Drug addiction Essay

Submitted By jennifersfaulkner
Words: 1046
Pages: 5
Open Document
Jennifer Faulkner
English 101
Dr. Leslie
29, March 2015

Addiction is interesting and important because that is what I am majoring in and I am very passionate about it. Addiction has touched my life in one way or another since childhood via friends and family, after seeing the devastation it causes I vowed to myself that I would try to help those people instead of turning my nose at them. Try to understand what they are going through. A good definition for addiction is; a total loss of control over normal daily functions, no longer able to maintain relationships personal or professional and morals go away as if they never existed. Maybe addiction starts out as a choice in the beginning usually related to some type of trauma or undeveloped emotional state; it doesn’t stay a choice for long and turns into a want, need and obsession that is a flaw in the brain just as any other type of mental illness or disease. So that is what will be discussed addiction is a disease/syndrome, it is not a moral failing and also what it feels like to be a family member of an addict and how we as a society need to find more available treatments and treatment centers for these people to seek help. Addiction has long been viewed as a choice and not a disease, we are finding now that it is a very powerful disease process with a very high mortality rate. Addiction is more than just a bad behavior; it’s a chronic brain disorder, according to a new definition released this week by the (American Society of Addiction Medicine). “At its core addiction isn’t just a social problem, or moral or criminal problem it’s a brain problem” (American Society of Addiction Medicine Aug 17th 2011 Elizabeth Stuart Deseret News). For many years a lot of people believed that addiction was a choice so why don’t they just stop? Thankfully a lot of open minds and great research have found that just is not the case, nobody wants to be a heroin addict or anything like it, there is an under lying issue they are trying to mask and prevent from causing them pain. A moral failure? The traditional view of addiction, and one that still holds considerable sway, is that addiction is a moral failing, a failure of the addict to muster up the willpower to cease destructive behavior ( The Vancouver Sun March 31st 2009 pg.A8) In a addicts family the roles they take on are very noticeable and a way to protect themselves. After reading this next article I was in tears, so very powerful and so typical of what the family goes through. “I question if you have ever thought about it at all, the hell you’ve put our family through, or whether you have ever felt genuinely bad. I’ve started to believe that the pain that comes from your heroin abuse is only on us, not you. As naïve as it may sound all you suffer from is the urge everything else were forced to deal with (This is What It Feels Like to Be An Addicts Sister, Nikki Murray ) Even though I am trying my best to help and support addicts, never discount the way that the family feels after years of lies, theft and sadness. This is never an easy road to travel, the hope that things are turning around a little is promising as far as research and opinions. “I find myself mad and angry that I still care. Love certainly isn’t enough for you to give up this death ridden lifestyle you chose (This is what it’s Like to Be an Addicts Sister, Nikki Murray). I can only hope that families can find comfort in knowing that it is never their lack of love for the addict, or the addict for the family but it’s a disease that has to be treated by a professional. Treatment is now and always will be the most trying part in the process because the lack of available centers and then the lack of money to
Show More

Related Documents: Drug addiction Essay

Essay on Drug Addiction and Drugs

America 5 May 2013 U.S. Drug Policy There has been much controversy over the United States current drug policy. With new studies showing that some current illegal drugs actually have medical benefits, there has been a sudden outcry from the public on drug legalization. There are certain questions regarding the drug policy that I felt most relevant to this policy issue today in the following paragraphs. I have given the two opposing views of each question. The war on drugs in the United States has…

Words 1020 - Pages 5

Drugs: Drug Addiction Essay

Drugs and Addiction Drugs have many effects on the body and mind. People use drugs for various reasons nowadays; some are prescribed, but what about the people that use not prescribed? How do they get them? Many people that use these drugs find themselves doing almost anything to get them; there have even been some college students that get doctors and therapists to give medications without much examination. There are many drugs a person can get addicted to from prescription drugs to more illegal…

Words 1496 - Pages 6

Essay on Addiction: Drug Addiction and Subversive Street Drugs

trying drugs or simply decide to cross the line of the taboo of society due to curiosity or, often, just plain boredom. Many people who become addicted to drugs began taking them recreationally, but in many cases, this recreational 'flight of fantasy' or 'mental escape' comes with more than the user bargained for. Unfortunately for most people, they are either unaware or uncaring of their family or ethnic background that may be markers of their predisposition for addiction. Since many drugs are considered…

Words 1690 - Pages 7

Addiction: Drug Addiction and Addiction Branches Essay

Addiction When many people think of addiction dependences on alcohol or drugs often come to mind. There are a vast number of other activities however, that can be just as addicting if abused. Here in America, we are taught at early ages to steer clear of drugs and alcohol due to their addictive nature. At home, our parents admonish us about the dangers of drugs and drinking and we are enrolled in D.A.R.E programs while in school. Furthermore we are reminded to “stay above the influence” while…

Words 1801 - Pages 8

Essay on Drug Addiction

Drug abuse has a more commonplace in our society today than before. Drug abuse is the habitual use of drugs to alter one's mood, emotion, or state of consciousness. Drug abuse is a serious public health problem that affects almost every community and family in some way. Each year drug abuse results in around 40 million serious illnesses or injuries among people in the United States. There are many different drugs being abuse such as marijuana, heroin and cocaine. There are many dangers and cause…

Words 576 - Pages 3

drug addiction Essay

Drug abuse is an ever increasing problem in society today; the rise in drug related addiction and death is a clear indicator of this negative impact. Those with the experience of drug addiction, be it firsthand or through a friend or a family member, have witnessed the devastating effects and consequences of drug abuse. As of 2013, the estimated number of those considered addicted to illicit drugs is upward of thirty nine million (World Health Organization…

Words 803 - Pages 4

Racial Drug Addictions

The Racial Aspects of Drug-addiction Tolerance The Huffington Post recently published a response to the New York times article “In Heroin Crisis, White Families Seek Gentler War on Drugs.” The articles point out the disparities between white and black drug-addiction, penalties, and social tolerance, but from very different view points. The New York Times article was focused on the "discovery" that white people have drug problems, too. These addictions are finally being noticed as they impact…

Words 592 - Pages 3

Essay on Drug Addiction

Drug Addiction (Focus of the Study: “Shabungan” at Brgy. Victoria Reyes, Dasmariñas, Cavite) Group No. Cuenca, Ma. Kristina B. Enon, Jane Loraine S. Tuban, Julie An Pelisco, Marvelous Salcedo, Yvette Laganzo, Ma. Riellyn Mae Austria, Gerald Mateo, Alyssa INTRODUCTION: Drug Addiction is a chronic disease affecting the brain, and just about everyone is different. It was also a condition that characterized by compulsive drug intake, craving and seeking despite what majority of society…

Words 3848 - Pages 16

Essay Cocaine: Drug Addiction and Drug

One of the most commonly recognized addictions include addictions to alcohol and other mood-altering drugs. I know many people who are, and were once addicted to alcohol and many other drugs. To be addicted to anything is to need it; you’ll do whatever it takes to get that drug. Even if that means give away your most prized position. When I was five years old I always wondered why my mother would leave during the middle of the night, she would be gone and might come back when it was time for me…

Words 490 - Pages 2

Essay Drugs: Drug Addiction and Ones

never use or take any type of illegal drug or alcoholic substance because I have seen what drugs and alcohol can do to people. I have seen how far the deepest pits go, without ever having been there myself. I know what bottom is and I shall never go there! People that I knew and might have loved once have gone to the bottom and died there. I will NOT follow in their footsteps and make the same mistakes that they have made. I have seen drugs and alcohol turn good, caring people into…

Words 544 - Pages 3