Drug addiction is problem that has been affecting this society for many years. Drug addiction is a disease that affects a person’s brain and behavior that requires integrated treatment of the mind, body, and spirit. It is considered a brain disease because drugs change the way the brain works. Without treatment, these brain changes can be long-lasting. Addiction is chronic, it is a continuous disease, without proper treatment, the disease can be deadly, and for nearly one hundred Americans today, and everyday it will be fatal. Addiction has grown immensely among society now.
Addiction is a big problem, and could end in death. Abusing drugs only allows people to prevent themselves from accomplishing what they want in life; their dreams and goals. Even Though, the reality of addiction is that majority of people struggling with substances are just like anyone else: they are human, not just a drug addict or considered dirty or a lowlife. They have families, they are either father’s, mothers, sons, daughters, friends, coworkers, they do have a life. Drug addiction needs to be considered a disease because it both affects the way of the brain, and affects the people surrounded by the user.
Drug addiction is a disease because it changes the way the brain works. Drug addiction changes the way the brain functions because it sends off chemicals and interferes with the neurons. According to the article “Drug Abuse, Dopamine” drugs are chemicals that affect the brain by tapping into its communication system and interfering with the way neurons normally send, receive, and process information. Therefore, the evidence that was given supports the idea that drug abuse can actually alter the chemical makeup of the brain, which is what causes addiction.
127 our experts are availableright now
Drug abuse targets the brain’s reward system by submerging dopamine, which is a neurotransmitter, a section of the human brain that controls movement, emotion, motivation, and feelings of pleasure. Brains are wired to secure that the human body will repeat life-sustaining activities by mixing it with the pleasure or reward. Once the reward circuit is activated, the brain is aware that something is happening that needs to be remembered, and repeated over and over. Not only…but also drugs change the body’s health. Drugs can be taken in different ways such as, injection, inhalation, and ingestion.
Every drug has a different effect. Intravenous drugs is a common way to abuse illicit drugs or legal prescription drugs. Drugs that are commonly injected include heroin, cocaine, methamphetamine, opioid painkillers, and prescription stimulants. Injecting a drug allows the toxic chemical to enter the bloodstream immediately, which increases the speed of delivery to the brain. Inhalation drugs can be done by marijuana, gas, household items such as paint, lighter fluid, markers and so on. Ingestion, are swallowing non prescription pills into the body. Drug abuse puts the whole body at risk, by affecting every aspects of the human body, changing feelings, moods, judgment, decision making, learning and memory.
Drug abuse can also affect the skin, teeth, breath, hair, eyesight, it may also cause a stroke, cancer, and mental disorders. Health consequences can become long-lasting or even permanent. Long term drug use results in a tolerance, meaning that the body becomes used to the drug. Once a tolerance has been developed, the person needs to do more and more drugs to get the same feeling. This becomes dangerous to the human body, certain parts of the body stop fighting the colossal chemical intake, overdosing and death become real possibilities. The statements taken by professionals are that drugs do change the structure of the brain and that is to be considered as a disease.
Drug addiction is a disease because it affects families. Family members are often the first victims of drug addiction. It is often said that addiction is a family disease; meaning that everyone in the family is affected by one member’s addiction. Addiction affects the stability of the home, the unity of the family, mental and physical health, and the overall family dynamic. When a family member has a drug addiction, they have a powerful disease that can cause a huge effect and hurt the entire family.
Consequently, an addiction can cause tension, miscommunication, and more frequent arguments within a household, it raises the feeling of stress and negativity among one another. Many families lose their homes, go into bankruptcy, or face serious economic consequences when bills can’t be paid. Once addiction has taken full control, the addiction will lead to all kinds of crime and violence in family, the user will turn to lying and stealing to hide and support their drug abuse. There may be serious legal problems, even resulting in jail time for the addict as a consequence of his or her actions. The effects on drugs on the family may lead to separation causing emotional and psychological damage.
Drugs have a way of altering someone’s behavior and nd no one is more affected by this than families. Overdose deaths outnumbered the traffic facilities in the United States, and it also outnumbered cancer deaths. Guilt can be a component of grief from many types of losses, overdose deaths can present guilt, towards family because they could have helped in some way. Family members need to recognize that recovery is a lifelong process. Therefore, The addict will always be in recovery. It isn’t a one-time thing at rehab and then life continues on as before. Overall, Drug deaths in America are rising faster than ever.
Drug overdose deaths in 2016 most likely exceeded 59,000, the largest annual jump ever recorded in the United States. (The New York Times) Therefore, drug overdose are the leading cause of death. Drugs containing oxycodone, hydrocodone and methadone are the most common drugs involved in prescription opioid overdose deaths.Heroin addicts and other drug users quickly discovered that crushing the tablets gave them a much larger dose of the opioid with a more powerful high than traditional fast-acting narcotic medications. Hydrocodone is in the same drug family as morphine and oxycodone. Methadone is used for moderate to severe pain and for opioid addiction treatment.
In conclusion, drug addiction should be considered a disease because, it changes the way the brain works, the bodies health, and it affects families. It alters the way the brain works by sending off chemicals and interfering with the neurons. It changes the body’s health by putting it on risk which can lead to death. It has a huge affect on the family causing stress and negativity that may lead to separation. Drugs are not for experimenting, it is for people that need to be cured from an illness. To remind, drugs can drag someone down and will not be able to come back up on their own. Overall, drug addiction should be treated as a disease.
Work Cited
- “Drug Abuse & Addiction”. 5 February 2018. Joseph Goldberg. Accessed 30 August 2018
- “Drug Abuse, Dopamine and the Reward System Explained”. 8 July 2016. The Cabin Chiang Mai. Accessed 29 August 2018
- “Drug Addiction”. 26 October 2017. Mayo Clinic Staff. Accessed 30 August 2018
- “Effects of Drug Abuse and Addiction”. 2018. Gateway Alcohol & Drug Treatment. Accessed 30 August 2018
- “Signs of Drug Addiction”. 30 January 2018. Brunilda Nazario. Accessed 30 August 2018
