ADDICTIVE BEHAVIOR PAPER 1

Addictive Behavior

Psych 627

March 1, 2016
ADDICTIVE BEHAVIOR PAPER 2

Addictive Behavior Paper

Alcohol addiction is a disease that has somewhat diminished in the past few years, but is

still prevalent in America and a big concern. Determining whether one is addicted to alcohol is

difficult to distinguish between recreational use and dependence. Specific guidelines have to be

met for a person to be considered dependent on alcohol. Those addicted to alcohol are at a higher

risk to experience health problems to include biological, psychological, and social factors.

Depending on an individuals biological mechanisms, alcohol addiction may be more prevalent

in some individuals versus others. Complications related to alcohol addiction include an

individuals increasing tolerance of alcohol and withdrawal symptoms when one doesnt drink

alcohol. Due to these reasons, some tactics have been developed to help avoid the abuse and

dependence of alcohol. The following will cover all of these aspects of alcohol dependence,

study the physical significances of addiction to opiates and amphetamines, depict the main

phases of smoking as well as the psychological, biological and social variables that make it tough

for a smoker to refrain.

Biopsychosocial Risk Factors

Various psychological or social factors can trigger biological effects on individuals with

tendencies to alcohol addiction just as an individuals alcohol addiction can cause biological

risks as well as psychological and social ones. For example, according to Ballenger and Post

(1978), individuals that suffer from depression are 20-40% more likely to drink alcohol and

become dependent on the alcohol. With the individuals amplified risk of becoming alcohol

dependent, he or she may experience an increase in cardiovascular problems directly stemming

from the alcohol consumption.

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Alcohol addiction can also affect a person mentally as individuals may experience

anxiety disorders and seek alcohol as an escape to help them relax and relieve tension (Ballenger

and Post, 1978). Furthermore, alcohol addicts may experience sporadic hallucinations and often

are suicidal. According to Ballenger and Post (1978), a quarter of all suicides are alcoholics that

are typically white men over 35 years of age. Biologically alcohol addicted individuals can suffer

from cirrhosis of the liver, hypertension, cardiomyopathy, neurological illnesses such as

dementia or Korsakoffs psychosis, which is a perpetual incapability to learn new material

(Volpicelli, 1987). Socially alcohol addicts are less likely to have a social support structure or a

social system in place. Alcohol addicts tend to lose friends, family, and even jobs as a result of

the constant need to drink and thus are less likely to have social structures in place.

Biological Mechanisms

One of the biological mechanisms that contribute to a person being less likely to develop

alcohol dependence can be exposed in the liver of certain individuals. According to Littleton

(1998), Chinese, Japanese, and Koreans with a deficiency of alcohol dehydrogenases tend to

drink less, thus lowering their risk for alcoholism due to the fact that their livers are incapable

of breaking down alcohol, which can leave them prone to vomiting, increased heart rates, and

flushing when they drink (p. 15). In return, these individuals do not drink as much or often.

Additionally, Littleton (1998), states Native Americans do not become intoxicated in the same

manner or as fast as other races so they tend to drink more. Their bodies are more likely to be

prone to alcohol, which creates the possibility of them becoming more prone to developing an

alcohol addiction.

According to DeLuca (2001), there is a genetic relation of alcohol addiction occurring in

families who had alcohol-dependent parents, but were adopted by non-alcohol-dependent

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parents. The result of these studies presented the risk of becoming addicted to alcohol was

increased among the children with alcohol-dependent parents versus children without alcohol-

dependent parents (para. 33). Those who had biological parents addicted to alcohol had an

increased risk of becoming alcohol dependent as well.

Tolerance and Withdraw

Tolerance, according to DeLuca (2001), is defined as an individuals decline in reaction

to alcohol as use is continued over time. The more frequent an individual drinks and the more

they consume over time will cause them to build a tolerance. For example, when an individual

initially starts drinking two beers or so they may have started to feel intoxicated. As the

individual continues drinking over time, the two beers no longer have the same affect. The

individual then has to increase their intake of alcohol to receive the same feelings and symptoms.

This is a person developing a tolerance to the alcohol.

During withdrawal, alcohol produces over excitation of the nervous system (DeLuca,

2001). The symptoms one feels going through withdrawal is the nervous systems response to

the lack of alcohol in their body. If they do not consume alcohol for twenty-four or more hours,

they may experience tremors known as the shakes, rapid heart rates, sweating, difficulty

sleeping, and decreased appetite (DeLuca, 2001). As the time between drinks progresses, the

individuals symptoms may worsen. The consequences may result in seizures, disorientation,

high fevers, and visual hallucinations (DeLuca, 2001).

Understanding addiction permits individuals to develop better treatment options for

individuals with addictions. Prior to modern medications and treatments, individuals

experiencing hallucinations from withdrawals of alcohol, ran the risk of death (Becker &

Littleton, 1996). Better understanding addiction creates an increased opportunity to develop the
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best treatment options. Individuals can use dependence as a coping method for personal

problems, which leads to an unhealthy lifestyle and negative effects. Developing a better

understanding of addiction allows for a better idea of what and why individuals acquire

addictions and how they can be avoided.

