CHAPTER 1

PROBLEM AND ITS BACKGROUND

Introduction
Many people do not understand why people become addicted to drugs or how drugs
change the brain to foster compulsive drug abuse. They mistakenly view drug abuse and
addiction as strictly a social problem and may characterize those who take drugs as morally
weak. One very common belief is that drug abusers should be able to just stop taking drugs if
they are only willing to change their behavior.
What people often underestimate is the complexity of drug addiction -- that it is a disease
that impacts the brain, and because of that, stopping drug abuse is not simply a matter of
willpower. Through scientific advances we now know much more about how exactly drugs work
in the brain, and we also know that drug addiction can be successfully treated to help people stop
abusing drugs and resume productive lives.
Drug addiction is a chronic, often relapsing brain disease that causes compulsive drug
seeking and use, despite harmful consequences to the drug addict and those around them. Drug
addiction is a brain disease because the abuse of drugs leads to changes in the structure and
function of the brain. Although it is true that for most people the initial decision to take drugs is
voluntary, over time the changes in the brain caused by repeated drug abuse can affect a person's
self-control and ability to make sound decisions, and at the same time create an intense impulse
to take drugs.

It is because of these changes in the brain that it is so challenging for a person who is
addicted to stop abusing drugs. Fortunately, there are treatments that help people to counteract
addiction's powerful disruptive effects and regain control. Research shows that combining
addiction treatment medications, if available, with behavioral therapy is the best way to ensure
success for most patients. Treatment approaches that are tailored to each patient's drug abuse
patterns and any concurrent medical, psychiatric, and social problems can lead to sustained
recovery and a life without drugs.

Statement of the Problem

This paper, aims to find out the Drug Addiction and its Effects on Oneself
Specifically, it tries answering the following questions.
1

What is drug addiction and its symptoms?

2
3

Why do some people become addicted to drugs?

What are the effects of drug addiction to an individual?

How prevention can perceive being the key to avoid drug addiction?

Objectives of the Study

The researcher aims to find out what isDrug Addiction and its Effects on Oneself. This
study is proposed to answer why some of us become drug addicted and what can prevent that
problem.

With all the best of the researcher, he will try to answer the specified stated problems for
the better understanding of the readers to why we need to understand what is Drug Addiction and
its Effects on Oneself.
Conceptual Framework
After reviewing literature relevant to this study, it is evident that no single factor can
predict whether or not a person will become addicted to drugs. Risk for addiction is influenced
by a person's biology, social environment, and age or stage of development. The more risk
factors an individual has, the greater the chance that taking drugs can lead to addiction. For
example:
Biology, the genes that people are born with -- in combination with environmental influences -account for about half of their addiction vulnerability. Additionally, gender, ethnicity, and the
presence of other mental disorders may influence risk for drug abuse and addiction.
Environment, a person's environment includes many different influences -- from family and
friends to socioeconomic status and quality of life, in general. Factors such as peer pressure,
physical and sexual abuse, stress, and parental involvement can greatly influence the course of
drug abuse and addiction in a person's life.
Development, genetic and environmental factors interact with critical developmental stages in a
person's life to affect addiction vulnerability, and adolescents experience a double challenge.
Although taking drugs at any age can lead to addiction, the earlier that drug use begins, the more
likely it is to progress to more serious abuse. And because adolescents' brains are still developing
in the areas that govern decision making, judgment, and self-control, they are especially prone to
risk-taking behaviors, including trying drugs of abuse.

Prevention Is a Key
Drug addiction is a preventable disease. Research has shown that prevention programs that
involve the family, schools, communities, and the media are effective in reducing drug abuse.
Although many events and cultural factors affect drug abuse trends, when youths perceive drug
abuse as harmful, they reduce their drug taking. It is necessary, therefore, to help youth and the
general public to understand the risks of drug abuse and for teachers, parents, and health care
professionals to keep sending the message that drug addiction can be prevented if a person never
abuses drugs.

INPUT
Drug Addiction and its Effects on Oneself
1

What is drug addiction and its

symptoms?
Why do some people become

addicted to drugs?
What are the effects of drug

addiction to an individual?
How prevention can perceive being

PROCESS
Gathering
details
about
Drug
sss
Addiction and its Effects on Oneself. The
details will be gathering from different
sources, from different ideas of other
researchers in order to answer all the stated
problems.
OUTPUT

the key to avoid drug addiction?

