Symptoms Of Addiction

Addiction is problem within society. People associate addiction with drugs but a person can be addicted to several different variables such as drugs, alcohol, food, sex, gambling and exercise. Merriam-Webster dictionary defines addiction as “a strong and harmful need to regularly have something (such as a drug) or do something (such as gamble)” and “an unusually great interest in something or a need to do or have something” (Merriam-Webster, 2015). With that being said, I will focus mainly on drug and alcohol addiction in this paper. There are numerous theories and models on why addiction occurs but I strongly favor gene-environment theory. I have always thought genetics and environment has a powerful impact on how people develop addiction.

To understand addiction further, it is important to look at how drugs have neurological effects in a human body. Drugs can be ingested in various ways; while some are taken orally, some are smoked (cannabis) while others are injected directly into the blood stream (Heroin). Once in the body, they mainly affect the reward pathway in the brain, known as the dopaminergic pathway, which in turn gives pleasure. Even though all drugs affect the reward and motivation pathways in the brain, their speed depends on the way the drug has been consumed. Over constant use of drugs, the cognitive functions are impaired as the effects become more prominent in learning, memory

Over the last few decades college athletics has gained immense popularity since the turn of the century. Many people even prefer collegiate sports to professional sports. Whether it is football or basketball, no matter the sport, college athletics bring large amounts of money to their respective Universities as well as increasing the popularity. Many Universities make millions of dollars off the games and the merchandise they sell. The only reason that the Universities make this kind of money is because the student-athletes fill the seats. Yet, even with the Universities making that kind of money off what the student-athletes do, the student-athletes aren’t paid, and there lies the problem. According to NCAA rules, “You are not eligible for participation in a sport if you have ever: Taken pay, or the promise of pay, for competing in that sport” (NCAA Regulations 1). So, that leaves the question “Should College Athletes Be Paid?”

Historical fiction is undoubtedly one of the most interesting literary genres out there. Two paragons of this genre are The Book Thief by Markus Zusak, and A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini. Both novels take place in the 20th century, decades between each other, and in separate continents both facing war and death. The Book Thief, published in 2006, takes place in 1940’s Germany, during the Second World War.

There can be multiple ways of Identifying a persons warning signs of addiction relapse. It is important to be aware of what they are and how to react so you may be able to assist or get the assistance needed. On the surface many individuals believe it is simple to detect relapse signs but this is not the case. Relapse has many forms and it affects someone in all major ways. A person going through relapse will be effected mentally, physically, and socially.

The brain disease concept from this documentary series restricts our understanding of complex behaviors such as drug addiction or alcohol use as a large population of society wonders why these people don 't simply stop the negative behaviors that they are engaging in. This disease perspective sends a message to the public that an addict 's condition is amenable to a medical cure and that the language used is more to describe conditions such as schizophrenia and other such afflictions that have not been brought on by the sufferer themselves and that cannot modifiable by the person 's desire to do better. From the brain disease perspective; addiction is something beyond these people 's control and is in part contributed by genetic dispositions and a chemical imbalance in the brain among other things, and not something based on an individual 's choice and behaviors leading to heavy drug use. The studies from the video, as well as other sources, typically cite the brain as the organ in which addiction is said to reside yet this is not perfectly clear and has not been thoroughly scientifically explored. Images of the brain are shown in the videos, one of a normal healthy person and one of a person who has an addiction. While this is true to an extent,

The exact cause of substance cause is unknown. A person genetics, the action of the drug, peer pressure, emotional distress, environmental stress, or other mental cause could all be factors of becoming addiction to a drug. Many people who have become addicted may have depression, attention deficit disorder, post-traumatic disorder, or another mental disorder. A stressful or chaotic lifestyle and low self-esteem are also common in people who are suffering from substance disorder.

