Shawn Barth & Hannah Shimko

AP Psychology

Mrs. Smith

12 Jan. 2011

Substance Abuse and Drug Treatment

What is an addiction? Is it a chemical dependence on a given substance do to

physiological adaptations to its presence or is it a strong desire or want to receive the

immediate benefits of its consumption? The comparison of the two is like asking, “Does

Mrs. Smith’s body tell her that she needs to eat M&M’s or there will be severe

psychological and/or physical repercussions or does she simply just really want to eat

M&M’s?” The complexity of addiction and substance abuse is something that has baffled

scientists and counselors since the conception of recreational drugs and the secrets to its

treatment still elude them today. To fully understand addiction however, one must first

look at its causes, its harms to the user and those around them and then finally, its

treatment. Substance abuse has various causes that can be prevented and many harmful

effects that can otherwise be treated. So, what is an addiction..? While there are many

theories as to the cause of an addiction, the most widely accepted theory is that the

answer lies in your brain. The National Institute on Drug Abuse defines drug addiction

as, “a complex brain disease. It is characterized by compulsive, at times uncontrollable,

drug craving, seeking, and use that persist even in the face of extremely negative

consequences.”

There are many factors involved in the initial use of illicit substances and many

more factors in the addiction and eventual abuse of such drugs. The initial use of a
substance in most cases is a choice, but can have several environmental factors involved

in it such as the user’s socioeconomic background, the peer group and its pressures to fit

in, the belief that the substance’s short-term benefits outweigh its long term costs, and its

use as a coping mechanisms for physical or mental ailments.

Is widely believed that while addiction is a disease, it has many factors that

determine a person's brain chemistry before they're even born. In an article in Time

magazine, Micheal Lemonick explains that abusable substances trigger a mental pattern

that has existed in humans’ brains since the beginning of mankind. Abusable drugs

triggered mental processes that are fundamental to human existence that has saliences

(Lemonick 1). A salience is essentially a feeling that contains some sort of relevance of

person’s existence(Lemonick 1). One such example is the act of eating. When humans

eat, they have a positive physiological response in that it continues their basic survival, so

their body makes them want to do that action more(Lemonick 1). Drugs triggered a

special salience in that they cause some sort of pleasure to the user. This triggers the

physiological response for a person to desire this feeling and this can lead to a chemical

dependence on that substance (Lemonick 1). Some people are more susceptible to the

physiological response caused by the use feelings at this explains why those people are

more susceptible to addiction than others (Lemonick 1). This causes them to have a

genetic predisposition to substance abuse and may cause them to be more likely to

become an addict but others (Lemonick 1). Another such physiological response found in

humans is much like the idea of saliences in that it is a normal physiological response to

remove stress and other setting feelings (Lemonick 4). Thus being such, what a person

uses drugs or other abusable substances in order to not feel such undesirable feelings their
body creates a physiological response telling that person to continue abusing the

substances in order to silence such negligible feelings (Lemonick 4). Such is the tragic

irony of addiction, someone becomes addicted because their body thinks that it is good

for the user to abuse substances and thusly, tells that person to continue its use.

While there are many internal factors as to why a person abuses substances, there

are many external factors that can contribute to drug use as well. Many people began to

abuse substances because they are pressured by others to do so in order to fit in. While it

is still that person's choice to began using drugs, as is the previously stated many people

are more susceptible to drug addiction through a genetic predisposition and are therefore

more likely to continue the use of drugs (Lemonick 2). Other external factor like

cosmetic people to abuse substances is their socioeconomic background. A person's

socioeconomic status is comprised of a person's education, job, income, race,

neighborhood, and heritage (Walding 1). If drug use is generally accepted among others

of that person's socioeconomic status, that person is much more likely to abuse

substances. An article in Livestrong Magazine by Aureau Walding states,” The National

Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism notes that people of minority, including those

with lower socioeconomic status, are often misrepresented as problem substance users.

However, the relationship between substance use problems and circumstances causing

impoverishment are also concurrently influenced by an individual’s cultural beliefs and

gender role beliefs practiced in the home (Walding 1).”