Causes of Drug Addiction

This article discusses the various causes of drug addiction including genetic, psychological, environmental, and social factors. It also highlights the impact of drug addiction on individuals and society.

Running head: CAUSES OF DRUG ADDICTION
CAUSES OF DRUG ADDICTION
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CAUSES OF DRUG ADDICTION
Drug addiction mainly refers to the condition here the individuals are seen to undertake
compulsive as well as repeated use of increasing amount of drugs that in turn remain associated
with different types of withdrawal symptom when the use of the drug ceases. Researchers are of
the opinion that a large number of factors may result in making individuals highly prone to drug
abuse (Everitt & Robbins, 2016). These can be genetic, psychological as well as
environmental factors and they can play significant roles in making a person affected to drug
disorder. If one tries to look towards the prevalence of the drug abuse cases in the nation, it can
be seen that in the year 2015 to 2016, there had been 8621 hospital admissions where there had
been a primary diagnosis of the drug related mental health as well as behavioral disorders. This
is about 6 percent more than the 2014 to 2015 as well as 11 percent higher than that of 2005 to
2006. There had been also data, which suggests that there were about 15074 hospital admissions
that were with the primary diagnosis by the poisoning by illicit drugs. This is about 6 percent
more than the 2014 to 2015 and 51 percent more than the 2005 to 2006. Therefore, it is indeed
important for the concerned authorities to understand the main causes that result in the addiction
of individual to drugs (Nestler, 2014). Once the determinants are identified, it becomes important
for the concerned authorities to take initiatives that result in handling the causes effectively to
mitigate the issues. This assignment will mainly be depicting the causes of the drug addiction
helping professionals to identify the interventions that they would need to take.
Many of the researchers suggest that drug addiction tend to run in the families and
therefore genetics is believed to be one of the main causes of drug addiction. Moreover, there has
been studies on twins which have suggested that there always remains half of someone’s risk of
being addicted to drugs due to genetics. It is also seen that genetic causes of drug addiction are
believed to involve multiple gene sequence but modern scientific advancements have not yet

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been able to identify the main genes that are involved in drug addiction situations (Wise & Koob,
2014). Many of the researchers have considered the brain as the main source where any
impairment may lead to the occurrence of the conditions where individuals become highly
determined to use drugs. They have put forward a number of changes in the brain that result in
the occurrence of addictive symptoms with drugs. Alterations in the cerebral cortex of the brain
mainly remain associated with impaired decision-making, as well as with impulsivity and
compulsivity. This makes the individuals more likely, that they will take the help of drugs and
might face difficulty is resisting to the urge to use (Koob, 2018). Another psychobiological factor
also results in occurrence of the disorders. Researchers have talked about the reward system of
the brain as they hold it to be responsible for drug seeking behaviors and cravings of the
individuals. The survival of the human species is mainly ensured by the reward system of the
brain if one considers the evolutionary point of view. Human beings are mainly seen to repeat
behaviors that provide them with pleasure. Therefore, as addiction to drugs provides them with
such pleasures, they tend to get addicted to it. However, it is true that addictions cause disruption
to the healthy functioning of the body. Human beings are seen to get addicted as they go through
experiences where the effects of drugs give them pleasure. Many of the participants in studies
have stated that taking drugs make them experience an alternate reality that is free from any sort
of tensions, stress, ailments, pain and disappointments and hence they tend to repeat such
activities to get pleasure by overlooking their barriers in lives (Madras, 2018). This function of
the brain is also seen to make relapses more likely to occur even when the individuals try their
best to stop using it.
Very important information is put forward by other set of studies. Many of the
researchers are of the opinion that the amygdale of the brain remains highly associated with