I. Paradigm of the Conceptual Framework

Awareness to drug addiction can promote in

a way of instilling why some people become

The conceptual framework showed the designed
framework to put system in the study.
addicted and perceiving the fact that prevention is a

The input stated all the problems that are needed tokey
answer
such
as addiction.
what is drug addiction and its
to avoid
drug
symptoms, why do some people become addicted to drugs, what are the effects of drug addiction

to an individual, and how prevention can perceive being the key to avoid drug addictionwith the
help of the process which is to gather information from different sources and different studies of
other researchers. With that, the output of the study which is to give awareness what is drug
addiction and to promote in a way of instilling why some people become addicted and perceiving
the fact that prevention is a key to avoid drug addiction will succeed.
Significance of the Study
This study entitled Drug Addiction and its Effects on Oneselfwill be a great help to the
following:
To teen ages, this study serves as their guide to help them understand what isDrug
Addiction and its Effects on Oneself. This study will help them to realize the importance of
prevention to avoid drug addiction.
To parents, this study serves as their guide to more realization that they have a big part
for the avoidance of drugs particularly of their children.
To community, this will help them to know more why some people become drug addict
and how to hold the key to avoid drug addiction which is the prevention.

Scope and Delimitation of the Study

This study covers only information about Drug Addiction and its Effect to Oneself. Why
some people become drug addict, and how to hold the key to avoid the drug addiction and it is
the prevention.
Definition of Terms

CHAPTER 2
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE AND STUDIES
Review of related literature and studies
Drug addiction, also called substance use disorder, is a dependence on a legal or illegal
drug or medication. Keep in mind that alcohol and nicotine are legal substances, but are also
considered drugs.
When you're addicted, you're not able to control your drug use and you may continue
using the drug despite the harm it causes. Drug addiction can cause an intense craving for the
drug. You may want to quit, but most people find they can't do it on their own.
Drug addiction can cause serious, long-term consequences, including problems with
physical and mental health, relationships, employment, and the law.

You may need help from your doctor, family, friends, support groups or an organized
treatment program to overcome your drug addiction and stay drug-free.
Most drug addictions start with experimental use of a drug in social situations. For some people,
the drug use becomes more frequent. The risk of addiction and how fast you become dependent
varies by drug. Some drugs have a higher risk and cause dependency more quickly than others.
As time passes, you may need larger doses of the drug to get high. Soon you may need
the drug just to feel good. As your drug use increases, you may find that it's increasingly difficult
to go without the drug. Attempts to stop drug use may cause intense cravings and make you feel
physically ill (withdrawal symptoms).
Drug addiction symptoms or behaviours include, among others:

Feeling that you have to use the drug regularly this can be daily or even several times
a day

Having intense urges for the drug

Over time, needing more of the drug to get the same effect

Making certain that you maintain a supply of the drug

Spending money on the drug, even though you can't afford it

Not meeting obligations and work responsibilities, or cutting back on social or

recreational activities because of drug use

Doing things to get the drug that you normally wouldn't do, such as stealing

Driving or doing other risky activities when you're under the influence of the drug

Focusing more and more time and energy on getting and using the drug

Failing in your attempts to stop using the drug

Experiencing withdrawal symptoms when you attempt to stop taking the drug
We know that addicts lose control over their lives and that they would as soon give up

breathing as stop using their preferred substance/s. Yet, the critical question of why one member
of an adolescent peer group becomes an addict and the others do not remain open.

The oldest explanation of addiction as a moral weakness is unsatisfactory because it is

circular. It does not tell us why some individuals are capable of resisting addiction. Scientists
also dislike the moralistic interpretation because it evokes free will that is considered inherently
unscientific.

Tossing out the moralistic pseudo explanation, addiction researchers are left with two
plausible theories. According to the disease model, an addict is someone who suffers from a
biological vulnerability to some, or all, addictive drugs. The alternative explanation is that drug
use is reinforcing and that addicts simply learn to repeat actions that had made them feel good.

The problem of why some individuals become addicts remains an open question but
biological psychologists may be zeroing in on a solution. It has long been known that addicts

have under active dopamine systems and suffer from a decreased capacity to experience pleasure
in their ordinary lives.

That is not too surprising because brain receptors tend to get depleted from over-stimulation
by the neurotransmitter. Now researchers are reporting genetic abnormalities (link is external) in
dopamine systems that are correlated with addictive tendencies prior to the development of
addictions.

Reading between the lines, it is possible that some people are more prone to addiction
because they obtain less pleasure through natural routes, such as from work, friendships
and romantic relationships. That could explain why they are more thrill-seeking, or stimulus
hungry.

