Substance Abuse And Addiction

Words: 1286
Pages: 6
Open Document
Jena Rex-LaRue
Putnam
Final Paper
6/6/2018

Those who have been touched by addiction are the only ones who know just how terrifying it can be. Popular culture has attempted to replicate this situation, which at times can seem chaotic, but does not truly paint the entire picture. Drug abuse and addiction are real issues that are plaguing all levels of society. Various parts of the nation have even had to claim “states of emergency” as the drug problem has spilled over to an epidemic. As a result of the increased amount of addiction and substance abuse issues in the country, the problem of addiction is now labeled a disease. Specialists in the field of addiction and science have found evidence of the connection between substance abuse/addiction …show more content…
These changes can and are made by the individual themselves, without direct physical/chemical alterations. These are the changes that addiction causes, cancer, on the other hand, is much different and therefore a ‘real’ disease.Is addiction a disease? Most people think so. The idea has become entrenched in our news media, our treatment facilities, our courts and in the hearts and minds of addicts themselves. It’s a potent concept: if you’re an alcoholic or a drug addict, then you’re ill. And you’re going to remain ill. According to Nora Volkow, head of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, “addiction is a chronic, relapsing brain disease,” and that definition has been adopted by medical researchers and policy makers everywhere. Two huge benefits of the disease concept are frequently touted by Volkow and others. First, addicts need treatment, and if we don’t define addiction as a disease, they won’t get the help they require. Second, addicts don’t deserve to be scorned or denigrated: they have a disease, and we don’t put people down for being sick. (Dodes, Lance M.D., …show more content…
Volkow and colleagues proclaimed that “research has increasingly supported the view that addiction is a disease of the brain”. But they also inserted a caveat: “Although the brain disease model of addiction has yielded effective preventive measures, treatment interventions, and public health policies to address substance-use disorders, the underlying concept of substance abuse as a brain disease continues to be questioned ... ” There is good reason to ask whether addiction actually is a disease. If it is, then we might expect it to have a specific cause or set of causes, an agreed-on repertoire of treatment strategies, and a likely time course. We might wonder how the disease of addiction could be overcome as a result of willpower, changing perspectives, changing environments, mindfulness or emotional growth. There is evidence that each of these factors can be crucial in beating addiction, yet none of them is likely to work on cancer, pneumonia, diabetes or
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