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emotion as well as memory. There are certain cues that remain stored in individual brains as
positive memories as well as negative memories. It can be explained with the help of an
example. An individual can be assumed who comes back regularly from work and then smokes
marijuana. Therefore, in this case, completing work and coming back home mainly act as cues
for the individuals for the use of marijuana as this cue remains stored as a positive memory of
marijuana in the individual (Singh, Kaur & Singh, 2018). Therefore, when an individual tries his
best to stop the use of marijuana, such cues are mainly seen to act as motivators to use even
when someone tries his best to refrain himself from using it. The memory of the withdrawal is an
unpleasant experience which mainly serves as a powerful cue as well as the motivator for
resuming the addictive behavior. This is mainly done to avoid the unpleasant experience.
Moreover, it is also seen that the relief obtained by the individual by resuming the behavior also
acts to be pleasurable. Such occurrences like the relapse triggers are mainly due to the
amygdala’s effects on the memory as well as the emotions (Yager et al., 2015). More researches
have also shown that drugs also affect the hypothalamus of the brain by interrupting the stress
regulation procedure of the brain. Individuals are often seen to use drugs to relieve stress.
Researchers are of the opinion that since withdrawal from drug itself is a very difficult and
stressful, this causes creation of a vicious cycle. It is seen that stopping the drug use can result in
the creation of stress but the use of drugs can also diminish the ability of the brain to regulate the
stress (McGinty et al., 2015).
While biological causes mainly describes the scientific background that results in
development of the addiction of drugs, there are many psychological factors that also make
individuals vulnerable to get addicted. Some of the psychological causes that may lead to such
addiction may rise from the roots of trauma often when the individuals are young. Studies

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suggest that sexual as well as physical abuse, neglect, as well as chaos in the homes may result in
development of psychological stress. Individuals are often seen to self-medicate in order to
decrease the stress and pain with different kinds of drugs (Belin-Rauscnet et al., 2016). This self-
medication is often seen to become a major cause of drug addiction. Some of the other
psychological causes that may lead to drug addiction are the mental illness that may result in
creation of depression that attracts patient. There is also another cause like the inability of
effective connection with others as well as lack of friends that indulge people in developing such
addiction and disorders.
One of the most important causes that had resulted in the increase of the drug abuse
among the teenagers and young adults are the huge academic pressure. In the present days of the
competitive world, it is important for every of the individuals to get the best marks and
recognition in the schools and the universities and thereby maintain a strong academic profile.
This is extremely important to earn good employment and thereby get the best income package
in the nation (Best et al., 2016). Therefore, every of the academic institutions as well as the
parents of different students try their best to make their wards get high marks. However, these
results in creation of a situation where the students feel extremely pressurized and stressed when
they cannot keep up with the expectations of the institutions as well as their parents. Such stress
becomes unbearable to the students to such a degree where some of them try to self-harm and
others take up the habit of drug abuse to relieve themselves of the pressure (Patkar, Belmer &
Bartlett, 2016). Such a behavior when continued repeatedly result the individuals to become
addicted to drugs. Such students who take up the habit at such a tender age ultimately fail to
accomplish their educational targets and fail academically which affect the future lives. Such
individuals are also seen to have failed relationships when they grow up and cannot settle

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financially and socially with good life partners and families. They tend to continue using the
drugs, as they never find pleasure in its resort only. Therefore, they tend to get involved in a
vicious cycle of drug use that affects their entire life. Another cause that also makes the
teenagers highly prone to drug addiction is peer pressure. Often many of the studies have
conducted interviews, where teenage participants have stated that they had started taking drugs
only under the influence of friends (Eisisnger et al., 2018). Many of the members also stated that
they had a psychology that using drugs just like their friends would help them to easily feel
included in the group of friends or to represent a “cool” nature in order to gain a higher position
among the members of the friends groups. Although the use of drugs that start at a minimal level,
mainly to feel included in the group, rather makes the individuals highly addicted when it
become difficult for them to come out of the addiction. Therefore, the cause of peer pressure and
the idea to make one look trendy and modern are some of the psychological reasons that make
them take up the addiction of drugs in the later part of their lives.
A number of social factors are also seen to play an important role that make individuals
take up the habit of drug addiction. Researchers have noticed that the social environment of the
person also becomes highly responsible for the development of the addiction. Drug addiction is
seen to be more common in the environment where the abuse of drugs is seen at a common rate
or where it is seen to be permissible (Barry et al., 2014) . Children who are seen to grow up in
the families or homes with other drug addicts are also seen to become drug addicts themselves.
Most of the drugs abusing habits are mainly seen to be initiating in the teenage periods and this
age is the most vulnerable age where the social cues are seen to affect the life of the individuals
to large extent. Those individuals with inattentive as well as abusive or neglectful parents are
more prone to different drug abuse. Therefore, social factors play an important role in drug