Dopamine abnormality might also be related to a lack of social inhibition found in some
addicts. Alcoholics ignore many of the social conventions about alcohol use, for instance: it
should be social; it should never begin before noon; it should be restricted to the evening meal;
never have more than three drinks, and so forth.Supposing that these approaches pan out, we
may finally begin to understand why some individuals succumb to addiction. The answer may
combine aspects of the disease theory and a sophisticated understanding of the effects of drugs
on the brain.

For two decades, researchers have been struggling to identify the biological and
environmental risk factors that can lead to addiction to alcohol and other drugs. These factors
form a complex mlange in which the influences combine to bring about addiction and to make

its treatment challenging. But scientists know more about addiction now than they did even 10
years ago, and have learned much about how the risk factors work together.
The widely recognized risk factors include:

Genes: Genetics play a significant role: having parents with alcoholism, for
instance, makes you four times more likely than other children to become alcoholics.
More than 60 percent of alcoholics have family histories of alcoholism.

Mental illness: Many addicted people also suffer from mental health disorders,
especially anxiety, depression or mood illnesses.

Early use of drugs: The earlier a person begins to use drugs the more likely they
are to progress to more serious abuse.

Social environment: People who live, work or go to school in an environment in

which the use of alcohol and other drugs is common - such as a workplace in which
people see heavy drinking as an important way to bond with co-workers - are more
likely to abuse drugs.

Childhood trauma: Scientists know that abuse or neglect of children, persistent

conflict in the family, sexual abuse and other traumatic childhood experiences can shape
a child's brain chemistry and subsequent vulnerability to addiction.
"The kids most likely to get addicted are the ones who also have other problems," says Dr.
Mark Willenbring, who directs the Division of Treatment and Recovery Research of the National
Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA). Forty percent of people who start drinking
before they are 15 years old develop alcoholism. Addiction is at the end of a spectrum of

substance use problems; for most people, though not all, addiction arrives after other phases of
drinking or drugging go uninterrupted. That's why it is so important to treat substance use
problems in their earliest stages. Although genetic researchers are trying to identify the genes
that confer vulnerability to alcoholism, this task is difficult because the illness is thought to be
related to many different genes, each of which contributes only a portion of the vulnerability.
Research shows that the main reason that kids dont use alcohol, tobacco, or drugs is
because of their parents -- because of their positive influence and because they know it would
disappoint them. Thats why it is so important that parents build a strong relationship with their
kids and talk to them about substance abuse -- the earlier the better!
The good news is its easy to do! Here are a few ways you can build a positive
relationship with your kids and start talking to them about drugs.
Note: Drugs refers to alcohol, tobacco, and illegal drugs.
Establish and maintain good communication with your children.
Why? The better you know your children, the easier it will be to guide them towards
positive activities and friendships.
How?

Talk to your children every day. Share what happened to you and ask what happened to
them during the day.

Ask questions that kids cant answer with yes or no, such as what was your favorite
part of the day. Ask your children their opinions and include them in making decisions.
Show your children that you value their thoughts and input.

Be ready to talk to your children as early as the fourth grade, when they may first feel
peer pressure to experiment with alcohol, drugs, or cigarettes

Listen to your childs or teens concerns nonjudgmentally. Repeat them to make clear that
you understand. Dont preach.

Get involved in your childrens lives.

Why? Young people are less likely to get involved with drugs when caring adults are a part of
their life.
How?

Spend time doing something your children want to do every day.

Support your childrens activities by attending special events, like recitals and games, and
praising them for their efforts.

Help your children manage problems by asking what is wrong when they seem upset and
letting them know you are there to help.

Make clear rules and enforce them consistently.

Why? Research shows that when parents set harsh rules or no rules, kids are more likely to try
drugs.
How?

Discuss rules, expectations, and consequences in advance.

If a rule is broken, be sure to enforce the consequences. This teaches children to take
responsibility for their actions.

Give praise when your children follow rules and meet expectations.

Be a positive role model.

Why? Children imitate adults.
How?

Demonstrate ways to solve problems, have fun, and manage stress without using alcohol
or drugs.

Point out examples of irresponsible behavior, such as ones you see in movies or hear in
music.

Remember that you set the example. Avoid contradictions between your words and your
actions. Use alcohol in moderation, dont smoke cigarettes, and never use drugs.

Help your children choose friends wisely.

Why? When children have friends who dont engage in risky behaviors, they are likely to resist
them too.
How?

Help your kids feel comfortable in social situations.

Get to know your childrens friends and their families.

Involve your children in positive group activities, such as sports teams, scouting troops,
and after school programs.

Talk to your children about drugs.

Why? When parents talk to their kids early and often about substance abuse, kids are less likely
to try drugs.
How?

