Is addiction a disease?

Yes. National Institute on Drug Abuse researches suggest that addiction or the compulsion to take drugs is linked to changes in specific neurons in the central nervous system. It can thus be considered as a brain disease.

What are the common signs of addiction?

As addiction has 2 components — physical and psychological — it manifests both physically and psychologically. Physical manifestations include shills, weird smell, vomiting, sweating, and weight loss. An addict may also show signs of aggression, anxiety, burnout, irritability, lack of energy, poor motivation, slow reaction time, denial, depression, and paranoia.

Can an addict quit using drugs if he has strong will power?

Most people suffering from an addiction to drugs cannot stop on their own, no matter how willing they say they are. It is important to seek help from organizations offering structured rehabilitation programs.

Can someone use drugs without being addicted to it?

It depends how strong the effects of drugs are. Many people are able to enjoy alcohol without suffering from alcohol addiction. Addiction happens when a person’s drug use becomes a central part of his or her life. This can be seen on the amount of time and money he or she spends on drugs, and on what he or she is willing to give up for it, such as relationships, jobs or school.

Behavior during drug use is a central theme in the movie, as shown by its seemingly ridiculous premise. For neophytes in this genre, it may take a while to get used to since the shock factor of the things that they do may prove to be too extreme for some. But when placed vis-à-vis the real behavior of drug users, Harold and Kumar are rather manageable since drug abusers can resort to violence and lots of crazier things in order to acquire drugs.

While the movie itself is comical in nature, it also makes you think: do you want others to see yourself that way — the laughing stock of your group, to not be treated seriously by your peers and colleagues? I don’t think so. It’s probably one of the movies you can check to see how stupid one can be when on drugs.

The answer is yes – your presence can make a big difference. Drug addicts often have no one to turn to regarding their problems, and this sense of isolation is one of the main motivations for prolonged drug use. Family and friends play a significant role in helping them get out of that rut and accept the reality of their situation. Remember that social connections can influence the individual’s perception of right and wrong, which can determine their decisions and actions later in life. By extension, the influence of these groups can help drug addicts change the way they see themselves. In this case, it’s to let them see that the drugs are in fact damaging their body, mind, and social lives.

The main thing you can do for your friend is to slowly convince and motivate him to undergo treatment, which becomes harder and harder as he becomes more and more dependent on the drug. In this case, social reinforcement becomes a vital component in motivating the soon-to-be patient. Also, involvement in a treatment program can help the individual come to grips with his situation, and can encourage him to go all the way through with the program.

Monitoring the individual’s actions is also important in order to avoid a relapse, which is the one thing that can waste the efforts done during treatment. It may take a very long time, but with your help, it is possible. And it also helps to believe that you can make that happen.

Those that most of us call “drug addicts” are stuck using drugs not only because they want it, but because their bodies start to become dependent on drugs. A large number, if not all drug addicts like to believe that they can stop drug use by their will alone, and these same people also choose not to undergo rehabilitation. But the likelihood of escaping the trap of drug usage is slim, especially if used in the long-term.  There are mental changes associated with long-term drug use, and this can affect and alter the way people behave, leaving them unable to control some actions – including their strengthening craving for more drugs.

So why do some people choose to use drugs? The reasons for this phenomenon can actually be quite logical – most drug addicts choose to use drugs because of the strong desire to escape from the stresses of their daily lives. These include psychological stress from work, home, or in school. The desire to escape reality becomes one of the most fundamental reasons of prolonged drug addiction.

With this mindset to guide our line of thinking, understanding drug addiction becomes a lot less difficult. The labeling and stereotyping of drug addicts prevents us from looking at the reality of drug addicts – that they are persons trapped within the cycle of drug use. Analyzing the reasons for their habit is a pressing task, and should not be taken lightly.

Common questions asked during the Drug Facts Chat Day last year include the following:

What is the deadliest drug?
What are the worst effects of weed?
Can you die from using marijuana?
Does smoking affect your sex life?
Can weight loss pills have a harmful effect?
What’s the most commonly used drug in high school?
When were drugs invented?
How can drugs affect pregnancy?

There are also questions that may or may not be related to drugs, but still merit answers from NIDA scientists, like:

Who would win in a fight — Chuck Norris or a T-Rex?
How many questions do you get each minute?
If I ask a stupid question, will you answer it???
How much wood could a wood chuck chuck if a wood chuck was on drugs?
Would you vote for Obama?

This year’s Drug Facts Chat Day promises to be more fun, informative and helpful to the participating students, teachers and scientists.

Drug Facts Chat Day, an activity sponsored by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), provides students and teachers an opportunity to get answers to their drug-related questions from experts in the field of drug abuse. The students create their user names (not necessarily their real names), view the live chat and send their questions for the NIDA scientists to answer.

Schools need to register to get an access code, which can be used by the students during the chat to log-in, submit questions and view answers. To make the chats extra fun, there will also be featured factoids and quizzes about drug abuse and addiction.

