...Journal in May of 2006 entitled, “Don’t blame me, I’m just the junkie”, written by Theodore Dalrymple, purposes that criminality is more likely to cause heroin addiction than heroin addiction is to cause criminality. The author of this article, in my opinion, clearly has an unrealistic view of addiction and has obviously never experienced withdrawal. Mr. Dalrymple begins this article in a disturbing tone when he states that most addicts in prison say “I would give up the heroin if only I got the help”. He goes on to interpret this statement to mean that the addict is of course implying that there is a technical means by which the behavior of addicts can change with no further effort for abstinence on the part. I personally cannot comprehend how that interpretation can be derived from someone saying that they need help to change. The author point out that addiction to opiates is incompatible with working or maintaining a job, despite problems with supply. The author uses the example of William Wibeforce taking a “tincture” amount, or “trace” amount of opium daily and continuing to function well, to that of 40 milligrams of heroin that the average heroin addict takes to maintain their addiction. That’s like saying that someone who breathes in second hand cigarette smoke doesn’t have a problem with cigarette addiction so why should it be any more difficult for the person smoking the cigarette. I find it disturbing that the author has performed this study based on information...
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...The term addiction is most commonly associated with drug abuse. Until recently, food specifically sugar has gained enough momentum to be compared and classified as addictive as cocaine is (Ahmed et al.). There are 300,000 deaths per year related to obesity in the United States, making it the second most preventable cause of death (Flegal et. al). In comparison, there are only 47,000 deaths related to drug use (National Center for Health estimated Statistics). This essay will explore, sugar, the underlying issue contributing to the obesity epidemic. In the documentary from “Sugar Coated” they state that “in the past 30 years obesity rates have doubled to 600 million… and diabetes rates have tripled to 347 million worldwide.” Comparably in that...
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...Substance Abuse and Addiction Position Paper For many years, individuals have battled substance abuse and addiction. My position comes from hearing about it, seeing results from it, reading about it, and developing my own thoughts of it. Substance abuse and addiction is a problem within the individual and how string their mind-frame is. Substance abuse and addiction Addiction is a complex disorder characterized by compulsive drug use. ( Robinson, Smith, and Saisan, 2014) Most people or first time users will just use the drug to experiment with it, for reasons of curiosity, peer pressure, depression or anxiety. A person may become addicted because the power of the drug take over their minds and they feel the need to cannot go on without having the drugs. Some people believe that addiction is a brain disease. More than three decades of research supported by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) has proven that addiction is a complex brain disease characterized by compulsive, at time uncontrollable, drug craving, seeking, and use that persist despite potentially devastating consequences. (Volkow) I do not think addiction is a brain disease, it is thought or feeling that is formed for the need of wanting a drug all the time. Who’s prone to becoming addicted? I think weak individuals are prone to becoming addicted to drugs. If a person is going through something and they try drugs, it may make them feel better, so every time that person is down and out, they will turn...
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...Addiction Rehabilitation The use of drugs can impair a person’s judgement, causing the person to par take in criminal behaviors. Also the use of drugs may lead a person to steal money or property to be able to support their drug habit. More often than not they will commit crimes while under the influence of drugs and many drug users are sent to jail or prison. Yet if these offenders would have to attend some type of addiction consoling while incarcerated and have to continue after their release date as a stipulation of their probation they may never go back down that same path again. Drug-related crimes are often committed to obtain money or goods to sell to get money to support drug use. According to BJS national surveys, the most comprehensive information available, an estimated 17% of 1991 State prison inmates and 13% of convicted jail inmates in 1989...
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...He who conquers sugar is the real master above all of this because if he can control sugar cravings, he can control almost anything. A sugar addiction is a mental addiction. Sugar cravings are a major issue not just for ketogenic eating, but any diet program. These cravings are often what throw people out of ketosis because they give into them. Sugar causes a natural production of opioids in the brain that produces a drug-like high. Many people with addiction type of personalities who choose not to abuse illegal substances may opt for sugar because of its strong pleasurable effects. Since it is a legal substance, there are no real risks in consuming it. Sugar is ok. Sugar releases that "ahh" feeling that most of us like. Who would have ever...
