Ap Psychology And Drug Abuse Essay

Being able to reproduce and bring new life to earth is a blessing many persons continue to adore. A baby’s first step, first word, and first smile are only a few of an abundance of ‘firsts’ parents look forward to recording or scribbling down in their infant’s baby book. The sullen reality is not all ‘firsts’ are going to aspire great success. Drug abuse is a very serious issue in the United States. According to Erik Erikson’s stages of psychosocial development, “teenagers work at refining a sense of self by testing roles and then integrating them to form a single identity” (Meyers 144). Through trial and error, teenagers will make choices throughout their adolescents and either learn from their mistakes or not. A part of adolescents learning from experiences, their role in society or self-identity is also influenced by sociocultural groups, psychological events, and biological handicaps. Through psychological influences, drug use to a society may seem like the only way out of reality. There are three aspects of psychological influences on drug use and they are lacking sense of purpose, significant …show more content…
Most teenagers who have been impulsive, excitable, and fearless in their childhood years are found to participate in underage drinking, smoking, and using other recreational drugs (Meyers, 110). Impulsive behaviors are behaviors that are acted out without thought and are thought to have minimal to no consequences. Impulsive behaviors come in several different forms and sensation seeking is most problematic form of impulsivity throughout a child’s adolescents. Sensation seeking can be dealt with in many positive ways including thrill rides at an amusement park, scary movies, or extreme sports. When sensation seeking behaviors are not being dealt with through positive forces, adolescents may turn to drugs, alcohol, or other dangerous/risky behaviors to fulfill the desired