Everything You Think You Know about Substance Abuse

1. "The Addiction Paradox"-Bruce Bower

1.1. introduces the conflict of the nature of addiction. eg Brain disorders vs addictions

1.2. introduces the ideas that addiction is a changeable habit and can be abolished through maturation.

1.2.1. supports this idea via psychologist Charles Winick who conducted studies which he then concluded that people "mature out" of addiction following growth, responsibility and bodily damage caused by use

1.2.2. introduces supporting facts from psychologist Gene Heyman who expanded on Winick's ideas to concluded that people conquer their addictions at all ages, not just during young adulthood, as Winick thought.

1.2.2.1. "Heyman's findings, published in the 2013 Annual Review of Clinical Psychology, build on an argument he made in a 2009 book, Addiction: A Disorder of Choice. Everyday decisions influenced by deeply held values and goals push people toward or away from addiction"

1.2.3. introduces that although addiction is a changeable habit, addicts cannot go the road to recovery alone, as they require healthy connections to achieve recovery.

1.3. introduces and supports than anyone can break free from addictions.

2. Points to Ponder

3. 2. How does this article align (or not) with the previous page's TED Talk?

3.1. The Addiction Paradox and Johan Hari's TED talk align immensely, they both support that environment,maturation,social capabilities have major influence on what forms an addict as well as the road to recovery.

4. Johann Hari TED Talk

4.1. introduces theory of "disconnection is major driver of addictions"

4.1.1. Supports these ideas with study conducted called "Rat Park" where researcher Bruce Alexander separated rats into 2 cages, one stimulating and one isolating, then introduced morphine in order to track a consistency in addiction rates.

4.1.1.1. "Addiction isn't you, it's the cage you live in" The results from this study found that the Rats that were stimulated within rat park, but also given the option of normal or drug laced water, did not choose the water simply because they were stimulated by their environment.

4.2. supports ideas also with facts from Vietnam war where 20% of the American army used heroin, but when deployment ended were not addicted as their environments improved.

4.3. introduces statistics regarding Portugal and the scientific study regarding addiction, thereafter conducted. In 2000 1% of Portugal's population is addicted to drugs

4.3.1. The political and scientific study conducted, was the decriminalization of all drugs as well as programing to re-connect addicts to society as apposed to punishing them or giving harsh ultimatums.

4.3.1.1. Resulted in a drastic decrease in drug use, crime rate and addiction overall

5. 1. Winick cites five different points of evidence to support his hypothesis of substance abuse as a "temporary failure to cope" versus a disease. What are they?

5.1. 1 .One can "mature out" of a dependency or addiction

5.2. 2. opiates are "harmless" become harmful under adverse conditions

5.3. 3. like infections addictions can be resisted successfully

5.4. 4.achieving emotional homeostasis thus rendering drug use as non essential to the addict

5.5. 5.age of onset of addiction and incidence providing causation for addiction

6. 3. How does his theory and research align to your thinking and experiences with substance abuse? When I say experiences, I don't mean personal experiences necessarily, but other courses or points in time where you learned about substance abuse. In other words, do you agree or disagree with Winick and why?

6.1. from my previous experiences, when taught about drug abuse it is been taught from a more political point of view. "drugs are bad" but less focused as to why addiction happens. I agree with Winick when he describes addiction as a "temporary failure to cope" to an extent. Addiction is fueled by pain, from my perspective much like how Johann Hari described disconnection as a driver of addiction. Those who use drugs use them to alleviate the pain from the disconnect from healthy relationships.

6.2. in furtherance, I believe that today we focus on addition too predominantly on scientific aspects and less on social implications. As a quality of living is a catalyst for addiction or sobriety.