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Cassandra Batang

Professor Moore

ENGL 1302

2 April 2017

Disconnected

Substance abuse and addiction in the United States have always been a conflict for many

generations and has shaped society in many ways. According to a study from Stanford

University, the War on Drugs, declared on June 1971 by President Nixon, was a United States

government campaign for the prohibition of drugs aimed to reduce illicit drug trading. This

campaign sought to regulate drug usage for they believed that the usage of drugs was poisoning

society and causing many social problems. Since then drug trafficking has transformed into

various powerful crime organizations all over the world and is directly linked to corruption,

violence and many other social problems. Despite problems involved with government efforts

into helping to regulate the flow of drugs, the continuation of the individuals usage of drugs

remains a problem as well. Substance abuse and addiction has grown into a conflict in the scale

of an individual to a wide group of people that leads to many social problems for not only the

victim of addiction, but society as its own. However, although addiction is a problem, it is not

the problem. Instead, the real problem that caused this social epidemic is the substance abuse

victims attempt at solving their troubles due to traumatic events that was caused in the first

place.

According to the National Institute of Drug Abuse, addiction is a chronic disease that

involves uncontrollable usage of substance despite harmful consequences to an individuals

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health or lifestyle. Addiction does not emerge from one usage of a substance but rather from

many usages of the substance to the point of dependency. A person can grow addicted to a drug

by using it so much to the point of which the body develops a tolerance, which then makes the

individual crave for more until the satisfaction is reached. Addiction develops like a brain

disease in which it causes the brain to work abnormally in order to satisfy that craving.

According to the National Institute of Drug Abuse, brain scans of substance abuse victims have

shown that there are abnormalities of some kind in addict's brain functionalities (Kim-Lok Oh).

Naturally, humans learn to survive based on a token economy reward system (Kurzgesagt).

When one does something that aids in survival, such as eating for instance, the limbic system

releases dopamine which is a chemical that makes a person feel good. In the case of substance

abuse, drugs directly targets the limbic system and doing so can release up to ten time the normal

dopamine in a human (Kim-Lok Oh). This makes the individual experience what is known as a

dopamine high. This abnormal amount of dopamine impacts the brain so much and in turn, the

body will quickly learn to use it again. However, such levels of dopamine has a consequence.

After that dopamine high wears off, the dopamine is left in a recovery state and the brain will

struggle to return to its normal self. In return, it can cause dangerous behavior, depression, or

even pain. Being at such high levels of dopamine for long periods of time or too frequently can

cause the body to lower the natural amount of dopamine released. This suggests that other means

of survival for the body, such as eating, will no longer make the body feel as good than as

opposed to that drug and make the connection to the substance more reliant. Since natural

amounts of dopamine can no longer be released by the body itself, the body will crave for the

drug to reach its tolerance until the point of desensitization of natural dopamine in an individual
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(Kurzgesagt). According to Mayoclinic.org, an online source that provides patient care and

health information, some signs and symptoms of the usage of club drugs may include

hallucinations, paranoia, dilated pupils, chills and sweating, involuntary shaking, behavior

changes, or muscle cramping and teeth clenching. Long term use of drugs may tamper with brain

functions such as learning, judgment, decision-making, stress, memory, or behavior. Many

victims of substance abuse may experience these but not realize that they have a serious problem

and will continue to take these drugs despite negative consequences to their health, wellbeing,

and lifestyle which is the nature of addiction (NIDA).

