preview

Addiction: Lack Of Will Power Or Brain Disease?

Decent Essays

Addiction: Lack of Will Power or Brain Disease?
Demonika M. Martin
PS101 Introduction to Psychology
Park University

.
I. Introduction
Addiction is a disease that continues to fester and destroy individual’s lives. Once an individual is under the influence of drugs they no longer have control over their actions. Drug user’s brains are hijacked and taken on an explosive ride that begins with pleasure and ends in the damage of their brain. “Drug use is on the rise in this country and 23.5 million Americans are addicted to alcohol and drugs. That’s approximately one in every 10 Americans over the age of 12 – roughly equal to the entire population of Texas….” said Dr. Kima Joy Taylor, director of the Closing the Addiction Treatment Gap Initiative. Once a person is addicted to a drug or alcohol they will lose their willpower and become subject to the desire of needing that drug continuously.
II. Counter Argument
There are a selective few that may feel that addiction is a choice and not a brain disease. There are various possibilities that may lead to an individual voluntarily using drugs. It is very doubtful that it is due to brain disease but in fact to stimulate a craving that is not essential to sustaining life. Psychologist Marc Lewis argues; “The brain changes with addiction,” he writes. “But the way it changes has to do with learning and development — not disease.”
In contrast to Mr. Lewis’s statement the National Institute on Drug Abuse defines addiction

Get Access