Addiction: Overview, causes of addiction, stages, effects, treatment
Overview
Addiction is a complex phenomenon characterized by severe involvement in behavior and substance use, even with harmful outcomes. This often results in a lack of control, physical dependence, and excessive emotional needs, with people often finding their actions and controls on other important things in life.
The elements can be split into two subgroups:
- Substance Abuse: This assumes that the consumption of drinks, narcotics, and other drugs that are not illegal. Such include alcohol (alcohol use disorder), prescription narcotics, opioids, psycho-stimulants, and tobacco resulting in people enjoying and kind of creating a habit of losing control.
- Addictive behavior: refers to non-medical prescriptions. For example: – Pathological gambling is associated with smoking, binge eating, emotional manipulation – Addiction, gambling, sexual activity.
Causes of Addiction
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Mental illness: Mental illnesses such as anxiety, and sadness are often associated with drug use or addictive behaviors and occur in people who use substances or self-improvement behaviors.
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Environmental influences: Growing up in an environment where drug use or other addictive behaviors are considered common results, increases the risk of addiction. Additionally, peer pressure and childhood vulnerability are factors.
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Neurobiological aspect: The brain’s bonus system, especially the mesolimbic dopamine system, is often related to addiction. Activities or substances that stimulate the release of dopamine can strengthen behaviors and make it difficult to control those impulses.
Stages
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Continuous Use: using a thing by the person that he/she found to be enjoyable.
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Bad Pain: When a person starts participating in bad activities, result in bad things will happen, but they may not be aware of the impacts.
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Dependence: the person growing up impatiently means that he/she needs a specific thing, and somewhere withdrawal symptoms will not able to occur when you want to quit for example smoking.
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Addiction: A person loses control of behavior and continues the behavior regardless of negative consequences, usually skipping responsibilities and relationships.
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Effects
Exposure can cause many physical and psychological effects:
Physical Effects: Depending on the chemical or form, it may include: – Drug Addiction: Harmful to the liver. (alcohol), heart disease (cocaine, methamphetamine), and neurological problems (opioids). – Behavioral state: Physical exhaustion, poor health (e.g. obesity due to overeating), insomnia, mental decline.
Psychological effects: May include: – Emotional problems such as anxiety, depression, and mood swings. – Mental weakness, including difficulty concentrating and making decisions.
Treatment
Endurance and tolerance: Over time, the brain becomes more sensitive to dopamine, which requires large doses and repeated interactions to achieve the same effect, and can reduce withdrawal symptoms such as anxiety, anger, and pain. the body too.
Therapies: There are several forms of treatment: – Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) changes harmful thought processes and behavior. – Motivational interviewing (MI) is concerned with how a person’s change can be achieved by understanding what drives people. – Enhancement of management, providing power and additional elements.
Pharma therapies: Some types of pharmacotherapy may assist in relieving cravings, blocking the risk of relapse, or attacking existing mood disorders similar to ones associated with a substance such as opioids.
Family: The contribution of family, and friends including partners in the course of recovery is of great importance for the maintenance of recovery.