Drug addiction - Research Paper Example

? Drug Addiction al Affiliation Drug Addiction Drug addiction has been a serious problem to many societies around the world. However, many societies fail to see how or why some of the people become a drug addict. In fact, most of the societies believe that most of the drug addicts lack the motivation and will power to change their behavior. They believe that it is an easy thing to stop using drugs. However, to most of the drug addict, quitting is a problem as this problem affects their brain. Despite this enormous challenge, drug addiction can be overcome through myriad ways of treatment. This will help in stopping of drug abuse and such individuals will be able to lead productive lives. Drug addiction has negative consequences to both individuals and society. One of the main consequences is the increased burden to the community and individuals (Conrad & Anggard, 1977). Moreover, drug abuse affects the health status of the individual and other forms of their social life. This paper seeks to focus on drug addiction. Drug Addiction Drug addiction is a persisting problem and affects the brains resulting into compulsive drug seeking and use even when there are negative outcomes to the individual and society (NIDA, 2011). Initially, individual take the drug for casual, recreation, leisure, or entertainment. However, continuous use of the drug affects the brain in a way that the affected individual is unable to overcome the temptation of taking more drugs. Treatment is available for this condition. Most of the treatments are behavior oriented coupled with appropriate recommendations. Most of the treatment focuses on changing the social behavior of the individual involved. This means drug addiction can be managed successful reducing further damage to the individual involved. The management of drug addiction is similar to those of other chronic diseases (Conrad & Anggard, 1977. This means such care requires more attention and absolute obedience to the individuals undergoing such form of therapy. Effects of Drugs to the Brain The problem of drug addiction starts from the brain. Drugs contain chemicals that affect the brain communication system and configure the nerve cells (NIDA, 2011). This happens in two ways. They mimic the brain natural messengers and overstimulation of brain functioning system (NIDA, 2011). Some drugs have similar components as the chemical messengers found in the body. These chemical messengers are known as the neurotransmitters. Such drugs include cannabis and heroine. These drugs configure the brain receptors and stimulate the nerve cells to send abnormal messages (NIDA, 2011). Other drug causes abnormal production of chemical messengers in the brain. An example of such drug is cocaine. They prevent the normal recycling of the brain chemicals that are supposed to stop connections between neurons (NIDA, 2011). This disfigures dopamine that is responsible for controlling movement, emotion, motivation, and feelings of pleasure (NIDA, 2011). This leads to ecstatic events in response to psychoactive drugs. Consequently, such individuals are accustomed to repeating the beneficial behavior of abusing drugs. Those that abuse such drugs are unable to enjoy the drugs and other events in life. Consequently, this decrease in satisfaction forces leads to more use of drug in order to maintain the function of dopamine to normality (NIDA, 2011). This means high amount of drug is required to maintain normalcy. In addition, other changes occur in the brain due to continued abuse of drugs. Such change affects the glutamate. The neurotransmitter affects the system functionality and the ability to learn (NIDA, 2011). When the normal amount of the neurotransmitter is affected by drug abuse, the brain tries to bring normalcy, and this may reduce the cognitive function (NIDA, 2011). This defect has been shown to affect brain processes such as learning and memory (NIDA, 2011). These challenges make the abusers seek out and continually use drugs even when there are widespread effects to the individual. Risk for Addiction There is no single factor attributable to individual showing potential of becoming a drug addict. However, there are several factors leading to the person becoming a drug addict. Such factors include biology, social environment, and age and level of development. The increased risk factors increase the chances of individual becoming a drug addict. The first significant risk factor is biology. This occurs in terms of genes of individuals are born. These genes in collaboration with environmental influences typically lead to individual’s vulnerability to addiction (NIDA, 2011). Others factors that lead to increased risk towards addiction includes gender, ethnicity and other forms of mental disorders. The other feature includes background. This means a person background leads to vulnerability to drug addiction. These factors include family, friends, socio-economic level and quality of life (NIDA, 2011). Some of individuals that are addicted to drugs may affect their friends through social interaction or peer pressure. Physical and sexual abuse may also lead to individuals engaging in drug abuse and finally getting more involved in drug (NIDA, 2011). Others include stress, and the parenting an individual may be subjected lead to rise to addiction in person’s life. The other factor is the development. Both genetic and environmental factors are aggravated by developmental stages in person’s life (NIDA, 2011). These combined in a person’s life affect addiction to