Addiction Is a Disease Essay

The three models of addiction examined in this week’s readings include the medical model, the psychosocial model, and the disease of the human spirit model. The medical model “rests on the assumption that disease states are the result of a biological dysfunction, possibly one on the cellular or even molecular level” (Doweiko, 2012, p. 333). Many consider this model and “maintain that much of human behavior is based on the interaction between the individual’s biological predisposition and the environment” (Doweiko, 2012, p. 333). Individuals under this model view free will “as an illusion” (Doweiko, 2012, p. 333). There is controversy regarding this model as “to the degree to which the

Cocaine, heroin, methamphetamines, alcohol, opium, tobacco, hypnotics, just to name a few. Addiction is a chronic disease that affects the chemicals in the brain. It dysfunctions the circuits in the brain that deal with memory, reward, sex, motivation, behavior, relationships and emotions all mostly resulting in substance use or other behaviors to fulfill those circuit rewards. This world is in a current addiction epidemic on drugs. Let’s try to understand addiction to make it a little clearer.

Addiction, it is all around us, affecting people from all walks of life, it is not limited to certain social classes or lifestyles. It is found in every ethnic group, regardless of gender or age. It affects our neighbors, our friends, and our family either directly or indirectly. Although substances such as alcohol and illegal drugs are two of the most common addictions we hear about, there is a wide range of substances and even activities such as gambling and shopping. There is some debate whether addiction is a brain disease or a choice.

Every day, hundreds of people experience the overwhelming effects of addictions. Individuals can become addicted to virtually any action or item. If individuals use addictive substances, there will be serious medical repercussions. This paper will focus on the idea of addiction through the fields of anthropology, psychology, and sociology, and how these fields have benefitted this prominent issue. Addictions are currently being researched by various social scientists in an attempt to fully understand their causes and cures.

Addiction can be separated into three categories: mind (neurological), body (physical), and spirit (psychological). Within in this breakdown addiction can possibly be explained and properly understood.

Addiction affects 40% of the population in the Western world (Lewis, Marc). There are many different kinds of addictions such as: food, drugs, alcohol, tobacco, gambling or sexual aspects. When

The history of addiction goes back centuries, and unfortunately, there is still a long way to go for people to realize the effects of chemical substances do more harm than good. The difference between drug use and abuse relies heavily on a person’s dependence on the substance. The line between the differences is often very fine. Depending on other factors involved, such as morals, values, environment, and genetic predisposition, the line will most likely be crossed without regard to the consequences until treatment and recovery are the only options left. This is essay compares two theoretical explanations

Dr. May then goes into a much more in-depth look at the psychological factors of addiction. The text furthers the discussion of self-deception and goes into specific defense mechanisms that we use when we struggle with an addiction. During this portion of the text it elaborates on the understanding of how we will denial to others and more importantly to ourselves that we are increasing the particular behavior that we are addicted to. The book also mentions how we attempt to rationalize the situation to help us continue our addictive behavior. The text then goes into detail about hiding and delaying tactics, such as how we tell ourselves that “we will quit tomorrow.” The book then goes into the understanding of control issues within the addiction, along with how it effects other and how other effect an individual’s addiction. The book then goes into different areas of the psychological factors and discusses the behavioral issues and the understanding of the psychoanalytical aspect of the issue through explaining how addiction uses our unconscious to develop. There is also a

Is addiction a brain disease? The definition of disease is a disorder in an organism that produces specific signs/symptoms that affects a specific location and isn’t a direct result of any kind of physical injury. Addiction is a compulsive need for any substance or service that can cause a person or organism to form a habit, and is a chronic disease of brain reward and causes dysfunctions in the circuits. Addiction is also characterized by the inability to consistently abstain impairment in behavioral control. The idea that addiction is a brain disease is just about universally accepted among scientist that focus on addiction (Corrigan,2008). However few believe that addiction is not a brain disease because they claim that neural dysfunction is not sufficient for disease. (NCBI, 2012). Some agree that addiction occurs in the brain but should not be considered a brain disease or a disease at all(Lawrence 2013). Substance abuse is the most common addiction that people base their decision upon. These drugs affect the brain and cause different reactions to the rest of the of the body. The types of drugs include: hallucinogens, opioids, sedatives, stimulants, etc. cause different

Imagine laying on the floor in your own pool of sweat—miserable, your mind bouncing off the walls while the cloud of your darkest thoughts looms over you. Teeth chattering anxiously, waiting to receive the next second, minute, hour of painless bliss. This—this is the life of an addict; does this horror appear to be a choice or more like a disease haunting the mind of the user? Despite the fact a choice was needed to initiate the result, addiction itself is a debilitating disease NOT a choice due to initial influences and anatomical changes to the brain.

Addiction is like all behaviours “the business of the brain”. Addictions are compulsive physical and psychological needs from habit-forming sustenances like nicotine, alcohol, and drugs. Being occupied with or involved in such activities, leads a person who uses them again and again to become tolerant and dependent eventually experiencing withdrawal. (Molintas, 2006).

Among the numerous definitions for addiction, there lies yet another to define it from a biochemical perspective. Milkman (1983) defines it as “self-induced changes in neurotransmission that result in social problem behaviors." This definition encompasses the psychological, biochemical and social aspects of addictive processes. It is not limited to substance abuse and can be applied to any activity characterized by compulsion, loss of control and continuation of the substance despite harm. This has helped investigators gain a better understanding of the nature of addiction.

The disease model of addiction and the moral model of addiction provide completely different explanation for the tendency of substance abuse. The disease model of addiction predates to 1784 when the American physician Benjamin Rush published a pamphlet which discussed alcoholism in medical terms and outlined treatments for what he considered was a “disease” (Atkins, 2014, p. 52). This model of addiction generally argues that it is not the individuals fault for their addiction to drugs and that not all, but some people, will inevitably become addicts in the future (p. 52). Inversely, the moral model of addiction does not view addiction as something that an individual “cannot control,” rather this model looks at addiction as something that an individual can certainly control but that the individual does not chose to because of “weak moral character” (p.52). Although both of these models have been, and still are, widely applied to other substances, the most common substance that it was used was for alcohol.

All types of addictions should be looked at from a philosophical and psychological point of view. Those in the fields of neuroscience, psychology and philosophy often compare their views to show the similarities of addictions whether they be substance induced or behavioral. “Behavioral science experts believe that all entities capable of stimulating a person can be addictive; and whenever a habit changes into an obligation, it can be considered as addiction” (Alaghemandan et al 290). Some addictions can affect people physically. Caffeine and nicotine provide prime examples. The body’s physical state becomes dependent on its effects and causes withdrawal symptoms without use. One of the main differences in behavioral and substance addictions is that behavioral addictions have no apparent physiological or physical withdrawal symptoms. It is not the physical body that is addicted, but the feeling that one gets mentally. The physical body is only affected by the

They include alcoholism, substance/drug (including prescription drugs) addiction, nicotine addiction, and sex addiction, food addiction, shopping addiction, gambling addiction, work addiction and even internet addiction. They are manifold varieties of addiction; these are just a few of the well-known types of addiction.