Addiction : A Logical And Factual Explanation

Since the consumption of alcohol is necessary to develop alcoholism, the availability of and attitudes towards alcohol in an individual's environment affect their likelihood of developing the disease.

“The statistical associations between genetic factors and alcohol abuse are very strong” (McNeece & DiNitto, 2012). However, there is still much debate over the validity of genetics as a definite cause for addiction. Perhaps, the reason for this is because the number of children of alcoholics that go on to become alcoholics is still small. Additionally, genetic predisposition cannot explain the number of cases of alcoholics that did not come from alcoholic parents or families. In fact, addiction can be so prominent, that it remains even after the drug use has ended (McNeece & DiNitto, 2012). Therefore, the biological theory should not be ruled as it is based on what takes place in the body. There is no other theory that can explain how a person could still have addiction symptoms when the substance is absent from their system. Predisposition implies that there is a mutation or malfunction in the body that appears to cause a craving or susceptibility to becoming addicted to a substance.

Alcohol Use Disorder, most commonly known as Alcohol Abuse or Alcohol Dependence, is widely known as problem that occurs with individuals who consumes an enormous amount of alcohol on a regular basis often in a single use. The individual is consumed with the thought of drinking most of the time and often feel as though they need it to continue with living their daily lives, even though, they are not really living at all because the enormous amount of alcohol causes a dysfunction for their daily tasks. It inhibits their ability to take care of their family, have social relationships and performing activities at work. It is believed that genetics can play a massive role towards an individual developing an Alcohol Use Disorder.

First, before I could answer this question, I had to do a little research. Alcohol addiction is a physical dependence on alcohol which occurs gradually. Over time, drink too much alcohol changed the balance of chemicals in your brain associated with the pleasure aspects of drinking alcohol. Excessive, long-term drinking can affect the balance of these chemicals, causing your body to crave alcohol to restore good feelings or to avoid negative feelings. “Alcoholism was officially recognized as a disease by the American Medical Association in 1991”. ( http://www.learn-about-alcoholism.com/alcoholism-disease.html ).

Based on the results of Swedish adoption studies, some researchers divide alcoholism into two types. Type I, the most common, occurs in both men and women and is associated with adult-onset alcohol dependence. This form, also known as "milieu-limited" alcoholism, appears to be the result of "genetic predisposition and environmental provocation," according to NIAAA's 1991 publication Alcohol Research: Promise for the Decade--that is, the development of alcoholism in these cases is an interaction between inherited predisposition and the person's life situations.

Drinking can be due to many factors like genetic, physiological, psychological, and social factors and not everyone is equally affected by each (American Psychological Association [APA], 2016). Just like the textbook mentioned about Elon story, Alice knew her lifestyle was self-destructive, but she reached to a point where she could not control her own drug seeking behavior (Kearney & Trull, 2015, p. 251). Her mental illness was a result of environmental influences. Alice felt really pressured and overwhelmed by her job, raising

Drug and Alcohol Treatment in America has been based on the Medical Model of Treatment. According to Wikipedia, the medical model of addiction is rooted in the philosophy that addiction is a disease and has biological, neurological, genetic, and environmental sources of origin. Treatment includes potential detox with a 28 day or more stay at a residential treatment facility. The continuum of care can include an additional 28 days at the partial hospitalization level, followed by another 6 weeks of Intensive Outpatient.

Alcoholism is a very complex disorder. It is believed that genetics and several other biological factors are likely involved in the materialization of alcohol dependence, along with cognitive behavior, temperament, psychological and sociocultural factors. Alcohol use patterns including alcohol abuse and alcohol dependence are “familial” in nature (cf. Heath et al., Kendlerm Heath, heath Neale, Kessler & Eaves, 1992; Hesselbrock, 1995) Alcohol abuse is a drinking pattern that results In significant and recurrent adverse consequences. People suffering from alcoholism (technically known as alcohol dependence) have lost reliable control of their alcohol use. Neither the amount or kind of alcohol that an alcohol dependent person consumes

Does the environment that one grows up in contribute to alcoholism or is alcoholism determined by genetics? It wasn’t until 1991 that alcoholism was considered both a medical and psychiatric disease by the American Medical Association. Alcoholism is defined in the dictionary as a chronic disorder characterized by dependence on alcohol, repeated excessive use of alcoholic beverages, the development of withdrawal symptoms on reducing or ceasing intake, morbidity that may include cirrhosis of the liver, and decreased ability to function socially and vocationally. (dictionary.com). It is also defined as an addiction to the consumption of alcoholic liquor or the mental illness

Behavioral genetic research conducted on major health related behaviors such as alcohol consumption and other substance abuse disorders has shown that these disorders are an amalgamation of different components. According to Kimura and Higuchi (2011), “alcohol dependence is a common disorder that causes physical, psychological, and social problems” (p. 213). Plomin and Defries and Knopik and Neiderhiser (2013) stated that the path to alcohol dependence, depends on a multitude of factors, such as in the development of tolerance and dependence, the amount of drinks one has and whether one decides to drink or not (p. 297). The critiqued article The Genetics of Alcohol Dependence by Marcella Rietschel and Jens Treutlein uses association, linkage and genome-wide association studies to show that specific genetic variants are involved in creating alcohol dependence.

There are many factors that play a role in an individuals’ life that lead to the cause of their addiction. Addiction affects the individual’s brain which causes them to have many psychological problems. Abuse of a drug can change the structure and molecular functions of the brain. The reasons for an individual to develop an addiction to something can be from depression, anxiety, genetics or mental illness. But, are certain addictions more serious than other?

Genetics and History are another reason that can drive people to drink excessive amounts of alcohol. Alcoholism can be passed on through birth or family history. “Research suggests that certain genes may increase the risk of alcoholism, but which genes and how they work is not known” (“Alcoholism”). This quote relates to genes and history because it tells you that there are certain genes that an alcoholic could pass on to his or her children. If you are around people who drink a lot, you are more prone to do it too. “If you have family that has drunk their whole life, it could pass on generation to generation and become a problem for you also” (“Health Tip”). Being

There are several theories of addiction. All of them are imperfect. All are partial explanations. It is for this reason that it is important to be aware of and question addiction theories.

People drink in many ways, for many different reasons. We drink socially, to gain acceptance into a group. We drink alone to ease stress, to cope with our problems, or we “drink because we like the taste or how it makes us feel”#. Often drinking is a learned behavior, starting out as a social drinker; you quickly become psychologically and physically dependent. When someone reaches this stage they are often classified as an alcoholic. To an alcoholic, drinking becomes a compulsion; they cannot stop themselves from having another drink, like a social drinker can. In many cases alcoholics don’t even have to drink continuously in order to be an alcoholic. One the problems of alcohol addiction is that it’s something that doesn’t just effect the individual but it effects, friends and family as well. Spouse abuse, child abuse and dysfunctional family relationships can all be influenced by alcohol abuse.

Alcoholism has been a major problem in society for a number of years. In fact, alcoholism should be compared to a virus. This is because a person can never be completely cured from alcoholism; they can only fight the battle, day to day, hoping not to relapse. When it comes to the etiologies, or causes, of alcoholism, there seems to be three distinct origins of alcoholism. These causes are genetic factors, dependency caused by brain chemical imbalances after long-term use, and social and emotional factors.