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addiction. Some of the other social determinants that lead to drug abuse issues are lack of
employment and low income. In such a scenario, drug abuse becomes both the cause as well as
the result of low income and unemployment. Individuals who are already abusing drugs can
never complete their academic fully and does not remain in a steady stable state to find or give
interviews for getting jobs. Unemployment and lack of income also result individuals to go
through severe stress, poor quality lives with mental, physical and economic instability, and this
makes them addicted to drugs to release stress (Fattore &Diana, 2016). In other cases,
discrimination, stereotyping, racism, stigmatization and many other such activities also result
immigrant people, people of lower socioeconomic classes, culturally different groups of people
and others to undergo stressful periods of demotivation, helplessness, disappointment and low
feelings. These also make them take up such habits in order to release their pain and lead a
stressful life. These situations are mainly seen to act as causes that result in drug addiction.
Emotional stress is also one of the causes that result individuals to go through a very
difficult phase of emotional instability that make them take up the habit of drug abuse and
addiction. Emotional stress can result from many aspects like dating, family relationships as well
as loss of loved ones. Often loss of loved one, thoughts about life and death and similar others
like grief from separation from parents, separation between parents, separation in romantic
relationships result in emotional stress, pain, grief and disappointment among the individuals
(Sharma et al., 2018). Therefore, in order to look for a way to feel free from stress and to
overcome the pain and grief that gives difficult times, individuals are seen to take up drugs to get
free from such situation. Repeated taking of the drugs to overcome pain and feel free actually
result in the individuals to get addicted over time by which they can no longer come back to
normal life as they suffer from withdrawal symptoms when they want to stop the behaviors.

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Therefore, this results in occurring of the addition. Stressful life change can also contribute as
one of the most important causes that result in development of drug addiction (Rahman et al.,
2016). Young people who have just started a new school or has moved away to a new city or ahs
entered into any form of stress life changes become more vulnerable in the development of the
addiction. This is mainly because they tend to alleviate their stress with drugs (Zhou et al., 2016).
Researchers who have undertake experiments on human psychology has stated that it is the
natural tendency of the human beings to find an easy fix as it seems easier than confronting the
real problems at hand. Trying illegal drugs even once can lead to addiction and therefore such
individuals get addicted to this (Pizzimenti & Lattal, 2015).
From the entire discussion, it becomes quite clear that drug addiction acts as a curse to
nation resulting in hospitalization of a huge number of addicted individuals and hence poor
quality lives of more others. Therefore, identifying the causes of the drug abuse is excessively
important for the government, the policy makers, the political parties, the healthcare
professionals and the social workers so that they can help to change the scenario of the nation.
Researchers have indeed found out that alterations in the different parts of the brain can result in
the individuals taking up drugs. The amygdale of the brain contains the positive notions of the
drug use as motivators that cause such individuals to uptake the behavior of using of groups
when they try to avoid the use. This ensures a feeling of pleasure that ensures them to continue
the habit. Moreover, it is also seen that trauma, abuses in childhood, memories of accidents and
many others also cause individuals to take up drug abuse behaviors. Moreover, p eer pressure
and pressure of the situations and families to score well in academics make individuals the drugs
to release their pressure. Moreover, social factors like children growing up in families with other
drug addicts also result in adopting such behaviors. Moreover, lack of employment and low

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income also become other causes. Moreover, mental instability due to facing of discrimination,
stigmatization, stereotyping, racism and others also affect the individuals resulting them to use
drugs. Emotional stress from losing of loved ones, separation of close peoples and others also
make individuals vulnerable. Stressful life changes also make individuals take up drug addiction.
Knowledge about all these causes are important for developing proper interventions by which the
nation can overcome the barriers of the drug addiction and develop a healthy nation.

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