Specifics of Drug Addiction - Term Paper Example

Specifics of Drug Addiction Problem behavior among adolescents, such as substance abuse and juvenile crime are a burden not only to the abusers but also their families and the entire society. For instance, statistics from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) show that there was a general decline in property crimes and drug-related violence in the last decade of the 20th century in the United States. However, there was also a substantial increase in the number of juvenile arrests for drug-related problems in the same period, whereby more than half the student population also reported the illicit use of drugs before they completed high school (Johnston, O’Malley & Bachman, 2000). This implies that drug-related problems are deeply engrained in society and do not necessarily come during adulthood. Individuals are motivated differently into drug and substance abuse, and motivations are also dynamic. For instance, the motivations may change as the abusers grow older, experience varying levels of involvement with the drug, manage stress in evolving ways or even take on different or new social roles. However, the complex nature of human motivation associated with behavior has played a role in posing a challenge towards understanding the causes and solutions of certain behaviors as societal problems (Johnston, O’Malley & Bachman, 2000). That is why individuals can often be found to make short-sighted life choices whose consequences are substantially negative. This paper will discuss the application of social orientation as a major theory of motivation towards solving drug addiction as a societal problem. There are people who use drugs legitimately to sustain their mental or physical health. Such people may be terminally ill or suffering from anxiety, mania or schizophrenia. However, humans are not born with a natural craving to use or abuse drugs, and often reacting to the first attempt with dizziness, nausea and distaste. With time and continued use, drug users will learn to tolerate the initially unpleasant side effects for the sake of achieving other perceived benefits associated with the drugs. Apart from the primary objective of relieving pain and stress, drugs soon become the socializing vehicle of choice among users. A specific motivation for individuals to indulge in drug abuse is directly related to how they experience and perceive social organization, especially when they live in complex societies that do not define and reinforce values (Kuperminc & Allen, 2001). For example, close knit families are notably rare in modern day society in comparison to the case several decades ago, where values were identified within the family unit. From such social changes, individuals lose self-esteem and involve themselves in behaviors that are self-destructive such as abuse of drugs. Rapid changes to social organization also lead to a loss of the community’s social and religious ties, especially when they occur when young adults and teenagers need time and stable environments to cultivate positive self-esteem. Sexual identity, perceived as the role played by females and males evolve continually, and the young adults and teenagers often believe the changes to be out of their control. Using drugs, therefore, is a way of dealing with the stress associated with the overload, frustration and adaptation (Johnston, O’Malley & Bachman, 2000). Most drug users can break their habits successfully while in rehabilitation centers, but some often revert back once in the real world. The reason why persons formerly addicted to drugs find it hard to keep off the habit is craving. The chemical responsible for the triggering of the cravings in the brain is dopamine (Alexander, Holmes & Sachs, 2006). When someone experiences a feeling they like, such as the high addicts get from drugs, dopamine is what brings about the feeling of satisfaction that makes them want more of the substance they are abusing. Simply by thinking about their previous drug life or being in environments that bring back such memories will trigger the release of dopamine. The cue may be in the form of paraphernalia used in taking drugs. The signaling, which takes place on a time scale that is sub-second, is responsible for the spontaneous urge to use drugs (Lehmann, 2002). For counselors, an understanding of this process is the key to helping drug users put an end to the vicious addiction cycle. The reward system of the brain ensures the survival of the human species. The system is activated by many factors including food, sex water and, resulting in the release of dopamine. The reward system is also closely linked to subjective and emotional memories. However, it is still the same reward system that ensures survival that is also responsible for rewarding drug use. As addictive activities and substances trigger dopamine’s release, the reward is the pleasant sensation, which motivates people to repeating harmful behaviors (Lehmann, 2002). In this sense, studies have shown that there is a link between repeatedly indulging in harmful behavior and social problem solving skills. Persons who abuse drugs have been shown to generate interpersonal conflict resolving strategies that are less effective than those who do not abuse drugs. They also exhibit less sophisticated skills when it comes to integrating perspectives of the self and others. These observations were largely consistent with earlier assumptions that individuals with poor social skills are actually at a risk of exhibiting antisocial behavior. However, researchers were highly ready to offer alternative interpretations. They opined that the demonstrated social incompetence by some people may be a reflection of their inclination towards social behavior that others perceive to be less competent (Messick, 2000). Rather than being an indication of a deficit of skills, the relationship between anti-social behavior and the absence of demonstrated social skills may be a reflection of people’s expectations and beliefs about the value of using the skills they have. Further, it could also imply their lack of identifying with goals commensurate with the society. Tolerance is the condition in which drug addicts require higher doses to achieve the same experience they had when they initially started using drugs, and is often linked to physical dependence. Physical dependence is in reference to adaptive physiological states that are brought about by regular use of drugs and result in withdrawal syndrome when the use of drugs is discontinued. Craving or drug-seeking tendencies are correlated with pleasure-seeking tendencies, although they are also distinct (Borba, 2008). The influence of natural rewards, such as food and water, is lessened on the reward system as time progresses. This is explained by the fact that with more occurrence of a behavior, the levels of dopamine tend to go down as a result, a phenomenon termed as habituation by psychologists. According to their argument, once a person has had enough food, a reward for eating more is not necessary. Tolerance can, therefore, be explained in terms of habituation. The eventual decease of dopamine