Rat Park The Power Of Habit Summary

There are many factors such as biology, environment and development that results in the persons initial introduction into the world of drugs. Drug abuse may start as a way to socially connect. More often than not people try drugs for the first time in social

Angie Bachmann mother of 3 children, got addicted to gambling felt lonely at home, when her husband went to work and children went to school. Bachmann had gotten married young and had become pregnant almost right away. She had never held down a meaningful job. One morning, "She was sitting at home, staring at the television, so bored that she was giving serious thought to reorganizing the silverware drawer" (Duhigg). That morning the trouble began. She was really bored, so at about noon, Bachmann drove to a riverboat casino. She played and lost 40 dollars. After that first trip to the casino, Bachmann started going to the riverboat once a week. Then twice a week. Over the next decade, Bachmann played regularly. She went whenever she fought with her husband or was just bored. At the tables she was numb and excited, all at once. The high of winning was so immediate. The pain of losing passed so fast. According to Duhigg states" First, there is a cue, a trigger that tells your brain to go into automatic mode. Then there is the routine - the behavior itself - which can be physical or mental or emotional. Finally, there is a reward, which helps

In the chapter "Rat Park," it is said that addicts are swarming everywhere in the nation today. The reason why there are numerous of people that are addicts are because the substances are easily obtained or available, and also because the substances are the only way people can cope with things.

Charles Duhigg in his book The Power of Habit talks about a woman named Angie Bachmann who is addicted to gambling. Bachmann of Iowa was a stay-at-home mom who found herself bored every day. She had nothing to satisfy her boredom because her husband was busy at work and the kids were at school. To treat herself one afternoon she decided to dress up and drive to a local casino. She gave herself strict rules. Duhigg states, “No more than one hour at the blackjack table per trip, and [Bachmann]only gambled what was in her wallet’’ (247). Bachmann did not want to spend that much money in the beginning of the

It has become common wisdom to dismiss the Bruce Alexander work. However, Lauren Slater at the chapter Rat Park gives a quit unique and unexpected thought towards drug addicts. My whole life I heard it said that when more individuals get exposed to a drug the more addictive they become. (Slater) A few of physiologist have disclaimed and ignore Bruce Alexander’s experiment regarding drug addiction. The experiment was conducted with Mice, they were put first in a dirty and nasty cage, it turns out that the Mice on the dirty cage became extremely addicted. The Mice on another cage had a spectacular environment and the Mice refused to take the drugs. The concluded that marbles environments did not cause addiction instead it did

Addictions ruin many lives in many ways, Angie Bachmann maintained some sort of life-style that had been just test subjects in ‘’The Seduction Experiment’’ performed through Bruce Alexander, Who is a psychologist along with teacher emeritus by Canada. This Seduction research is usually a situation predicated about the fact rats have a sweet tooth along with almost never turning down some sort of sweet. 16 test subjects have been put in some sort of expensive rat park along with a different test subjects that have been devote to normal clinical cages. The particular researchers gave each pieces connected with rats morphine-laced normal water sprinkled having sucrose. This particular ended in the science lab rats loving the stream as well as the various other sixteen resisted regardless precisely how nice the researchers made the stream. When rats are put in the ' 'friendly place ' ', they are going to avoid precisely what stops his or her typical social habits while heroine involved. ' 'Rats will resist even the most irresistibly delivered drug if it interferes with the alternatively gratifying opportunities available to them ' ' (157). In the book ' 'The Power Of habit ' ' By Charles Duhigg it specifies Angie Bachmann had no control over her behaviors, given that they take place instantly. Although it was a conscious decision Angie Bachmann is not fully accountable for her poker obligations simply because the woman 's family and also atmosphere affected a big function in

We assume that addiction is like a relationship, and if you are addicted, you need to feed the craving of that addiction. An addict’s relationship with drugs is an unhealthy bond that we have formed. However, is that bond formed by the drug itself? Most people would assume that the drug does indeed cause a person to crave it. These assumptions could have come from tests done in the early twentieth century on rats. These tests put a lone rat in a cage along with two water feeders; one was fine, but the other was laced with drugs, typically cocaine or heroin. The tests would see how the rat reacted to the contents of the separate feeders. The test would usually end when the rats would continually come back to the drugged water until they overdose. This is where we conclude that the drugs bring back their victims. When looking at other examples where drugs have been tested, the result is different, Instead, it is the environment that you are in that directly affects your relationship to a drug.

addicted persons encounter include, difficulty in holding jobs, maintaining stable marriages, making and keeping friends, obeying laws, and functioning as caring and responsible parents. These difficulties are related to the fact that getting and using drugs leaves little time for other activities.