Short discussions go a long way. Engage your children in a conversation. Ask what they
know, how they feel, and what they think about the issue.

Talk to your children one-on-one and together.

Educate yourself about alcohol, tobacco, and drug use before talking to your children.
You will lose credibility if you dont have your facts right.

Set some time aside for you and your child to act out scenarios in which one person tries
to pressure another to drink alcohol, smoke, or use a drug. Figure out two or three ways to
handle each situation and talk about which works best.

When?

Any time you spend together is the perfect time for a conversation.

Establish an ongoing conversation rather than giving a one-time speech.

When youre struggling with drug addiction, sobriety can seem like an impossible goal. But

recovery is never out of reach, no matter how hopeless your situation seems. Change is possible
with the right treatment and support, and by addressing the root cause of your addiction. Dont
give upeven if youve tried and failed before. The road to recovery often involves bumps,
pitfalls, and setbacks. But by examining the problem and thinking about change, youre already
on your way.

There are, however, several effective ways to prevent drug addiction.

Here are some tips on how to stop addiction before it even starts.
1. Find healthy ways to cope with stress.
Many people begin using drugs as a way to deal with stress and tension. The reality is,
however, that drugs are only a temporary fix. Once a person comes down from drugs,
they are likely to experience physical and psychological side effects that only intensify
feelings of anxiety. Finding coping methods such as exercise or meditation can eliminate
the urge to try drugs.
2. Seek therapy or counseling.
It is not at all uncommon to experience feelings of depression. Many people experience
highs and lows that can be difficult to cope with. Drug users often are people who are
attempting to self-medicate for their psychological issues.
The problem is that drugs do not treat mental issues themselves. They simply treat the
symptoms. Working through problems with a mental health professional is a much more
effective and long-lasting way of treating a psychological or emotional problem.
3. Maintain a lifestyle that makes you happy.
Low self-esteem and depression are major triggers for drug abuse. It is easy to let one
aspect of your life, such as work, become overwhelming, to the point that you do not
enjoy or partake in other important aspects of your life.

Maintaining strong relationships and a healthy balance between physical and mental
activity can help you maintain the stability that is needed to stay drug free.
4. Have things in your life that you care deeply about.
Whether its a sport, artistic endeavor, or personal relationships, having something that
you are passionate about motivates you to stay healthy and mentally and emotionally in
shape. If you care deeply enough about the people and activities in your life, you are less
likely to jeopardize them by experimenting with drugs.
5. Be aware of your familys history with substance abuse.
The tendency toward addiction is linked to genetics, so be familiar with any parents or
other family members who have struggled with addiction. If you know that you have a
higher chance of becoming addicted, take extra precautions to avoid drugs and alcohol.
It is much easier to avoid substances altogether than it is to recover from addiction. If you
were around a parent who abused drugs as a child, you may also want to seek counseling
to help you resolve any issues you may have around alcohol or other addictive drugs.
No matter what your background or current situation is, it is possible to avoid slipping
into the dangers of addiction. They keys lie in keeping yourself happy and healthy while
you are drug-free.

CHAPTER 3
CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Conclusions

Drug addiction can cause an intense craving for the drug. You may want to quit, but most
people find they can't do it on their own. Drug addiction can cause serious, long-term
consequences, including problems with physical and mental health, relationships, employment,
and the law. Some are the symptoms of being drug addict that we need to remember; Feeling that
you have to use the drug regularly this can be daily or even several times a day, having
intense urges for the drug, over time, needing more of the drug to get the same effect, making
certain that you maintain a supply of the drug, spending money on the drug, even though you
can't afford it, doing things to get the drug that you normally wouldn't do, such as stealing,
driving or doing other risky activities when you're under the influence of the drug.
The problem of why some individuals become addicts remains an open question but
biological psychologists may be zeroing in on a solution. It has long been known that addicts
have under active dopamine systems and suffer from a decreased capacity to experience pleasure
in their ordinary lives. The widely recognized risk factors include: genes, mental illness, and
early use of drugs, social environment, and childhood trauma.
There are, however, several effective ways to prevent drug addiction. Prevention is the key to
avoid drug addiction. Find healthy ways to cope with stress, seek therapy or counseling, maintain
a lifestyle that makes you happy, have things in your life that you care deeply about, and be
aware of your familys history with substance abuse.
Recommendations
For the teen ages
1.

For the parents

1. It is good to establish and maintain good communication with your children. Talk to
your children about drugs.
2. Get involved in your childrens lives and make clear rules and enforce them
consistently.
3. Be a positive role model and help your children choosing friends wisely.

For the community