Cynthia Mercado
B. Weidhorn
Anatomy and Physiology
24 November 2015
Addiction
I chose this topic because I’m currently enrolled in the Addiction Studies program at Molloy.
To begin “In the 1930s, people addicted to drugs were thought to be morally flawed and lacking in willpower.” (Volkow, 2014) Many people today still have a hard time understanding how one becomes addicted to drugs and why the brain fosters compulsive drug use. This view has changed dramatically over the years. One can be addicted to abusing not only illicit or prescriptions drugs but also alcohol and nicotine. Addiction costs more than $700 billion a year which is increasing healthcare costs, lost productivity, and crimes.
Subsequently, rom this result we now see that Addiction is disease that affects not only the brain but also your behavior.”Addiction is a chronic relapsing brain disease that is characterized by compulsive drug seeking.”(Volkow, 2014) You may ask, why is addiction a brain disease? It’s a brain disease because the drugs alternate the mind. The drugs change the structure of your brain and how it works. Addiction can affect an individual, families and even on a larger scale communities. From babies to adults people of all ages suffer from the harmful consequences of drug use and addiction. There are some …show more content…
This can range from many reasons. People take drugs to feel good, to feel better, to do better, and curiosity. People become addicted because at first they take drugs or alcohol to feel something positive but as their body gets used to the feeling it gets less pleasurable. After this your body then feels like you need the drug rather than wanting it, as if your body feels it necessary to take to feel normal. Although addiction can cause tremendous problems for a person or their loved ones you still find that there are many people who compulsively seek and take the drugs regardless of the harmful circumstances they put themselves
B. Weidhorn
Anatomy and Physiology
24 November 2015
Addiction
I chose this topic because I’m currently enrolled in the Addiction Studies program at Molloy.
To begin “In the 1930s, people addicted to drugs were thought to be morally flawed and lacking in willpower.” (Volkow, 2014) Many people today still have a hard time understanding how one becomes addicted to drugs and why the brain fosters compulsive drug use. This view has changed dramatically over the years. One can be addicted to abusing not only illicit or prescriptions drugs but also alcohol and nicotine. Addiction costs more than $700 billion a year which is increasing healthcare costs, lost productivity, and crimes.
Subsequently, rom this result we now see that Addiction is disease that affects not only the brain but also your behavior.”Addiction is a chronic relapsing brain disease that is characterized by compulsive drug seeking.”(Volkow, 2014) You may ask, why is addiction a brain disease? It’s a brain disease because the drugs alternate the mind. The drugs change the structure of your brain and how it works. Addiction can affect an individual, families and even on a larger scale communities. From babies to adults people of all ages suffer from the harmful consequences of drug use and addiction. There are some …show more content…
This can range from many reasons. People take drugs to feel good, to feel better, to do better, and curiosity. People become addicted because at first they take drugs or alcohol to feel something positive but as their body gets used to the feeling it gets less pleasurable. After this your body then feels like you need the drug rather than wanting it, as if your body feels it necessary to take to feel normal. Although addiction can cause tremendous problems for a person or their loved ones you still find that there are many people who compulsively seek and take the drugs regardless of the harmful circumstances they put themselves