Addiction in general is defined as the dependency of individuals to drugs, alcohol nicotine or any substance that when used abusively will lead to negative effects. It involves incalculable costs and the amount is higher that what one expected. A person is harmed due to the effects. There are also underlying factors why people wanted to incline themselves in addiction.
Addiction causes deterioration of both the physical and psychological aspect of a person. Aside from personal harms, addiction also affects people like family and friends. The personality of an addict is totally changed by his/her habits. They often hesitate to interact with other people which make their socialization suffer too. Finding a job and studying in school is also affected by addiction. The performance and knowledge is also negatively affected by the bad habit incurred.
Addiction is one societal problem that is hard to counter. It leads to moral weaknesses of people ad at the same tome it allows them to be more prone of committing other illegal behavior like delinquency and being a criminal. Although there are treatments and rehabilitation programs available for addicts, the choice is still for them to make. This paper will analyze and discuss the definition of addiction and the causes, effects and treatment of this growing problem in every society.
Definition of Addiction
Addiction begins when something is developed as a habit and progresses fro there. It always ends up giving a chemical imbalance in a person’s body. It combines psychological state, moral dilemmas, pharmacology and discourse in an awkward manner (Hammersley & Reid, 2002, pp.7-30).
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In today’s generation the concept of addiction is associated with the terms: “drug dependence” and “substance abuse” (Hammersley & Reid, 2002, pp.7-30).
In addition to the aforementioned definitions, addiction is also considered as a chronic, dangerous and dramatic condition of the physical and psychological state of well being. Addiction also deals with issues of control (Hammersley & Reid, 2002, pp.7-30).
According to McAdams (1993), addiction has the following criteria:
(1) Substance or alcohol abuse can lead to quicker and easier addiction.
(2) Addicts usually commit crime to support their habits.
(3) Psychoactive effects.
(4) Health damages and death.
(5) Ruthless criminals are the main suppliers of addiction paraphernalia.
(6) It has a long term effect and may become permanent. (McAdams, 1993).
Causes of Addiction
The causes of addiction have many complexities. The exact cause is hard to identify but the primary cause of it is moral weakness. Overindulging to something makes an individual an addict. The reason behind these depends on the kind of substance taken. On the case of drugs, there are reasons like to forget the pain that they are feeling or to suppress the sickness that they are experiencing. In the case of alcoholism, addicts usually drink to temporarily escape from reality.
Consumption of alcohol, drugs or other addictive things is caused by the lack of resistance to peer pressure and out of curiosity (Armstrong & Costello, 2002, pp. 1224-1239).
Most addicts are in the stage of formation or those who are below the social ladder (Armstrong & Costello, 2002, pp. 1224-1239).
There are also individual cases of addiction caused by broken families, domestic violence and delinquency that lead them to addiction. Improper teaching from educational institutions may also be considered as one factor of addiction. Social pressure is a major factor in addiction (Armstrong & Costello, 2002, pp. 1224-1239).
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No matter what standpoint of a person is about abstinence, he/she is more likely to become an addict once the pressure of friends and colleagues consumed him/her. The enjoyment of consuming alcohol or drugs made an addict forget about problems and burdens.
Types of Addiction
There are two basic types of addiction. First is physical dependence and the second one is the psychological dependence.
Physical Dependence
The state of habitually using drugs often leads one to addiction. Once drug usage is withdrawn by an addict, it will cause something negative for him/her (McAdams, 1993).
On the other hand too much dependency is really bad for one’s health. This type of addiction has symptoms of high blood pressure, tremors and sweating. If an addict failed to get a dosage of the drugs that he/she is dependent on, it will reflect something atrocious on his/her physical state. Life threatening situations are at hand like heart attack and sudden death (McAdams, 1993).
A physically dependent addict always compulsively needs for the substance that he/she is hooked into.
Withdrawal symptoms often characterize this type of addiction. Continuous addiction is motivated by physical dependence and the substance used by addicts usually gives pleasure or reduce pain. Such dependence also reduces the anxiety level of the user and gives an overwhelming feeling.
