Different Understandings of Addiction - Case Study Example

Different Understandings of Addiction Lecturer: Presentation: Introduction Addiction can be defined as a disorder that originates from consistent use of drugs and other substances as well as other habits which may have an effect on the brain (Davies, 1992). A person suffering from this disorder usually feels the urge to supply the brain with the substance, whenever he stays for a long time interval than he is used to, without using it. Such addictive drugs and substances can be for example alcohol, cigarettes, marijuana and cocaine etc. addiction can also be as a result of a recurrent habit which may turn out to be difficult to avoid such as sex addiction, addiction to movies etc although these may not have serious health implications on the addict’s health as compared to drug addiction (Davies, 1992). For the addict to be able to free himself from the dangerous habits, he may be compelled to seek guidance and professional help, which is basically a process that motivates him to stop the habit. This essay is a critical evaluation of the different understandings of addiction as well as their strengths and weaknesses. Different Understandings of Addiction Drug addiction generally is a chronic disease that develops from constant usage of addictive drugs such as cocaine, marijuana, alcohol, which may have prolonged effects on the human brain. It starts as a way of spending leisure and seeking relaxation which slowly culminates into a habit that may prove difficult or impossible to treat. There are also other prescription drugs, though meant for medical purposes, which may cause addiction especially if used against the doctor’s prescription (Plant, 1992). Such are for example those of the opiate family some of which are meant for relieving pain and for speeding up recovery especially after surgery. The danger with these kinds of drugs lies with the possibility of being accessed by other members of the family whereby if not well stored may use them without minding the doctor’s prescription or their intended use (Plant, 1992). As a result of addiction, a person may become irresponsible especially where family matters are concerned. Marriages and families break up as a result of addiction whereby one or both partners dedicate most of their time and resources to activities such as drug and alcohol abuse thereby neglecting their duties and responsibilities as well as misappropriation of family wealth. In addition, most of the activities that result to addiction are against the law and as such, the affected persons may cause their families to go through mental torture and humiliation as a result of constant conflicts with the law enforcers. The main problem lies on the fact that most of the addicts do not submit to the realization that they are addicted to the substances. As such, they are constantly on self denial, which prohibits them from acquiring professional help thereby resulting to deterioration in their health as well as their productivity in the society and their areas of work. It is possible that some persons may admit to the weakness and react by taking up self monitored actions to free themselves from the vices (Plant, 1992). On the other hand, such measures are usually short lived due to lack of commitment, which promotes reoccurrence of the habits. Drug addiction can be credited to a variety of reasons which may include and not limited to; history of addiction in a family, peer pressure, lack of medical attention etc. A person who is brought up in a family back ground that is known to abuse drugs has a higher potential of acquiring the same habits as those in the environment within which he or she is brought up unless the problem is addressed at an early stage in the child’s development so that he grows up knowing the dangers and consequences of drug abuse which leads to addiction (H.E.A, 1996). This is because the child’s brain development is usually influenced by the surroundings in which he/ she is brought up as well as the culture and the norms of the people within. Peer pressure can be classified as one of the most practical reasons as to why many people find themselves in circumstances that develop into addiction. That is due to the influence, which friends have on a person based on the relationship and trust that exists between people especially those of the same age group. These are the people who introduce others into activities such as drinking and smoking and still facilitate them with the funds for maintaining the behavior for a certain period of time within which the person could already be addicted to the substances (Romer, 2007). They may also influence a person into such habits by exaggerating on the impact and benefits of drug abuse or in some times force them into the habits by threatening to withdraw their friendship may be by sidelining those not in the habit in some of their group activities. Addiction, according to various definitions by doctors can be categorized into two with regard to psychoactive substances as well as psychological dependency. Psychoactive substances are for example tobacco, alcohol marijuana as well as other drugs which enhance dependency of the patient to the substances once they are supplied to the brain, which can also be referred to as physical dependency (Kinderman, 2005). Under these circumstances, the person using the substances solely relies on them to help them overcome problems such as stress, fatigue and also boosting their energy and confidence. There is a belief that a person under the influence of drugs such as marijuana is capable of producing a lot of energy in his body, which enables them to tackle difficult challenges and tasks. With such a theory in place, though not scientifically approved, a lot of people especially those working under stressing environments for example in quarries and undertakers