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Addiction is characterized by behavior that is originally voluntary and reward-seeking that over time, becomes compulsive, with a desire to avoid dysphoria or withdrawal rather than to experience the original positive effects associated. A person may become physiologically dependent, experience withdrawal, and experience significant cravings.
Chemistry, not moral failing, accounts for the brain’s unwinding. In the laboratories that study drug addiction, researchers have found that the brain becomes conditioned by the repeated dopamine rush caused by heroin. “The brain is not designed to handle it,” said Dr. Ruben Baler, a scientist with the National Institute on Drug Abuse.
A way to destigmatize substance use disorders and shift public perception from viewing them as a moral failing to understanding them as a chronic medical condition which requires treatment. Provide those who are struggling with addiction assurance and encouragement of healing, and let them know that they are not alone in their struggle.
The stigma surrounding addiction can heavily influence opioid addicts not to seek help. Many people view addiction as a moral failing rather than a medical condition, which can lead to feelings of shame and isolation. This stigma can also affect family members, making it difficult for them to support their loved ones effectively. [178]
Substance dependence, also known as drug dependence, is a biopsychological situation whereby an individual's functionality is dependent on the necessitated re-consumption of a psychoactive substance because of an adaptive state that has developed within the individual from psychoactive substance consumption that results in the experience of withdrawal and that necessitates the re-consumption ...
The American Society of Addiction Medicine defines addiction as "a treatable, chronic medical disease involving complex interactions among brain circuits, genetics, the environment, and an individual's life experiences. People with addiction use substances or engage in behaviors that become compulsive and often continue despite harmful ...
Addiction is classified as a chronic brain disorder by the American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM). [5] There are several reasons why people develop an addiction. A predisposition to the addictive qualities of substances may be inherited by some people, making it a genetic circumstance. Another cause for addictions could be the environment.
However, women are less likely than men to experience relapse to substance use. When men experience a relapse to substance use, they more than likely had a positive experience prior to the relapse. On the other hand, when women relapse to substance use, they were more than likely affected by negative circumstances or interpersonal problems. [110]