Drug Addiction Is A Disease

Drug addiction is a disease.  There’s no doubt about that.  In fact experts say that drug addiction is more of a brain disease than anything else.  Scientific advances have offered amazing insights into how the brain works and what drugs do to the way the brain functions.  Luckily, however, this disease is treatable and curable. 

Although drug use initially is voluntary once an addiction develops, that control is markedly changed.  Imaging studies have shown specific abnormalities in the brains of some, but not all, addicted individuals. While scientific advancements in the understanding of addiction have occurred at unprecedented speed in recent years, unanswered questions remain that highlight the need for further research to better define the neurobiological processes involved in addiction.

Recent studies have increased our knowledge of how drugs affect gene expression and brain circuitry, and how these factors affect human behavior. They have shed new light on the relationship between drug abuse and mental illness, and the roles played by heredity, age, and other factors in increased vulnerability to addiction. New knowledge from future research will guide new strategies and change the way clinicians approach the prevention and treatment of addiction.
When we approach drug addiction as a disease instead of as a choice, the treatment options are greatly increased.  We can research what areas of the brain are affected and find the best methods to address that affliction specifically.  Doctors treat cancer, diabetes, and other disease like this, drug addiction should be no different.

Viewing drug addiction as a disease can also help researchers delve further into genetic propensity to drug use and addiction.  That means we will know whether or not drug and alcohol use is linked to our family history and will be able to tackle the problem before it actually becomes a problem.

There are medications available to treat withdrawal symptoms when a person stops using drugs, but when drug addiction is researched as a disease, scientists will be able to come up with new medications that could actually prevent drug use from becoming an addiction.  Similar to medications that make alcoholics sick when they drink.

There are all sorts of diseases in the world.  There’s no doubt about it that drug addiction is one of them.  We need to start looking at it in that way and then taking the appropriate steps to treat drug addiction just as we would another disease like cancer or Alzheimer’s.

Understand Drug Abuse and Addiction

The words drug abuse and drug addiction are often used interchangeably, but in reality, there is a difference between abuse of a drug and addiction.  Addiction does begin with drug abuse, but addiction is much more than a lot of drug use.  It is much more than that.

Drug abuse is basically the repeated or uncontrolled use of controlled substances.  It can also be defined as the habitual misuse of a chemical substance.  This definition includes the use of drugs for purposes other than what they were intended.  In fact, drug abuse has a range of definitions, but all suggest disapproval at the use or overuse of a drug for non-therapeutic reasons.

Drug addiction, on the other hand is when the body has an uncontrollable craving for a drug and absence of that drug in a person’s system causes adverse effects such as insomnia, uncontrollable shaking, and nausea.  Drugs interfere with the normal functioning of the brain making it altered to the point that functioning without the drug is virtually impossible.

When a person is addicted to drugs, they continue to use the drug despite adverse health reactions and possible damage to their bodies.  They disregard their personal health in favor of continuing the feeling that they get when they are on their drug of choice.  Stopping usage is just not a viable option for them.  This is when abuse becomes addiction and when it must be faced and addressed head on.

Understanding drug abuse and addiction can help in preventing drug use to rise to problem proportions.  When you know exactly what you are dealing with, it’s a little easier to begin looking for treatment options.

Whether you or a loved one is abusing drugs or are addicted to drugs, treatment needs to be sought as soon as possible to help ward off serious health implications.  Treatment can have a profound effect on both the drug user, but also on society as a whole.  Healing the addicts in our society improves social and psychological functioning and makes for a more peaceful community and world.

In fact, drug abuse is the number one cause of preventable illness and death in the United States.  It doesn’t matter if we talk about cocaine, heroin, or alcohol, a drug is a drug and those drugs cause problems with the human body.  It is preventable and education is the first step.

Drug abuse and addiction are blights on society.  Both have been around for years and years, but if we take the time to recognize not only the difference between the two, but also the signs and signals that indicate drug use, we can begin to heal ourselves both as individual people and as a society.