The disease of addiction entails a lot of complexities which affect every sphere of the addict’s life as well as that of his family members. Addiction, like any other chronic disease, is treatable. Treatment of addiction has several components which aims at making the victim drug free and rehabilitating him into the mainstream of life. It covers detoxification and management of medical problems, providing individual, family and group counseling and extending follow-up care.

Treatment of addiction is primarily based on certain guiding principles, the salient one being that recovery from addiction is possible though there is a probability of relapse and recovery is usually a long process. The treatment procedure must focus on various needs of the recovering person – physical, psychological, legal, vocational, spiritual and others. Counseling forms an integral part of the treatment and this should continue for an adequate period of time. Regular monitoring of the individual’s needs, problems and his progress is essential.

The involvement of family, community, workplace and support groups facilitate recovery. Co-morbidity is one of the most chief factors since most of the addicts do suffer from different types of physical or mental problems which, if left untreated, will take a more serious form in recovery and this might act as a trigger for relapse.

The initial step in treating an addict is assessment of the causes of addiction and identification of the most appropriate treatment modalities which could meet his needs.

Detoxification is the next step which deals with the abstinence syndrome caused by the cessation of the use of drugs. Detoxification can be done in a controlled environment such as at a detoxification center or on an outpatient basis.

The early detoxification phase is followed by counseling – individual or group. This enables the client to assess his problems and motivates him to develop coping skills.

An effective treatment procedure should have a component of aftercare since it is essential to sustain recovery.

The underlying vulnerability is masked by the toughness and the burden of responsibilities and constant stress make them internally vulnerable and a physical or emotional disturbance might cause a turmoil triggering drug abuse leading to drug dependency.

Women drug abusers face serious challenges to their well-being during their lives. Researches show that a large number of them present a history of physical and sexual abuse. The condition worsens when such women get into flesh trade just to earn the money to sustain their drug taking habit. The result is obvious – sexually transmitted infections, HIV/AIDS.

Often it is found the initiation of the habit is through her male counterpart – spouse or boyfriend- who is also an addict. In such cases it becomes very difficult for the women to abstain from drugs since the lifestyle of the partner supports it.

Research indicates that women become more easily dependent on certain drugs like cocaine even after experimental or casual use. Thus by the time she seeks treatment she may be severely addicted.

A problem with female addicts is that most of the time they do not seek treatment due to fear of rejection from their family members, community. But treatment is an absolute necessity for them. A comprehensive treatment approach that takes care of the special needs of women together with support and encouragement from the family and community is essential to help them in refraining from addiction.

Assemblyman Tom Ammiano said, “It is time to take our heads out of the sand and start to regulate this $1.4 billion industry. By doing so, we can enact smart public money that will bring much needed revenue into the state and improve public safety by utilizing our limited law enforcement resources more wisely. The move toward regulation is simply common sense.” The $1.4 billion is Ammiano’s estimated value of both illegal and medical marijuana. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger does not support the matter but said that he is open to a “robust debate” since the legalization could save money and generate state funds.

The law enforcement agencies stand against the issue. According to them, legalization of pot will increase the use of the drug and crimes associated with it. But Ammiano felt that regulation would decrease the accessibility of the drug to young people, “specially those recruited to sell it.”

Opponents like John Redman of Californians For Drug Free Youth said, “This is bad to tax something that is going to be harmful to our youth, harmful to our communities, harmful to our churches.”

Problems related to alcohol and prescription drug use has been growing by leaps and bounds in the state and the nation as a whole. Don’t you think legalization of pot will add to the problem?

Britain has the highest number of cocaine abusers than any other country in the European Union – a report furnished by the Home Office (interior ministry) declared this.

The official figures showed that 12,354 adults were now receiving treatment for dependency on cocaine. The figures also indicate that 3 percent of all 15-69 years olds used cocaine in the previous year meaning that almost a million people had taken the drug – the highest number since data was first collected in 1996.

The workers of the finance sector have been worst affected and the major responsibility for this critical situation has been attributed to the constant stress and depression that has resulted from recession. Don Serratt, the Chief Executive of Life Works, said he has noticed a 25 percent increase in the number of people seeking treatment for alcohol or cocaine abuse in the past few months. American born Mr. Serratt was addicted to drug and alcohol but has maintained sobriety for the past 27 years.

“It has a lot to do with the current economic environment,” voiced Serratt. “Either they have been made redundant or (they have) fears around being made redundant or fears around lowered income because many of these people have high personal overheads,” he said. “Even if you keep your job but you are looking at making a fraction of what you made, it adds quite a bit of stress.”

The users generally did not admit that they were having a problem until their performance was affected. Thus it took nearly nine months for the problem to surface. He accused the firms for not being able to handle the problem and for not treating it seriously. “Most of them do not even have a drug or alcohol policy,” he said. A lot of firms even have no training to identify and to deal with addiction.

Britain’s economic crisis might be easing now but the situation regarding drug use might not improve with that ease.