Strategies for Prevention

There are several different approaches for prevention and treatment of individuals who

abuse alcohol or become alcohol dependent. Some successful methods for prevention include

emotional, mental, and physical related strategies, which work on helping individuals to cope

with various aspects of addiction. For example, an emotional strategy focuses on helping an

individual create better coping methods for stress and anxiety in addition to developing

relaxation techniques so the person does not crave alcohol (Emmite, Stanley, & Swierzewski,

2012). Additionally, triggers can instigate an individual to seek alcohol therefore, educating

oneself about triggers and how to avoid them or cope with them helps with prevention.

As one whom has a stepfather who suffers from alcoholism, it is a bit more difficult to

determine what approaches could be taken to help. All strategies discussed have been attempted

to help recover from the addiction. Each individual is different when it comes to treatments. Not

everyone can be helped unless they want to help themselves badly enough. The last option is a

rehabilitation clinic far away from home and to move away from those who influence the

addiction. These treatment strategies could be very beneficial, but are also very expensive. As an

addict, he suffers socially and blames experiences in his past, which he will not tell. Finding a

way to avoid the opportunity may be impossible but helping the individual to cope with the past

experiences may help prevent the individual from drinking. Re-directing the persons thoughts
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away from alcohol to something else like food may help, but it very difficult when one doesnt

share their thoughts.

Physical Consequences of Opiate and Amphetamine Addiction

Addiction to opiates and amphetamines can have physical effects on an individual just as

alcohol addiction. For an opiate addiction, an individual may see a variety of things from

intensified pain perception to digestive problems like vomiting, stomach cramping, bleeding,

dehydration of skin leading to eczema, allergic reactions, jaundice, swelling and excessive

bruising (Narconon International, 2014). Amphetamines have a comparable effect on a person

physically but can also cause a vast amount of harm to an individual. According to (Narconon

Interantional, 2014), amphetamines can trigger toxic seizures, damage to nasal passages, as well

as the development of UTIs and painful irregular urination. Individuals will experience a

multitude of skin complications like eczema and acne, including Ekboms syndrome, which is

when an individual feels insects crawling under the skins surface and thus pick at their skin

causing wounds and infections in the dermis (Narconon International, 2014).

Major Stages of Smoking

Smoking is a complicated behavior that develops in five different phases beginning with

the one who has never smoked, the experimentation smoker, intermittent, regular, and ex-smoker

(Flay, 1993). Experimentation smokers have attempted smoking but deny smoking habitually,

intermittent have smoked within the past 30 days, regular smokers smoke daily and are driven by

high dependency of nicotine to the point of experiencing withdrawal symptoms, and ex-smokers

stopped smoking (Flay, 1993). Typically, smokers that become addicted to the nicotine turn into

regular smokers and biologically will experience withdrawal symptoms when trying to quit

smoking. These individuals may experience apprehension or stress when unable to smoke. They
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may become jumpy and anxious when craving another cigarette and they may become

temperamental or short-tempered when they are overdue for their next cigarette. Furthermore, an

individual may have a hard time quitting smoking when around others smoking because they

may associate it as a loss of social time with friends or family.

Conclusion

Alcohol addiction is a disease that has somewhat diminished in the past few years, but is

still prevalent in America and a big concern. Dependence to alcohol can be difficult to

distinguish in individuals, as it is tough to know when an individual crosses the line from

recreational use to dependence. Multiple psychological or social factors can cause biological

effects on individuals with tendencies to alcohol dependence, just as an individuals alcohol

addiction can cause biological risks as well as psychological and social ones. Tolerance,

according to DeLuca (2001), is described as a persons reduction in reaction to alcohol as use is

persistent. As a person consumes alcohol more frequently, the effect of alcohol is decreased on

the individual. During withdrawal, alcohol creates over excitation of the nervous system

(DeLuca, 2001). This means the typical symptoms an individual feels while undergoing

withdrawal is because of the nervous systems reaction to the lack of alcohol in a persons body.
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References

Ballenger, J.C., & Post, R.M. (1978). Kindling as a model for alcohol withdraw syndromes.

British Journal of Psychiatry 133(2) 1-14.

Becker, H.C., & Littleton, J.M. (1996). The alcohol withdrawal "kindling" phenomenon: Clinical

and experimental findings. Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research 20: 121A-

124A.

DeLuca, A. (2001). Alcohol dependence: Diagnosis, clinical aspects, and biopsychosocial

causes. British Journal of Addiction. 82, 381-392.

Emmite, D., Stanley, J., & Swierzewski, M.D. (2012). Treatment for Alcohol Abuse. Retrieved

from http://www.healthcommunities.com/alcohol-abuse/treatment.shtml#

Flay, B. R. (1993). Youth tobacco use: Risk patterns and control. Nicotine addiction: Principles

and management. New York: Oxford University Press.

Littleton, J. (1998). Neurochemical mechanisms underlying alcohol withdrawal. National

Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. 22(1). 13-24

Narconon International. (2014). Effects of Amphetamine Abuse. Retrieved from

http://www.narconon.org/drug-abuse/amphetamine-effects.html

Volpicelli, J. R. (1987). Uncontrollable events and alcohol drinking. British Journal of

Addiction, 82, 381-392