Drug Addiction And Alcoholism- A Disease
The entire concept of addiction has suffered greatly from a misconception on the
part of most people.Read more about nature of addiction The confusion comes about in part because of a distinction between whether specific drugs are physically or psychologically addicting. Historically the distinction revolved around whether or not physical withdrawal symptoms occur when a personal discontinues which has a drug; what we should in the field now call physical dependence. However, years of research has demonstrated to us that focusing on this physical versus psychological distinction is a distraction from the real issues available.
Strictly from a clinical perspective, it actually does not matter greatly what physical withdrawal symptoms occur. Physical dependence is not that important, because even the dramatic withdrawal symptoms of heroin and alcohol addiction can now be easily managed with appropriate medications. Even more important, many of the most dangerous and addicting drugs, including methamphetamine and crack cocaine, do not produce very severe physical dependence symptoms upon withdrawal. What really matters most is whether or not a drug causes what we now know to be addiction. More specifically, the compulsive craving and use, despite all of the negative consequences.
This is the crux of how the Institute of Medicine, the American Psychiatric Association, and the American Medical Association define addiction and how we all should use the term. It is really only this compulsive quality of addiction that matters actually run on the addict and to his own family. Thus, the majority of the biomedical community now considers addiction, in its essence, to be a brain disease - a condition caused by persistent changes in brain structure and function. The alterations in brain function results in compulsive craving that overwhelms all other motivations and is the root cause of the massive health and social problems associated with drug addiction. A definition of drug addiction that is certainly commonly referred to is a brain disease expressed available as compulsive behavior. It is important to correct the most popular misimpression that drug use, abuse and addiction are points on a single continuum along which one slides back and forth over time, moving from user to addict, then back to occasional user, then back to addict. Extensive research studies support the view that, once addicted, the individual has moved into a different state to be. Very few people appear able to successfully return to occasional use after having been truly addicted.
Unfortunately, we do not yet have a clear biological or behavioral marker of their transition from voluntary drug use to addiction. However, evidence is rapidly developing that point to an array of cellular and molecular changes in specific brain circuits. Moreover, several of these brain changes are normal to all chemical addictions and some also are usual for other compulsive behaviors for instance compulsive overeating.
The complexity of this brain disease is just not atypical, because which has no brain diseases are simply biological in nature. All, including stroke, Alzheimer's disease, schizophrenia, and clinical depression, include some behavioral and social aspects. What could make substance abuse seem unique among brain diseases, is it does begin with a clearly voluntary behavior - the initial decision to use drugs or are drinking alcohol. Moreover, not everyone who ever uses drugs goes on to become addicted. Individuals differ substantially in how easily and quickly they become addicted and in their preferences for particular substances. In conjuction with the bio-behavioral nature of addiction, these individual differences result from a combination of environmental and biological, particularly genetic, factors. In fact, estimates are that between 50 and 70 percent of the variability to becoming addicted can be accounted for by genetic factors. Although genetic characteristics may predispose individuals to become more or less susceptible to becoming addicted, genes do not doom one to become an addict. Over time the addict loses substantial control over their own initially voluntary behavior, also it becomes compulsive. For many people these behaviors are truly uncontrollable, just such as the behavioral expression of any other brain disease.
Schizophrenics cannot control their hallucinations and delusions. Parkinsons patients cannot control their trembling. Clinically depressed patients cannot voluntarily control their moods. Thus, once one is addicted, the characteristics of the illness and the addiction treatment approaches are not that different from most other brain diseases. Regardless of how one develops a disease, once one has it, one is in the diseased state and needs treatment. When it comes to the addict or alcoholic treatment is best defined as admission in order to a drug rehab, addiction treatment facility or alcoholism treatment facility. Please note that not every person requires an inpatient drug rehab or addiction treatment facility, Read more about
nature of addiction but studies have shown that most individuals require structure of some kind to get rid of the vicious compulsive cycle associated with drug addiction and alcoholism.
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