Comments for Drug Addiction: A Physical Disease or Matter of Choice? »
Posted By WikiMap 5 months, 3 weeks ago in NewsThe United States is schizophrenic about drugs. Celebrities talk about their cocaine problem on TV while the middle/upper class kids go to jail. We had alcohol prohibition as a social experiment that failed. We jail people for various types of drug abuse: alcohol, marijuana, heroin, cocaine and so on.
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Progressive5 months, 3 weeks ago
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I agree. It also depends on the substance involved.
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Some "addictions" are really just bad habits.
However, many doctors contend that some people are more susceptible to addiction than others. For example, there are those who engage in occasional substance abuse without becoming addicted.-
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smithichie5 months, 3 weeks ago
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I think it's pretty hard to deny those doctors are right. Just as there are folks who are lactose intolerant, I think there are folks who are alcohol or cocaine intolerant, meaning their bodies aren't equipped to process these things efficiently. There are folks who can't touch a drop of milk or they will regret it and the same is true for alcohol, cocaine or nearly any drug. To make matters more complex, there are all sorts of folks in-between, folks who can have an icecream cone or drink here and there and not suffer too many ill effects, ranging all the way up to 'normal' folks who can drink milk or beer everyday with no ill effects.
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And yes, I also agree the substance involved has different effects. Not too many casual meth users out there.
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calitennflo5 months, 3 weeks ago
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We are addicted to all there is in a measure, or we would not know what we lijked or disliked. Simply put...the stuff we are made of is something that results levels of love. We do not operate on levels of hate as the government would wish...it is against nature to hate...except we may dislike and hate to loose somethingting...it is very abnormal to accept a government or any entity that demands we be slaves or follow rules where they tax everything from the top to bottom...over and over...saying give me give me while we do the work. LOL
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BronxBomberComment removed: Retracted by user2 Replies
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damonmills95 months, 3 weeks ago
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I think the "either/or" approach is where we get it wrong. Lotsa women really want to be thin, but what causes some to develop anorexia?
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I'm certain that the most important of the many possible factors(or combination thereof) is CHOICE.
Very few people took their first drink/sniff/puff whatever literally at gunpoint. But from that moment on, I believe many factors kicked in, from biology to self-esteem (too much OR too little) and other envioronmental factors such as family ties and support (or lack thereof) etcetera. -
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rpxxpr5 months, 3 weeks ago
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I would say that 80 percent of Americans are addicts. FACT, Caffeine is a drug, it comes from the same plant as cocaine. It gives a stimulant effect, People who drink coffee if they try to quit will exhibit withdrawal symptoms for at least 72Hours. This also applies to tea, Coca Cola, Pepsi, ESPECIALLY energy drinks, Diet Pills, Sudafed, or any variation of a cold remedy that has ephedrine or Pseudo ephedrine Then there's Cigarettes, Throw in the other drugs and you have a high percentage.
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Let me define drug, because so many people say caffeine is not a drug.
a substance other than food intended to affect the structure or function of the body. The definition isn't completely clear, I may not be a doctor but I've finished Pre-Med and accepted to the University of Miami-Jackson School of Medicine. Believe me, everything i've mentioned is a drug -
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rpxxpr5 months, 3 weeks ago
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Progressive. You are Correct, The DSM-IV does recognize the existence of a Addictive Personality, This is often a Symptom of Bi-polar Disorder. (Some may know this as the non-medically correct term for Bi-polar disorder which is Manic Depressive.
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Wendy932925 months, 3 weeks ago
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Many addicts can't handle the unbelievably uncomfortable symptoms of withdrawal and that in itself causes them to continue their drug use. Attention focused on easing the withdrawal symptoms would save many from their plight. And then huge doses of an SSRI, therapy and a life away from enablers.
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kmar200095 months, 3 weeks ago
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The fact that most people can consume drugs in moderate amounts without becoming addicted is consistent with it being a disease. Consider allergies for instance. While most people can consume peanuts, for a small percentage they cause a serious medical condition. Type 2 diabetes is largely a problem brought on by poor eating and exercise habits, however no one doubts that the resultant diabetes is a real disease. To extend the analogy, perhaps we should be incarcerating those who are obese and don't exercise as they are voluntarily engaging in a behavior leading to the development of diabetes?
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frnchangel4u5 months, 3 weeks ago
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It is definately a choice no matter what the reason for starting...peer pressure, the area you grew up in, bad childhood etc. Thats all a cop out. I was a heroin addict for 13 years in and out of prison and nothing could get me to quit, not all the love in the world. I had to make that choice on my own 17 years ago and when I made up my mind to quit, I quit. I give God all the credit for making me strong enough to do it and Im no holy roller but boy did I pray. Its not easy but it is definately doable if the person really wants to do it...like I said, its a choice.
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cleare5 months, 3 weeks ago
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we know way too little about the complex soup of chemicals in a "normal" brain, much less about what's going on in "stressed" brains.
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stress has been proven to impact brain chemistry - fight or flight adrenalin surges, for instance.
i think most drug addiction is a response to excessive stress; either the individual has experienced extreme stress levels in their lives or have brain chemistries that are more sensitive to stress or both.
there is far too much self righteous judgement of addicts. Until we know much more about brain chemistry, I think it's best to err on the side of compassion. -
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reallypsst5 months, 3 weeks ago
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Besides choice i think our main problem is looking for instant gratification,everything in america is on a fast pace and on the go,from fast food to fast drugs,also availability is a factor to this problem,and as bronxbomber stated it takes a supreme will and steadfast lifestyle to steer away from addiction anything associated with the pleasure center can become a problem !
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jakesguile5 months, 3 weeks ago
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Didn't even read the article, if the people came to any other conclusion than what I'm about to explain, then they've never taken Biological/Physiological Psychology, where this little matter is explained in GREAT depth in unit ONE.
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Addiction most commonly happens in the brain region known as the Nucleus Accumbens. You know how you feel really good when you eat, or sleep, or bathe or f*ck? You feel good because your Nucleus Accumbens is telling you that you feel good. Furthermore, it puts a little trigger on these actions, marks them if you will as being necessary for survival and achieving the continuation of our species. When you take a drug, it progessively knocks off the brain's ability to remove dopamine while flooding you with WAY more than you need. It will also stimulate the Nucleus Accumbens and you guessed it, cause it to tag the drug as being necessary for survival. So now this brain region will send messages to your body that make you want to take more of the drug. That combined with the neurons I mentioned above that produce dopamine (these sites will need more and more of the drug to reach the same high, or just normalcy) creates the addiction. The person has a choice initially and for a time beyond that but it's definately a physical disease in the extent that "addiction" is beyond their conscious control.
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