Moderen addictions, especially develop the potential dangerous of video and internet games - Essay Example

question also remains whether there are similarities between traditional and modern addictions to gain such acceptance as a disorder by mental health community. It is found that both traditional addiction and modern addictions like internet addiction has four main factors: withdrawal, excessive use, negative repercussions and tolerance (Dillon, E. 2008). Substances such as alcohol, drugs and tobacco are abused by people for a number of complicated reasons and it is evident that our society has to pay a significant cost for these addictions.

The extent of addiction is visible in the emergency departments of hospitals and rehabilitation centers that treat direct health damage caused by substance abuse and the related physical trauma. Another negative outcome of substance abuse is drug dependence and associated crime that end up a number of individuals in prisons and jails. Though the use of drugs like cocaine has decreased, the use of ‘club drugs’ and heroin has considerably increased among drug abusers. The task of preventing substance abuse and imparting an effective treatment has remained a difficult process.

Various researches has resulted in a better understanding of substance abuse behavior and reveals that drug education to prevent abuse among adolescents and children provides the best opportunity to curb the addiction nationally. A National Household Survey in 1996 estimated the use of illicit drug users in the United States at 13 million. The survey concluded that around 10 percent Americans abuse substances or is addicted to alcohol while 25 percent of the population smokes cigarettes. The substances that are abused produce different types of intoxication in a person that alters perception, judgment, physical control or attention.

Many substances can result in withdrawal caused by the reduction in the quantity of the substance or cessation of substance use. The symptoms of withdrawal are hallucinations and ranges from slight anxiety to seizures. The