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...What Is An Opiate Addiction? A drug addiction is a chronic brain disease that is characterized by compulsive drug seeking despite the consequences of it. People who have an opiate addiction may go to great lengths to obtain the drug, such as doctor shopping. Opiates are prescribed to alleviate pain. Most people use opiates as prescribed. However, opiate abuse is on the rise. It is estimated that anywhere from 24 million to 36 million people in the world abuse opiates. Long-term opiate abuse can result in dependency. The reason that people who abuse opiates often become addicts is because they often develop a tolerance. Once a tolerance develops, people need more of the drug in order to experience the same effects. Opiate Withdrawal Treatment...
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...Drug Addiction and Recovery Carmen Dunagan Com/156 Professor Paul Neuhausen Many people do not understand why or how other people become so consumed in drug addiction. Often drug addicts are mistaken as weak individuals with no will power and assume they can stop using drugs at any time. In reality, drug addiction is a complex disease and being able to quit drugs takes more than good intentions and strong will. Drugs change the brain in ways that foster compulsive drug abuse, so quitting is very difficult even for those who say they are ready to quit. Through scientific advances we know more about how drugs work in the brain and we know that drug addiction can be successfully treated to help people stop abusing drugs and lead a productive life. Drug addiction is a problem that has increased in our society greatly over the years. Drug addiction stops lives and can cause you to forget about any dreams or goals you may have made for yourself. It ruins lives slowly and with a big impact. I found this topic to weigh heavy in my mind and heart since my family has struggled with drug addiction my whole life. I have often wondered how the addiction could be so important in their life. It isn’t just a habit I have learned it is an actual disease and it’s very sad how it controls people’s lives. It doesn’t only ruin and effect the abusers life but their family’s as well and I can share first hand with that. Since I was...
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...Itzel Guzman Five paragraph Essay test Language arts Overcoming an Addiction The problem starts out with just wanting to try because my friends do it, and then soon it is an addiction one cannot overcome. The brain fools us into thinking everything is fine when really it is not. Picture living in the streets with no money or food, and you just want to peel your skin off because of all the meth, and other drugs you have taken. Your heart is racing and you are screaming, but you have no one left. You lose hope and you just want to die. That is hitting rock bottom. My uncle was fifteen years old when he started drinking alcohol. His parents focused on their jobs rather than their children. He also hung out with up-to-no-good kids who would...
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...crack cocaine addiction. Crack cocaine addiction treatment facilities focus on therapies that change the behavior by educating the patient about the effects on our mind and body. Crack cocaine addiction is rarely premeditated, and recovery is possible when decision is made by the patient. The process is not easy, nor short. Patients and friends, family develop the skills to support long-term abstinence. For many there are physical and emotional underlying conditions that instigated the used of the drug. Reversing the body’s tolerance and the mind’s dependency is a slow progression as patients go through treatment. Acknowledging the need to change is the first...
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...If you are struggling with a heroin addiction while living in Newark, New Jersey, it is understandable why you might not know what to do or where to turn should you want to stop your cycle of addiction. All anyone has to do is read local news report after news report about the prevalence gang activity and drugs on Newark's streets to know that temptation within the city's limits is hard to avoid. With that said, there will still come a time when you need to think about getting help or risk losing your life. Is a Newark NJ Heroin Rehab Center a Viable Solution? While your fist instinct might be to contact a local NJ heroin rehab center, you might encounter certain obstacles that make going out-of-state a better alternative. Putting aside the dangers of trying to get help in a familiar environment where your dealers and enablers are living and prompting you...
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...In recent years, there has been a drastic report of prescription drug overdoses famous celebrities such as, actress, Jamie Lee Curtis and actress and singer, Kelly Osbourne are examples of celebrities who are overcoming their addiction with prescription drugs.. Not all celebrities, however, had the ability to recover from their addictions. Celebrities such as actress, singer, and model, Marilyn Monroe; actor, Heath Ledger; and model, Anna Nicole Smith, are examples of celebrities whose lives ended tragically because of prescription drugs alone or prescription drugs mixed with illicit drugs or alcohol. Actress and singer, Kelly Osbourne, partook in a partying stage and was heavily abusing alcohol and painkillers. Her prescription drug addiction...