Traumatic distress shapes the brain in such ways as to make the addictive substances

more appealing to the individual and plays as a direct cause for substance abuse and addiction. It

is the overall distress that addicts experience in addiction and includes emotional pain and

physical and mental distress. Trauma is also able to give the person the pain that they will then

try to escape from (Kim-Lok Oh). When an individual goes through high amounts of stress, the

brain is hindered from operating correctly and efficiently. That is why when a person is tired or

going through an extremely emotional state in decision making situations, they are not able to

incorporate the best or ideal decision at the moment of decision as opposed to if the individual

was at a level headed state of mind. Based off of studies from the National Child Traumatic

Stress Network, trauma is directly linked to substance abuse (Johnson). Many people have easy

access to psychoactive substances or other drugs that may help in temporarily dulling the effects

of distress and has however addictive chemicals. Constant use of those drugs will lead to a

dependency on it. Despite the addictive aspect of drugs, trauma is the true cause of the individual

resulting to addictive substances in the first place. Many people, for example, have been given
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prescription drugs in anesthesia such as diamorphine or propofol, which are essentially

prescribed heroin, in medical procedures, however they do not usually come out as addicts

(Hari). This is because professional healthcare protocol advises certain doses to ensure

prevention of addiction of those prescribed medications. People who undergo or had just came

out of surgeries and other medical procedures are given acceptable doses to ensure that they do

not come out as a junkie (Hari). Therefore, the very aspect that connects addiction to the

substance, is the reason as to why one would go back to drugs. An individual has to go through

high amounts of stress or pain to have stayed hooked on the drug. In a research conducted by

English journalist and author of the New York Times best-selling book Chasing the Scream: The

First and Last Days of the War on Drugs, Johann Hari, asked a group of ongoing rehabilitation

addiction patients on why they chose to use drugs, and their answer was simply because it made

them feel good. Aside from the dopamine high effects, Hari wondered what would make these

people continue to use drugs and came to a conclusion of the disconnection in human lifestyle.

This void of connection causes the individual to go through a constant cycle that includes the

emotional trigger that causes cravings, the need for immediate relief, causing the individuals

usage, and eventually guilt of usage, which makes that void of disconnection grow. The

disconnection of bonding in human nature is the prime cause of the constant cycle of addiction.

Humans have the natural innate to bond. When people are happy, healthy and around

others who are as well, they will naturally bond and connect with each other (Hari). If an

individual is unable to do that due to unhappiness, isolation, or depression, they are likely to go

to something else to bond with that will give them some sort of relief. Addiction is not just based

off of the chemical substances that initiate the continuation of usage, but also the individuals
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cognitive initiation in themselves and reason for usage. Trauma in ones life is the prime cause of

which an individual will get to an addictive state and thus feeding more into the breeding ground

of social problems in todays society. Addiction in an individual scale has grown into a serious

problem that plays a significant role in the War on Drugs today. The social and emotional

environment can shape the actual biology of the brain; therefore to understand ones addiction, it

is necessary to examine and consider what created pain in the first place to the individual.

According to Hari, addiction is an adaptation to an individuals environment and that the

opposite of addiction is not sobriety, but rather connection.

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Citations

Abuse, National Institute on Drug. Understanding Drug Use and Addiction. NIDA,

www.drugabuse.gov/publications/drugfacts/understanding-drug-use-addiction. Accessed

1 Apr. 2017.

Drug Addiction. Mayo Clinic,

www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/drug-addiction/.../symptoms/con-20020970.

Accessed 1 Apr. 2017.

Hari, Johann and Kurzgesagt . Addiction. YouTube, YouTube, 29 Oct. 2015,

www.youtube.com/watch?v=ao8L-0nSYzg. Accessed 1 Apr. 2017.

Johnson, Holly A. Making the Connection. Science Scope, vol. 16, no. 6, 1 Mar. 1993, pp.

46., www.nctsn.org/sites/default/files/assets/pdfs/SAToolkit_1.pdf. Accessed 1 Apr.

2017.

Kim-Lok Oh, Alan, et al. "Pain Resolving in Addiction and Recovery: A Grounded Theory

Study." Grounded Theory Review, vol. 15, no. 2, Dec. 2016, pp. 8-24. EBSCOhost,

search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=bth&AN=120617461&site=ehost-live.

Accessed 1 Apr. 2017

The United States War on Drugs. The United States War on Drugs, Stanford University ,

EBSCOhost,

search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=bth&AK=128372861&site=ehost-live.

. Accessed 1 Apr. 2017.