Addiction In Psychosocial Factors In Drug Use And Alcoholism

Addiction is a primary, chronic disease of brain reward, motivation, memory and related circuitry. Dysfunction in these circuits leads to characteristic biological, psychological, social and spiritual manifestations. This is reflected in an individual pathologically pursuing reward and/or relief by substance use and other behaviors (Definition of Addiction). My family has had their fair share of being addicted to alcohol. To this day, my grandfather talks about how he overcame an alcoholic addiction that changed his life for the better. My grandfather had a problem with drinking, and when drinking was involved, so was gambling. He would spend their money hoping that when they leave the casino, more money would be in their pockets then before. …show more content…
In Psychosocial Factors in Alcohol Use and Alcoholism, it is clearly remarked that, “A family history of alcoholism is a well- established risk factor for the development of alcoholism”(par.6). There have been other findings in children of alcoholics other than actually becoming one too. There is a higher prevalence of mental and behavior disorders and a lack of sensitivity to alcohol’s intoxicating effects or an increased sensitivity to its anxiety-reducing effects (par.7). Many studies have shown that people’s beliefs about the effects of alcohol vary depending on their ethnicity (Windle pag.59). Christiansen and Teahan found that Irish adolescents expected fewer social benefits, less sexual prowess, and greater increases in aggressive behavior from alcohol consumption than did American adolescents(60). This confirms that how you are raised and what your parents are like can greatly affect your outcome. In a research report done by the Institute of Child Development at the University of Minnesota, said “Parental alcohol use has also been associated with adolescent and early adult alcohol use, such that higher levels of alcohol use by parents foretells higher levels of alcohol use by their offspring” (Englund et.al 24). Heavy drinking in adolescence predicts heavy drinking and alcohol use disorders in adulthood (25). There are plenty of parents at this time and age that are allowing their …show more content…
“Laboratory data suggest that male children with multigenerational family histories of alcoholism are hyperactive to stress and derive greater stress response-dampening benefits from alcohol” (Psychosocial Factors in 187). There was a three-year study that observed more than 1,000 people that looked at their relationship between financial stress and drinking (187). The study showed that people that did not have to worry financially were less likely to have drinking problems unlike others that were unstable. People with high stress, that lack stress reduction skills, are more vulnerable to addiction (Horvath et. al par.3). Someone normally drinks to be able to clear their mind and not think about everything they have going on. They use drinking alcohol as their coping method instead of going to a therapist or getting help from someone else. Alcohol is a temporary relieve of stress for some and before you know it, the buzz has worn off and the problem is still there. Through studying the risk factors of an alcoholic addiction, I was able to find ways to help out my family with this rapid spreading problem. All of the risk factors can affect anyone at any time. The main way to overcome this is by not letting the past of someone define you. You are not destined to be like your family’s