Definition of Addiction - Essay Example

'Definition of Addiction' is a worthy example of a paper on addiction. 
Addiction is a state of the body and the mind craving for something to an extent that the whole wellbeing of the mind and the body solely depends on such a substance. Thus, addiction is the situation under which the body system, most especially the brain and the blood are used to having certain chemical substances, such that whenever there is no such consumption and the chemical imbalance in the brain and the blood occurs, the affected individual becomes incapable of functioning normally, until they will have consumed the substance. In this state of the body and mind dependency on certain substances, trying to stop their consumption becomes the most difficult task to achieve.

How has addiction personally affected your own life?

Drug addiction to me was other people’s problem and it did not actually hit me that it was a serious problem, until I started teaching in an underprivileged school in New Brunswick, NJ district. Even then, I categorized drug addiction as substance abuse by those people who have no will power, because I found that even children were using drug substances at school, especially in the bathrooms where we, the teachers could find drugs hidden in their closets. The attempt to tame the problem became even harder when we tried to contact the parent of some of those children to raise the issue with them, only to find that some of them were also in the same drug addiction situation. Therefore, the teachers were the only positive influence on the children and helping them stop drug and substance abuse was not an easy task.

However, it was not until the problem affected my closest friend that I started seeing and appreciating the human being behind the substance abuse. My friend lived a normal life during our childhood, and little did I ever think that such a good friend would turn into a complete stranger to me after we parted our ways when we joined different colleges.  After joining college, she was immediately introduced to alcohol consumption and eventually into drugs. However, for the first two years, it was not a major problem, since alcohol and drug use were, after all, socially acceptable in the college environment and she continued to excel and get good grades. It is only during one fateful morning when she was attending her EMT shift when she experienced a manic episode and her friends rushed to the hospital. After diagnosis, she was admitted to the psychiatric ward and from then things have never been the same again since it was eventually found that she was addicted to marijuana and other drug substances.

These days she is no longer the charming bubbly girl I knew once. She had to take a medical leave from college and she came to New Brunswick, NJ district where I live. I see her every day trying to stop using the substances but it is not coming easy. She has since been diagnosed with bipolar disorder, and she now always confused, depressed and distraught. She still has the aspirations of becoming a Physician Assistant, but she is her own worst enemy too. I have learnt the new definition of addiction since then.

What do you hope to achieve by participating in the SIMS program?

While I am learning many things about addiction and how to address people who are addicted, there is still more that is needed, to help the kind of people who my friend is now. Consequently, I am seeking to join the SIMS program so I can learn practical skills of how to address people with addiction. This way, I will be able to help my friend and my future patients keep away from drugs completely.