Genes and environment both prove to be important when determining who will be susceptible to becoming addicted to substances and who will not (Durand, Barlow, 2016, 388-389). Using drugs is based on environmental factors but becoming dependent on drugs will occur if a person is genetically vulnerable. There is no specific gene that can be held responsible for this phenomenon, but rather a group of genes that put one at risk for substance use disorder broadly. Susceptibility to addiction to one substance in particular does not occur. Psychological factors must also be considered when discussing what causes substance abuse disorder. Positive reinforcement (making one feel good) and negative reinforcement (making one feel less bad) are two primary reasons for continuing drug use.

Drug addiction is a brain disease because drugs change the brain’s structure and how they work. Over a period of time drugs start to affect the brain by challenging an addicted person’s self-control and interfere with their ability to resist intense urges to take drugs. “Most drugs affect the brain's reward circuit by flooding it with the chemical messenger dopamine. This overstimulation of the reward circuit causes the intensely pleasurable "high" that leads people to take a drug again and again. Over time, the brain adjusts to the excess dopamine, which reduces the high that the person feels compared to the high they felt when first taking the drug—an effect known as tolerance. They might take more of the drug, trying to achieve the same dopamine high.”, States National Institute on Drug Abuse. After long term use of drugs it affects functions such as learning, judgment, decision-making, stress, memory, and behavior. Even though an addict knows this, they still use

The source of addiction is complex and entails interactions between biological factors and environmental factors. Some research suggests that some people are born with a higher tendency to become addicted. According to this argument, addiction is a biological disease, much like diabetes or hypertension, and acquiring the tendency (or predisposition) to addiction is as much out of a person’s control as the predisposition to some other diseases” CITATION Rob13 \p 349 \n \y \t \l 1033 (p. 349).

Your brain is not naturally infected with a problem, it is self inflicted. When you take drugs you physically injure your brain. This proves addiction is not a disease. Addiction is a result in a choice an addict made to try and use drugs. Not all drug abusers are children of drug abusers, which proves addiction cannot be blamed on genes. Parents and family members could have influenced the choice to do drugs, but they did not make it for the addict. If addiction reaches the point to where an addict is dependant on their drug, they let it. Addiction is definitely a problem. It affects family members, friends, and society. There are medications to help addicts quit, but not to cure addiction. After rehab it's up to the addict to continue staying clean, or use drugs

Lots of people have the wrong idea of addiction, they think that it is a choice and something that a person can control. “Addiction is a chronic brain disease that causes a person to compulsively seek out drugs, despite the harm they cause. The first time a person uses drugs, it’s usually a free choice they’ve made.” (NIDA). Addiction is a sickness that causes someone to feel as if they have to have the drug their addicted

When people start taking drugs, they don't plan to get addicted. They like how the drug makes them feel. They believe they can control how much and how often they take the drug. However, drugs change the brain. Those who use drugs start to need the drug just to feel normal. That is addiction, and it can quickly take over a person's life.

They assume addicts lack moral principles or self-discipline and that they can quit by simply deciding to. The reality is, people who have struggled with substance abuse have often found it extremely difficult to quit due to the physical and/or mental addiction. Drug have the ability to change the brain patterns and cause health complications, making things harder in the long-term and may determine life or death. Fortunately, because of more research, there are more ways to back out of an addiction and seek help through an enduring and extensive treatment. Factors that affect the likelihood and speed of developing an addiction are environmental and individual factors, including genetics and

Addiction is a choice and by classifying addiction as a disease, we are just enabling drug addicts to take no responsibility for their own actions in their lives. By labeling addiction as a medical condition it creates a false assumption that addicts have no control over their own behavior. People become addicts because of their behavior, not their brain chemistry. The disease concept is so popular because it gives people an easy way out; if they inherited their addiction they can’t be responsible for their own behavior. The disease model of addiction is flawed for a number of reasons; first, most people who take drugs do not become addicted, but may take drugs for a period of time, then stop when they choose to do so. Many well respected professors and scientist claim addiction is a scapegoat behavior that has been incorrectly identified as a physical or mental illness, an addict is only a victim of bad science and misguided policy.