vulnerability. The more an individual plunge into drug abuse early, the more there are an increased likelihood of becoming an addict later in life. In fact, most of individuals that become addict later in life are shown to have started drug abuse at teenage age (NIDA, 2011). Factors Leading To Drug Dependence Several stages exist that may lead to drug dependence. One of these stages is experimental. This usually involves peers, and it is done for entertainment use (MedlinePlus, 2013). The other factor is regular use. Mostly, individual use drug to manage negative feelings, the other is daily preoccupation. Individual begins to consider drug use is more valuable as compared to other aspects of life (MedlinePlus, 2013). The other factor is dependence. Such individual cannot face daily life without taking drugs. Effects of Drug Addiction There are many effects to drug abuse. Individual, government and society experience these effects. The first effect of drug addiction is the cost to the individual, family and government. To the government, drug addiction has become a significant health concern. In fact, in United States local, state, and federal governments offer a large amount of medication to a drug addict. Billions of government revenues are channeled towards taking care of individual, medication and facilities related to drug addiction (NIDA, 2011). On the other hand, both private and employer subsidized plans also provide coverage for treatment of addicts (NIDA, 2011). This has also been heightened with the passage of insurance coverage of substance abuse. The health care reforms will also lead to increased spending towards taking care of the drug addicts. Additionally, drug abuse and addiction leads to serious injuries to individuals. In fact, more deaths and injuries are because of substance abuse and addiction. Currently, many deaths have been attributed to drug abuse and addiction. Moreover, those people that live with substance dependence have a higher risk of adverse outcomes (Gateway Foundation, 2013). These outcomes include unintentional injuries, threat of domestic violence, medical conditions, and death (Gateway Foundation, 2013). In addition, drug dependence leads to considerable health problems. In fact, drug addiction leads to substantial impact to vital organs. Some of them include poor immune systems, cardiovascular conditions, vomiting and nausea (Gateway Foundation, 2013). Moreover, addiction to alcohol also leads to liver problems (Gateway Foundation, 2013). Brain damage due to drug dependency affects other functioning system of the brains. They include lack of memory and attention, and mental confusion and sometimes-permanent brain damage (Gateway Foundation, 2013). Moreover, drug abuse and addiction has been linked with HIV/Aids. This occurs through the sharing of injections Paraphernalia to those who takes the drug through injection (Conrad & Anggard, 1977). This mode of taking drugs contributes to the spread of HIV. Additionally, drug abuse and addiction leads to impaired judgment. This weakness leads to risky sexual behavior and HIV transmission (Conrad & Anggard, 1977). This is because such individuals lack the capability of using preventive measures while having sexual interaction. In addition, the family members also feel the effects of drug addiction. However, sometimes members of the family tend to deny that there exists such effect. Others go further to help the family member involved in drug addiction in terms of finances. Later, family members are pushed to resenting and guilt towards the addicts and their upsetting behavior (Drug Rehad Advice Center, n.d.). Sometimes such family cannot coexist with the addict. Even the spouses sometimes are unable to stomach, as the cycle of drug abuse becomes widespread (Drug Rehad Advice Center, n.d.). The other effect of a drug addict is insufficient work performance. The addict’s most of the time fails to show up for work. This cost the employers a lot of money due to absenteeism, reduced work output, and workplace negligence (Drug Rehad Advice Center, n.d.). Moreover, addicts most of the time end up with empty pockets and are unable to maintain their behaviors. This leads them to venture into crime, and hence increased social welfare programs (Drug Rehad Advice Center, n.d.). The rise in crime also affects other sections of the society, and this leads to poor existence between members of the society. Conclusion It is clear that drug addiction is real. This problem is a challenge both directly and indirectly. Moreover, there risk factors leading to vulnerability to drug addiction. They include biology, environment, and developmental stage. In addition, drug addiction results from drug dependence. Most of the effects of a drug addict arise from the brain. These effects affect the individual, society, and even family. Lastly, these effects call for lasting preventive measures. References Conrad, H & Anggard, E. (1977). Drug addiction. New York: Springer-Verlag. Drug Rehad Advice Center. (n.d.). Drug Addiction & Society: A Growing Phenomenon. Retrieved from http://www.drugrehabadvice.org/drugaddictionsociety.html Gateway Foundation. (2013). Drug Abuse and Addiction. Retrieved from http://recovergateway.org/resources/individuals/drug-addiction-effects/ MedlinePlus. (2013). Drug Dependence. Retrieved from http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/001522.htm National Institute on Drug Abuse. (2011). Drug Abuse and Addiction. Retrieved http://www.drugabuse.gov/publications/drugfacts/understanding-drug-abuse-addiction Read More