may become vulnerable to addiction due to constant use of the substances. In addition, there are those who rely on the drugs for confidence such that they cannot accomplish a task such as addressing a gathering without the influence of a drug. As such, they exhibit varied emotions such as anger as well as inconsistency in their way of talking such that sometimes they are less talkative when they are sober while at times more talkative when they are under influence (Kinderman, 2005). Physical dependency with regard to drugs and other addictive substances exhibit withdrawal symptoms whenever the substance is not administered to the brain or when it is abruptly discontinued. Such symptoms are for example pain especially where opiate drugs are concerned, which are used to reduce pain, anger, unusual behaviors such as silence and shivering. Psychological dependence refers to the addiction which is not primarily on substances but on other activities which exhibit habitual patterns such as movies, computer games, sex, internet addiction and pornography etc though it can also be as a result of substance abuse. I that respect, people who are addicted to these activities experience psychological withdrawal symptoms such as craving, depression and anorexia whenever they are not in the capacity to fulfill their emotional desires (Plant, 1992). As such, they may tend to do everything in their power to device ways of accessing their fulfillment and it becomes possible for them to commit serious crimes such as rape for example to fulfill their sexual craving or even begging for money in order to access computer games. Such addiction which may not necessarily contribute to harm either on the addict or another party can also be termed as compulsive in medical terms. However, it is difficult to separate physical dependency from psychological dependency based on the fact that the end results of both dependencies are the same especially where substance abuse is concerned. In contrast, there is also a condition though similar to psychological dependence which may be as a result of genuine reasons such as pain, a condition known as pseudo-addiction. Unlike other forms of addiction, pseudo- addiction occurs temporarily may be whenever a person is using drugs for special reasons such as to relieve pain but goes away when the pain subsides thereby making it unnecessary to use the drugs (Plant, 1992). During this period of pain, the patient just like a psycho addict craves for the drugs and can do anything in his power to access them thereby exhibiting characteristics of an addict. However, there are some conditions that result from medications prescribed by doctors which can arguably be considered as addiction. For example, there are drugs such as those meant for treating depression e.g. paroxetine among others, which induce physical dependence if used for a long time consecutively (Parker, 1995). The problem arises whenever the patient abruptly stops using the medication whereby withdrawal symptoms starts to show themselves on the patient. In order to prevent this form of addiction, it is advisable for patients to consult their doctors whenever they are about to stop using the drugs. From a different point of view based on Peter Morrel’s article,” A Buddhist point of view,” the blame and the responsibility of freeing oneself from addiction is put squarely on the shoulders of the addict himself (Morell, 2010). From the article, it is brought out that most addicts try to justify their weaknesses by either blaming some other party for their misfortune or misinterpret the Buddhist view of psychology, which is driven by two principles desire and repulsion. In this aspect, human beings are free to enjoy their lives by all means meaning that everything that brings pleasure in ones life should be considered as fit as opposed to those things that bring pain and harm. From this perspective, drugs are identified as a way of experiencing pleasure but on the other hand cause self harm. It should therefore be understood that not all things or activities that bring pleasure are fit for human use especially drugs. However, this point of view can be counter productive in that it tries to enhance self responsibility while on the other hand, it may not be much useful to the addict in that for a person to deviate from the habit, no matter how responsible he/she might be, professional help is of great importance. This is due to the fact that the literature in the article suggests that accountability is the key to success in efforts to develop a free drug abusing society (Morell, 2010). Religion is the basic foundation to healthy living as it opposes all negative activities that may lead to self destruction in human beings. However, it would not be complete to rely only in its teachings which at times may be difficult to make practical since not all people are believers. As such, it is necessary to device more practical solutions which incorporate both the religious point of view as well as real life situations. This means that once a foundation has been created through the enlightenment of humans through religious teachings, mechanisms intended to treat those who deviate from the teachings and fall into addiction should also be put in place. However, the teachings of Buddhism as brought out in the article can be of great impact to those who are able to follow them reason being that it concentrates on self monitoring which is essential in providing a platform for self realization as well as progress in the efforts which may be put in trying to rectify cases of addiction. This is because it enables a person to have a clear sight on the consequences as well as to accept his or her failures thereby offering a starting point for professional help. A person who is in denial may not be able to receive treatment due to his stubbornness, which in many cases culminates into