they have a void in their life and they turn to drugs or other substances to fill that void that they feel is missing. Addicts often do not realize that by using these drugs they are hurting not only themselves but also their friends and family as well as their community. According to (Psychology Today, 1991-2015) “Addiction is a condition that results when a person ingest 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”.
In 2010, an estimated 23.5 million Americans were addicted to alcohol and/or drugs and needed treatment or supportive services (Partnership for drug free kids). Most people make the assumption that those that are addicted to a substance are just making poor choices. I will have to admit that I was one of those people that thought that it should be easy to quit something so toxic. It wasn 't until I did the research myself that I found addiction is actually a disease. It takes a lot more then willpower to just stop using something that a person 's brain has become so accustomed to. With all of the advances in science we now have a better idea of what leads to addiction. This doesn 't mean that poor choices and life decisions don 't attribute to addiction, but these causes increase the likelihood of an individual becoming addicted to a substance. The majority of individuals that abuse drugs or alcohol will admit to having a history of childhood trauma, alcoholics in the family, or drug use in their social circle.
Drug addiction is more complicated than medicine thought in previous years. It’s not because someone is weak or unable to control themselves. They are chemical such a dopamine in the human body that makes the process difficult. The brain works in a neuropath way and drug interrupt the normal process which stops the frontal lobe to work as it should. Treatment isn’t done right and patients tend to repeat their habit after they get out of rehab. Psychological treatment is not as effective as chemical injection for dopamine to reward the brain. However, even after the treatment is complete, it will be a life struggle to stay away from drugs since the brain will always look for a simpler way to reward itself.
My very dear and close friend, Christopher Shea, suddenly passed away from a drug overdose. Although Chris was not my immediate family, he was like a brother to me. We became friends my first day of kindergarten and have been extremely close since then. The news of his death and the circumstances surrounding it came as a shock, I am devastated. My mind is in turmoil; how could I have missed his signs of addiction, maybe I could have stopped him.
They have been spending any money they can get on to score more drugs, funding their habit and causing their family to go broke. They can easily spend hundreds, if not thousands of dollars fueling their drug habit in as little as one day or a short binge. Their addiction to drugs may be so severe that they are no longer able to function in the workplace, causing them to lose their job. These creates a bigger burden on your spouse or partner as they are then required to solely provide and care for the rest of the family, as well as for the addict. Far too many families have been faced with the decision of bankruptcy, foreclosure, losing their life’s savings, retirement savings due to their loved one addiction. It is a lot worse for people in poverty, because usually the cost of the substance could be worth what they earn. It can also cause trouble with the law costing hundreds and maybe thousands of dollars. In the article (Financial and Legal Consequences of Drug Abuse)” The government regulates addictive substances in an effort to reduce access to harmful drugs and preserve the health of its people. More than 46 percent –almost half—of federal arrests in the United States are on drug-related charges. An arrest like this most often leads to significant jail time, probation and a series of legal consequences that follow you permanently throughout life”.
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.
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.
The chances are that we all know or have loved ones with an addictions to either drugs or alcohol. Still today, one of the biggest challenges is being able to talk to that person about their addiction. Even though I personally have not had the opportunity to speak to a loved one or acquaintance about an addiction. Research shows when confronting a person with a problem; it takes preparation, patience, and being totally honest with that individual. Talking to someone with a dependency is something that most people avoid because people like myself would not want others mending in our lives; we, even, tend to believe that it is not our problem how much our f...
How to Overcome Addiction 400 words Learning how to overcome addiction is not easy, but it can be done. Many people develop an addiction after recreational drug use or a long-term prescription. Over time, recreational use transforms into an addiction. Once the individual realizes that they have a problem, help is available. How to Overcome Addiction
Drugs are so dangerous, they not only destroy the lives of the addicts but also the lives of the addicts families and loved ones. It affects more than the one person doing the drugs.
I choose to do my Reflection Paper on my decision to quit using drugs. I feel that this has been one of my most stressful event in my life. This was a positive step in my life but also was mentally and physically hard on my body. I started using after I had my first child at the age of 15 years old. The hospital had sent me home with narcotic pain medication after I had my first child. Narcotic pain medication was love from the first use. I used pain medication from 1997 until 2003 until I found my new love, Heroin. By this time my body was so use to pain pills my tolerance became higher and pain medication wasn’t keeping me as high as I wanted to be. I had already lost my children due to my use and didn’t have anybody or anything holding me
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 ...