Alcohol Or Drug Addiction; Some Questions And Answers

Alcohol or drug addiction affect more than just the person suffering the addiction. The situation also harms the people who care for the addicted person, such as family, friends… even coworkers are affected. In this article, we hope to offer some helpful information concerning drug addiction through common questions and answers so that you will be informed and able to approach situations in your own life with both sensitivity and realism.

What is drug addiction?

Drug addiction is a physical and mental condition characterized by habitual and uncontrollable drug intake, involving craving and seeking, even despite the negative consequences associated with drug use.

Alcohol or drug addiction is different from alcohol or drug dependence, though. For example, a person who is taking a drug to treat a disease or illness may have trouble functioning without the drug, but the person may see an improvement in the medical condition while taking the drug. They are only dependent, however, because they are not taking the drug compulsively. Persons addicted to a drug or alcohol exhibit compulsive behavior towards the drug, and unlike the medically dependent drug or alcohol user, they are unable to quit the use once the drug or alcohol has performed its intended effect.

What are some other legal substances that can become addictive?

Beyond alcohol, nicotine, and caffeine, other readily available legal drugs can become addictive. Prescription as well as over-the-counter drugs and medication are potentially addictive when abused. Prescription pain medication as well as muscle relaxants over used can lead to addiction. Such drugs should be taken responsibly under medical supervision. The most important lesson to be learned is that a person should take any substance responsibly. Overindulgence in anything often leads to problems. The effects of almost any drug or alcohol are temporary, which is also one of the reasons the drug or alcohol can be addictive. One of the reasons a government regulates production and distribution of controlled substances such as prescription drugs is because these drugs can be abused. A healthy lifestyle is likely to decrease the potential for needing to take prescription drugs, thus decrease the potential for becoming addicted.

What are some other viewpoints concerning the reason for drug addiction?

More are beginning to think that drug addiction is a form of dysfunctional learning. Much of what people do is based on motivation and reward. Abused drugs or alcohol take over the parts of the brain that are involved in motivation and reward. The drug user is re-educated, erroneously, motivation stimuli and the associated rewards. Drug-associated cues will in it's turn cause the desire to use to flare up in the addicted person. This will lead to unconscious and/or compulsive drug-seeking behavior as well, for example lying, stealing, and even physical violence. The addicted drug user will lose the sense of voluntary control over the use of the drug. The continued use of drugs strengthens the neurological pathways in the brain, and their activation quickens with each use. The quicker the "high" is achieved, the stronger the dysfunctional learning.

What happens when an addicted person stops using a drug?

The drug addict will often go through a stage of withdrawal, sometimes called a "crash". Here, they will have a physical response to the lack of the drug in their system. Sometimes this is a method used to help a patient get off a drug addiction. If the addict is not actually trying to quit, but has simply been unable to get the alcohol or drug, they may turn to radical behavior in order to obtain it. The drug has started to control their life. The neurological pathways or patterns have been restructured in the addict's brain, and they do not just return to the way they were. If the addict wants to quit using the drug or alcohol completely, they should seek treatment.

What have been the definitions of drug addiction by health organizations?

In, 1957 the World Health Organization (WHO) Expert Committee on Addiction-Producing Drugs defined addiction and habituation as components of drug abuse:
Drug addiction is a state of periodic or chronic intoxication produced by the repeated consumption of a drug (natural or synthetic). Its characteristics include:

(i) an overpowering desire or need to continue taking the drug and to obtain it by any means

(ii) a tendency to increase the dose

(iii) a psychological and generally a physical dependence on the effects of the drug and

(iv) detrimental effects on the individual and on society.

Drug habituation (habit) is a condition resulting from the repeated consumption of a drug. Its characteristics include (i) a desire (but not a compulsion) to continue taking the drug for the sense of improved well-being which it engenders; (ii) little or no tendency to increase the dose; (iii) some degree of psychic dependence on the effect of the drug, but absence of physical dependence and hence of an abstinence syndrome [withdrawal], and (iv) detrimental effects, if any, primarily on the individual.