Bachmann’s gambling addiction follows a simple cycle known as the habit loop. A habit loop, which explained earlier, is a cycle consisting of a cue, routine, and reward affect. Identifying the habit loop for addicts is a great way of finding ways in altering the addiction to completely get rid of it or to minimize the activity. The initial cue of the addiction was when she felt unappreciated by her kids or had a verbal disagreement with her husband. The routine was playing blackjack at the casinos, while generating conversations with random strangers. Finally the reward hopefully was winning the game or receiving money once cashing in the chips and having a sense of being good at something. Knowing Bachmann’s habit loop, we can infer that her problem can be adjusted in a way to minimize the amounts of money that are poured into the game and spending less time in a casino.

With the broad spectrum of addictions being diagnosed, analyzed, and remedied people mostly ignore the other side of what addictions can also cause. Relationships can be created and destroyed because of addictions and recovery is a tremendous struggle. In “Double Down.” The authors and brothers, Fredrick and Stephen Barthelme, told of their addiction to gambling and the illusions of the casinos. They had led normal lives excluding their gambling addictions, both being Professors at the college level. No previous accounts of addiction to drugs or alcohol were had, but following the death of their parents and receiving a massive inheritance they had turned to gambling. They lose mostly all of the inheritance and later get caught trying to “defeat” the illusion of the casinos, via cheating. Another article that relates to addiction is called, “Sleeping

Many people just have the desire to simply relax or relieve tension, some people like to experiment then when they get addicted you need to maintain your addiction to prevent withdrawal. Teens face struggles of being accepted by peers so when they are the only one in the group not doing drugs you soon get singled out or get made fun of, causing them to cave and try it, causing them to possibly abuse the drug later. Then the most simple cause of prescription drug abuse, just to simply get high. A more complicated cause that isn't anyones fault technically, Genetics. Drug abuse is sometimes known as a genetic problem, In which a first-degree relative struggles with addiction you are at higher risk. Not all people agree with this statement but I think it is true but not always. Children who grow up watching this and thinking its normal are more likely to think it's okay so then they follow the same path as their family member. Once one would get addicted they will soon fear the withdraws that come with stopping the drug, to prevent it they will keep doing the drug if not the same amount but

Today drugs are considered to be an acceptable social phenomenon by many teenagers. If parents are involved with children on a day-to-day basis, they will more than likely know when the child starts to take drugs because of the big changes going on in their lives. There are many positive alternatives to drugs, so drugs are not the only fun and "cool" things to do (www.nodrugs.com 2).

Bachmann is guilty because she knew that gambling can put her in trouble but she still

It has been discovered that most people who struggle with drug addiction began experimenting with drugs in their teens. Teenage drug abuse is one of the largest problems in society today and the problem grows and larger every year. Drugs are a pervasive force in our culture today. To expect kids not to be influenced by the culture of their time is as unrealistic as believing in the tooth fairy (Bauman 140). Teens may feel pressured by their friends to try drugs, they may have easy access to drugs, they may use drugs to rebel against their family or society, or they may take an illegal drug because they are curious about it or the pleasure that it gives them.

Teenage drug abuse is an issue that can result from a wide variety of social influences, stressful events, and mental disorders. Drug abuse among adolescents is a troubling issue because it decreases focus, increases the chance of consistency in behavior during adulthood, increases the chances of developing emotional issues, permanently damages the brain, and damages tissues in every system that can lead to death. Previous scientific research has identified that social factors, including the media and peers, play an important role in psychological development and impact the adolescent's decision to start experimenting with substances (Botvin 888). Appropriate solutions for the teenage drug abuse issue already exist, but the only remaining