The Phenomenon of Addiction - Assignment Example

Addiction is a state of the mind often characterized by irrepressible engagements in rewarding stimuli regardless of the consequences stimulants may have on the body. The above definition shows that addiction is a psychological condition thus a disease. Explaining addiction as a disease presents a number of advantages key among which is the ability to treat the condition, as is the case with drug addiction. Drug addiction is a type of addiction that proves that addiction is indeed a type of brain disease that begins with the voluntary behavior of using drugs but evolves rapidly into an uncontrollable craving for the drug. The craving for drugs grows and becomes stronger thereby threatening the life of the addict. The nature of drug addiction and its growth to the point when it threatens the life of an addict is an avid portrayal of the fact that addiction is a type of brain disease since such features are ideal in diseases (National Institute on Drug Abuse, 2007).

Among the basic advantages of the viewpoint is the fact that it offers functional modes of assessing and treating addiction, as is the case in any disease. The approach views addiction as a brain disease that expresses itself in the form of compulsive behaviors. This enhances understanding of addiction. Most diseases are both preventable and treatable. The same applies to drug addiction. A number of psychiatrists and behaviorists have studied the nature of addiction thereby making devising a number of appropriate ways to treat addiction. Approaching drug addiction as a disease, therefore, appears practical. It explains the various features of the problem by following the patterns of diseases. This way, it easily devises such solutions to the problem as therapies to help treat the disease. Lack of adequate treatment for addiction causes major irreparable brain and may always lead to the death of the victim.