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...March 2, 2016 Position Paper: Should society view addiction as a disease? Drug addiction is a significant problem in today’s society yet it also seems to be debatable as to whether society should view drug addiction as a disease or choice. Drug addiction continues to grow and affects a diverse population which includes much younger age groups. It must be noted that drug addiction is a voluntary choice; whereas disease is not, despite whether a disease is deemed mental and/or physical in nature. Frankly, whether society views addiction as a disease or choice, it is a problem and a controversial issue. The definition of drug addiction, according the Merriam-Webster’s dictionary is: “the quality or state of being addicted <addiction to reading>, compulsive need for and use of a habit-forming substance (as heroin, nicotine, or alcohol) characterized by tolerance and by well-defined physiological symptoms upon withdrawal; broadly: persistent compulsive use of a substance known by the user to be harmful.”(“Addiction” n.d.) Numerous government and other science researchers continue to study drug addiction while addressing whether addiction is a choice or a disease. There is significantly more information that states addiction is a choice. Drug addiction may be the underlying cause of a disease. However, despite whether addiction may result in disease, addiction is a choice and it is a subject of major study and may reflect how addiction is viewed. “Scientifically...
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...Problem Solving: Drug Addiction Virginia Stelwagen PHL/458 June 25, 2012 Trisha McAloon Creative Process The following stages of the creative process have been defined by Ruggiero (2009) as follows: The first stage of the creative process represents the habit of searching for challenges, not at one specific time, but constantly. Its importance is reflected in the fact that can be creative only in response to challenges that you perceive. The second stage: expressing the problem or issue, the objective in this stage is to find the best expression of the problem or issue, the one that will yield the most helpful ideas. The third stage: investigating the problem or issue, the objective of this stage is to obtain the information necessary to deal effectively with the problem or issue. In some cases, this will mean merely searching your past experience and observation for appropriate material and bringing it to bear on the current problem. In others, it will mean obtaining new information through fresh experience and observation, interviews with knowledgeable people, or your own research. The fourth stage: producing ideas, the objective in this stage is to generate enough ideas to decide what action to take or what belief to embrace. Two obstacles are common in this stage. The first is the often unconscious tendency to limit your ideas to common, familiar,...
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...Phobias and Addictions Paper PSY/300 Conferring to Kowalski & Westen (2011) “The concept that learning is adaptive and shapes behavior, forms the fundamental concepts of the behaviorist perspective.” These conceptions may be acknowledged as operant, classical, and associative learning. These approaches are suggested to be similar, but they have contrasting steps towards how behavior can be educated. These approaches are frequently known as classical learning, operant learning, and associative learning. These approaches may sound similar, but they have slightly differentiated steps towards how behavior can be learned. Operant and classical learning styles can help a person stay positive within a society. Two concepts are known worldwide to also have negative impacts on a person’s emotional and physical state, phobias and addictions. Feeling uncomfortable, or feeling fear about something, may mean you may bear a phobia. Conferring to Merriam-Webster (2013) “Phobia is defined as an exaggerated usually inexplicable and illogical fear of a particular object, class of objects, or situation.” During the beginning of a life phobias may not be present, but they may be learned throughout a period of time. A stimulus can be joined together with an opposing stimulus that can change the original response, this can happen when looking at phobias with classical conditioning. An example of this can be...
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...Xonepro Xonepro PSY/300 PSY/300 Phobias & Addictions Week 2 Individual Assignment Phobias & Addictions Week 2 Individual Assignment Explore how phobias can be developed through classical conditioning. In doing some research on the topic of classical conditioning, I have come to learn that it is a way of training so to speak, where a conditioned response is learned through conditioning the individual, be it animal or human. Basically, one learns that if you do this one action, another will follow in response; a reaction to one’s action. This reaction can be either a reward or a punishment. For instance, you train a dog to do a trick such as, shake hands or roll over. You do this while holding a treat to entice the animal to do said trick. Once the trick is done, the pet then reaps the reward. After doing this many times, the pet then knows that if it does this trick, it will get a treat. Now in the case of classical conditioned phobias in humans, perhaps one of the most common is the fear of spiders, also known as arachnophobia. This is more of a natural happening as one perhaps is bitten or is woken at night with a spider crawling on them. We are told that spiders bite and they are poisonous which creates a natural fear of them and the way they look does not help either. I think even more interesting than people fearing them are the people that do not fear spiders. Another phobia would be that of glossophobia, which is the fear of public speaking or speech...
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