higher levels of addiction that may have been contained at the first sign of addiction (Morell, 2010). For example, there are those people who get themselves into drinking habits as a way of reducing stress may be which may be caused by failures in the work place or in relationships. In their minds, they may tend to think that were it not for the other party may be their bosses or partners in their relationships they could not be venturing into drinking activities. To further justify their actions, they may prove that whenever they are not under such circumstances, it is not possible for them to abuse alcohol (Morell, 2010). A person’s social life and behavior should not be subject to pressure but instead should remain constant at all times regardless of the predicaments which he or she could be in. There are others who justify their smoking habits on the account that they only smoke whenever they are under the influence of alcohol. However true that might be, it all denotes signs of addiction to nicotine. Apart from the medical interpretation of addiction, there are also other theories and myths that are used to explain addiction. These are for example the belief that blames the addicts for their misfortunes by implying that addiction is a will power problem (Masters, 2001). This means that the addicts are way beyond the expected societal behavior and are an unfortunate group which deliberately uses drugs either due to lack of better things to do or due to their moral decay. What prompts this sort of perception is the fact that most of the addiction problems are fixed in terms of change in behavior e.g. by counseling in cases where medical attention is not necessary (May, 1991). In various societies, this is the most common perception, which is held against the addicts and which in most times results to exclusion of such individuals from developments in the society. Certainly this is a misconception that however practical it may seem has no justifiable reasons as to why people should hold such thoughts. By viewing it from that perspective, the society denies the addicts the chance to discover their weaknesses and in some cases, it makes the addicts hide themselves in a cocoon instead of getting professional help. They withdraw from the society which despises them thereby deteriorating their chances of ever recovering from addiction. To correct this, the society should understand that addiction is not under conscious control as it occurs in the brain of the addict specifically in an area known as the mesolimbic dopamine system (Masters, 2001). As such, they should encourage the addicts to overcome their misfortune by accepting them in the society and offering friendly counseling and motivation for example by citing living examples of persons who have been addicts but who have already overcome it through citable efforts and help. In other cases, drug addiction is understood to be a crime thereby prescribing legal action over medical attention (Masters, 2001). It may be true that use of drugs such as marijuana, heroine, cocaine and other hard drugs is illegal in almost all the countries in the world. However, it would be wrong to assume that the addicts participate in such activities basically out of the pleasure which may be accrued from breaking the law. Addicts have a brain disorder that impairs their ability to control their use of these drugs. Therefore, instead of suggesting that they should be arrested and punished or put in correctional facilities, medical and other professional help should be availed and where possible free of charge due to the possibility that most of them are people who cannot afford medical attention, which is expensive as compared to the amount of money which they spend on cheap drugs, which are readily available in all quantities on the streets. There is also the understanding which people have that an addict of one drug is possibly an addict to all drugs (Plant, 1992). The fact is that in some but not all cases, one person may be addicted to more than one type of drug. It all depends on the person’s brain chemistry which may be in match with selected drugs. For example, a person who is addicted to tobacco may not necessarily be addicted to marijuana and vice versa. Conclusion Addiction can be referred to the overdependence of a substance or an activity such as internet, sex, food etc while referring to substances such as alcohol, marijuana, cocaine, heroine etc. Basically this is the medical understanding of addiction but there are also other understandings which can be termed as theories or myths. Such are like for example the understanding that addiction is a behavioral problem due to the fact that it is corrected through non medical processes such as counseling, that it is a crime and therefore should be corrected through taking up legal measures as well as the understanding that an addict of one drug is possibly an addict of all drugs. Bibliography 1. Davies, J. (1992) The Myth of Addiction: an Application of the Psychological Theory of Attribution to Illicit Drug Use, Harwood Academic Publishers. 2. Health Education Authority, (1996) Drug Realities: National Drugs Campaign Survey, HEA, London 3. Kinderman, P. (2005). Why Does Schizophrenia Develop at Late Adolescence? A Cognitive-Developmental Approach to Psychosis, Psychological Medicine, 35, pp 144-145. 4. Masters, S. (2001) Drug War Addiction, Accurate Press. 5. May, G. (1991) Addiction & Grace, HarperOne. 6. Morell, P. (2010) A Buddhist View of Addiction, Retrieved 12 Jan 2010 7. Parker, H. (1995) Drugs Futures: Changing Patterns of Drug Use amongst English youth, Institute for the Study of Drug Dependence, London. 8. Plant, M. (1992) Risk takers: Alcohol, Drugs, Sex and Youth, Routledge. 9. Romer, D. (2007) Adolescent Psychopathology and the Developing Brain: Integrating Brain and Prevention Science, Oxford University Press. Read More