is the reason why drug addicts increase the amount they use over time, because as their bodies become used to the initial amounts they were using, the level of dopamine will decrease (Alexander, Holmes & Sachs, 2006). For them to attain the same pleasurable sensation, they must increase the dose they use which, in turn, propels the addictive process. The beginning of tolerance also marks the replacement of pleasure-seeking with powerful cravings. Essentially, that is also the difference between craving and pleasure-seeking, because craving is an attempt to relieve or avoid symptoms that the drug users find unpleasant. Apart from drug tolerance, psychologists have also defined behavioral tolerance among addicts as the stage where the addicts can actually learn to decrease the effects of drugs on their behavior (Messick, 2000). On the hand, withdrawal is collectively represented by the signs and symptoms experienced when the available quantity of substance is abruptly reduced in the brain after considerable periods of habitual use. When this takes place, it takes the receptors of the central nervous system between several days and weeks to return to normal, with the signs and symptoms being typically the opposite of the main drug effect (Alexander, Holmes & Sachs, 2006). These reactions take place in the body as compensatory measures to the primary effects the drugs had. For example, euphoria and relaxation are primary effects of heroin, but dysphoria and agitation replace them when the addict undergoes withdrawal. When people are ridiculed for the motives that drive them to drug use, they are not given practical options to desist from the behavior. If the motivations must be reduced, it is crucial to offer them options that will provide similar experiences to those they seek in drugs as well as meet similar needs (Borba, 2008). The lack of theoretical clarity has often challenged research on social problem solving skills. This is because most assessments have perceived competence as a universal construct, such as how they judge the effectiveness and placed focus on specific skills that are assumed to inspire effective behavior, such as the integration skills of social perspective. The dissected approaches have their own merits and demerits. On their part, universal assessments, though they do not offer any situational specificity, they present more generalizations (Ryan & Deci, 2000). On the other hand, assessments that are specifically focused on skills give more insight into social problem solving skill processes. They are, therefore, more useful in terms of assessing specific deficits and strengths, although they lack generalizations. When the two approaches are applied collectively, the result is a highly robust categorization of the effectiveness of individuals’ ability to solving social problems. Skills in solving problems have been evaluated through assessing both specific skills and overall effectiveness, which integrate the perspective of others and the self and relate to competence and adjustment of individuals. Negative expectation in self-efficacy functions through reducing the effort put into mastering challenging tasks and raising the chances of maladaptive responses occurring. The ability of individuals, and in particular adolescents, to effectively adapt to social expectations is partly determined by psychological and motivational factors, which includes beliefs and values on their abilities. According to the theory of self-determination, the well-being and motivation of individuals generally decline when they observe that their efforts to be competent in their functions are thwarted (Ryan & Deci, 2000). The theory has also shown that individuals with levels of social skills that are above average may resort to ways of dealing with difficult situations under certain circumstances. Such circumstances include not viewing competitive strategies in their current surroundings are adaptive; they are not confident that the strategies will be successful in their cases; and, they see no value in the expected outcomes of the proposed strategies. By adolescence, the overall orientation towards solving problems competently characterizes such beliefs, values and expectations. Peers and teachers will often rate adolescents as socially competent when they acknowledge and appreciate pro-social objectives as well as expect positive results. The beliefs, values and expectations in which individuals perceive social problem solving will impact on their indulgence in problem behavior (Ryan & Deci, 2000). In conclusion, social orientation must address the setting (also referred to as environment) in which drugs are abused or made available and how the community norms facilitate the shaping of drug use tendencies. This can further be assisted by changing all or most environmental factors that are linked with drug abuse problems. Peers have an enormous influence on the initial involvement in drug abuse, and remain a significant factor in an individual’s decision to start and continue using drugs (Weber, Kopelman & Messick, 2004). The best way in which this can work to deal with drug abuse is by curbing the occurrence of social dilemmas, which can be described as situations where private and collective interests conflict. When drug abusers start prioritizing the society’s long-term interests over their own, social dilemmas can be avoided (Staggenborg, 2004). Apparently, drug abusers value their own outcomes more than those of others, hence, they tend to be oriented towards individualism and competition. When they become socially oriented, they will cooperate to maximize communal outcomes (Kopelman, 2009). Admittedly, the fact that legal drugs exist alongside the illicit ones will complicate and challenge personal values. However, some individuals are influenced by the company they keep and might opt to succumb by withdrawing into lonely, interior worlds, an event that is worsened by poor social problem solving skills. This eventually leads to complex motivations as the individuals move from naïve curiosity to seeking out what life means, searching for personal identities or ways out of boredom. The power of social orientation soon becomes evident as the individuals seek out more drug abusing peers while dropping the non-abusing ones. It is only individuals who are appropriately socially oriented that can work their way out of the trap. References Alexander, G., Holmes, H., & Sachs, G. (2006). Prioritizing and stopping prescription medicines. Canadian Medical Association Journal, 174(8), 1083–1088. Borba, M. (2008). Esteem builders. California: Jamar Press. Johnston, L., O’Malley, P., & Bachman, J. (2000). Monitoring the future national results on adolescent drug use: Overview of key findings U.S. Department of Health and Human Resources. Retrieved from http://monitotingthefuture.org/pubs/keyfindings.pdf Kopelman, S. (2009). The effect of culture and power on cooperation in commons dilemmas: Implications for global resource management. Organization Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 108(3), 153–163. Kuperminc, G. & Allen, J. (2001). 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