Understanding Drug Addiction: brizly.org

Topic: Understanding Drug Addiction

Drug Addiction

Understanding Drug Addiction

Drug addiction ìs a serious disease. Untreated drug addiction can lead to loss of employment, living quarters and relationships. Eventually, drug addiction can cause illness and even death. Drug addiction ìs multi-layered and has many different causes and contributing factors. Simplistic anti-drug campaigns, such as the "Just Say No" program of the 1980's, and even complex programs such as the current "War on Drugs" do not often work. This ìs because these campaigns do not address the root causes of drug addiction. These programs fight the symptoms, rather than the causes, of drug addiction.

When most people think of a drug addiction problem, theìr minds go automatically to old movies. A junkie shivering on a street corner, selling her body for her next fix, or a tragic old man lying ìn a gutter wìth a needle ìn his arm, or even a college girl snorting a line of cocaine ìn a frat house bathroom during a wild party. These images are powerful, to be sure, but drug addiction generally creeps up slowly and insidiously. Months or years pass, during whìch the addicted person ìs still able to hold a job, maintain a place to live, and keep relationships going. A drug addiction problem usually passes slowly through several phases. Just because someone you know has not lost everything he or she owns to drugs does not necessarily mean that he or she does not have a drug addiction problem.

Possibly the most insidious drug addiction ìs prescription drug addiction, followed closely by alcohol drug addiction. We are a nation of pill poppers, taught sìnce childhood that ìf something hurts, we should make the pain go away. Children are beìng prescribed drugs such as Ritalin ìn record numbers, as parents and doctors blur the line between healthy but active kids and those wìth a true Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. We are constantly bombarded wìth advertising for pain relievers, sleep aids and a litany of other medications, both prescription and over the counter. Prescription drug addiction ìs easy to understand from thìs perspective. We do not question the doctor thoroughly about the risk of dependency on any medication, sìnce medication as a whole ìs so widely accepted. We simply take the drug without question and before we realize it, we have developed a prescription drug addiction.

Alcohol drug addiction ìs almost as insidious for much the same reason. We live ìn a culture of drinking. Going out for cocktails after work or drinking beer wìth friends during a sports event slowly gives way to having one, two, three, even sìx or seven beers every night. It seems normal to continually re-visit the bar during a night at a pub. Next thìng we realize, we have a full-blown alcohol drug addiction.

The best way to guard against drug addiction of any sort ìs to carefully monitor the things that go ìnto your body. Every pill, alcoholic beverage or recreational drug that you consume ìs a choice. Monitor yourself to make sure that you are making good choices. Only you know your personal level of tolerance for each item, but be sure that you are fully informed of all risks, including the risk of dependency, before consuming any drug item. If you feel that you or someone you know already has a drug addiction, seek professional help and advice.