Not getting many answers, I moved my search to www.drugabuse.gov. That led me to an DrugFacts:Understanding Drug Abuse and Addiction.
This article states that "addiction is a chronic, often relapsing brain disease that causes compulsive drug seeking and use". It compares addiction to other chronic diseases, such as, diabetes, asthma and heart disease, in the sense that it can be managed successfully. It goes on to explain what addiction is and what happens to your brain when you take drugs. According to this article, risk for addiction is influenced by a combination of factors including biology, environment and development. It states that the genes that people are born with account for about half of their addiction vulnerability. WOW! I can't seem to find words for how much this shocks me! So far, I am finding staggering statistics, but nothing to really help me answer my questions. Although, it does tell me that it is possible for addiction to be hereditary.
I don't feel I have gotten very far. I need to dig deeper. I think I am surprised that this may not be as easy as I thought.
Works Cited
Mason, Stephen. "Look At It This Way: The Addictive Personality." Psychologytoday.
Psychologytoday.com., 14 Mar 2009. Web. 9 July 2013
"Drugfacts: Understanding Drug Abuse and Addiction". National Institute of Drug Abuse. Nov 2012. Web.
9 July 2013
I have also found that this road we will travel is littered with potholes and sharp items that will slow our way. I am fortunate to be reading a blog with sources whom lend credibility to the blog, and quotes/data that provide connected, as you put it, statistics.
ReplyDeleteWith these statistics though, I can't help but wish that I could hear more of your insight as to why these correspond to or enhance your research, or even topple your ideas. I would love to hear you work through why you do not believe these articles have brought you to any final conclusions. I can agree that the idea of genes being involved with addiction to that degree truly are staggering, but what does that lead you to continue asking?
Have you looked into research that compares things that are physically addictive, like nicotine, to more mental based addictions, such as alcohol.
ReplyDeleteI guess I'd like to know if mental addictions (people with addictive personalities)create certain pathways in the brain that help to continue the behavior. Also, I hope my definitions of mental and physical addictions aren't too outdated as they are based off the definitions of how illegal drugs form addictions (such as heroin, meth, etc.)
Arianna,
ReplyDeleteI agree with the above comment -- I'm curious about research that focuses on specific drugs that are more physically addicting versus mentally addicting. I do believe in the idea of addictive personalities but I don't have much theory to back it up. What you found via your sources is interesting. While I knew that environment and development had a lot to do with someone's susceptibility to be an addict, I didn't know about the gene accounting for half of addiction vulnerability!
I understand why you would be surprised that this inquiry is not as easy as you thought, however I am not surprised. Addiction and recovery is a challenging field, with various opinions and flimsy supporting evidence, and it is a field that I personally believe certainly needs more research to be done.. regardless I am excited to see what paths you take for your upcoming posts!