Psychology of Drug Addiction: Effects of Alcohol and Illicit Drugs

This article discusses the effects of alcohol and illicit drugs on the human body and mind. It explains the difference between use, misuse, abuse, and dependence. It also explores the disease and personality theories of addiction. The article provides information on the short-term and long-term effects of alcohol consumption and drug addiction, including physical and psychological effects. It also discusses the problems caused by alcohol abuse to the digestive, circulatory, and central nervous systems.

Running head: PSYCHOLOGY OF DRUG ADDICTION
Psychology of Drug Addiction
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1PSYCHOLOGY OF DRUG ADDICTION
Question 1:
Alcohol is designated as a depressant, that reduces the brain
functioning which leads to the slow reaction, disturbed perception,
unsteady movement, slurred speech. Alcohol consumption reduces the
ability of a person to think rationally and renders a person with distorted
judgement. The amount of alcohol consumed determines the effect that
alcohol will have on the body. Studies reveal that alcohol usage is high
among the people that are aged between 18 to 25 years. 15% of people
reported to be heavy drinkers, whereas 42% reported to be binge drinkers.
Drinking tendencies are also found in 12 to 17 year olds. Among the age
group 16% are current drinkers, 10% are binge drinkers and 2% are heavy
drinkers. According to American youths aged 12 to 20 year olds- 17% are
Asians, 18% African-Americans, 25% Hispanics, 32% white and 28%
Alaskan natives (Swendsen et al., 2012).
The illicit drugs can be described as those drugs that are illegal to
use, make and sell. These illicit drugs include prescription drugs, inhalants,
hallucinogens, heroin, cocaine, hashish and marijuana. People aged around
18 to 25 years are found to abuse the prescription drugs. The usage of non-
medical prescription painkillers is high among the 12 years old and up.
While cocaine users are only about 0.8 percent of the American population
(Degenhardt et al., 2013).

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There is a difference between drugs and alcohol and both are used
either used for recreational or medical purposes. Depending on the type of
usage and the prescription, both the drugs and alcohol are harmful for the
human body when taken in excess. While drugs are only restricted to
internal usage, alcohol can be used both externally and internally.
Question 2
Use means to deploy or hold, take something as a means in order to
achieve or accomplish something. For example, both alcohol and drug are
used in daily life whether for recreational or medicinal purposes. Drugs can
also be used for other purposes: self-improvement, religious and spiritual
and medicinal. The use of medicinal drugs can be attributed to healing,
curing and improvement of the wellbeing (Degenhardt & Hall, 2012).
Misuse means something is used in a wrong way for the wrong
purpose. For example, drug is to be used as a drug not and it is not meant
to be used for something else. There are drugs like Vicodin which is used
for nausea, headache, but when these drugs are taken in high doses without
following the medical instructions (Handelsman, 2013).
Abuse means usage of something for bad purposes or for bad effect.
Making a habit of excessive usage of something addictive, especially the
illegal drugs. People that are abusing drugs generally do not have the
prescription for what they are taking. For example, people that take Vicodin

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without the prescription, experience no symptoms and thus believe that
they it more in order to feel better (Smith & Lynch, 2012).
Dependence means the condition of being controlled by something
else or being relied upon for something else. Drug dependence is a situation
where a person depends on two or more drugs to function properly. It is
possible that without getting addicted a person can depend on drugs.
Dependence can be attributed to a bodily response to a particular
substance. Such kind of situation arises when a person takes medicine to
control a chronic medical condition (glaucoma, diabetes, high blood
pressure) (Degenhardt & Hall, 2012).
Question 3
It has been found that around 23.8 million people are found to be
abusing the psychotherapeutic drug. The most common abused drugs are
benzodiazepines, cocaine, heroin, alcohol, methamphetamine and
amphetamines, opioid pain relievers (prescription). Medically, how much
alcohol is excess for the body depends on certain factors like body
metabolism, food taken and level of body hydration. Blood alcohol content
measures the amount of alcohol in a person’s blood. If the dose increases to
0.28, then there is a risk of overdose. There are other quantifications like:
consumption of 21 standard drinks at a stretch for 6 hours can lead to
overdosing. Every year around 5 thousand people die from cocaine
overdose. On an average, if a person is having 1.2 grams is considered too

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much. However, for certain people 30 milligrams of cocaine can be fatal for
some people. For opioids, there is no such thing called too much. The
reason for no such limitation is that, both the body and the brain metabolize
things at different rates and it differs from one individual to another
(Drugabuse.gov, 2018).
Legally, the concentration of drug in blood are set as limits to
distinguish between the legal and the illegal drugs. Certain threshold limits
are set for the different drugs that are illegal (Drugabuse.gov, 2018).
Illegal drugs Threshold limits in micrograms per
litre of blood
Cocaine 10 microgram/litre
Cannabis 2 microgram/litre
Heroin 5 microgram/litre
Medicinal drugs Threshold limits in blood
Morphine 80 microgram/litre
Oxazepam 300 microgram/litre
methadone 500 microgram/litre
Question 4
The effect of drug addiction can be attributed to a feeling where a
person feels the need for a drug whenever there is a sense of pain and
stress. Craving for the drug is one of major feeling of drug addiction. At the

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same time, the situation can also be attributed to the psychological effects
of drug addiction. There are other psychological effects of drug addiction,
which are as follows
 Confusion
 Hallucinations
 Desire to engage in risk acts
 Mental illness and complications
 Violence, paranoia, anxiety, depression, mood swings
 Decrease in pleasure in everyday life
 Psychological tolerance to the effects of drugs that promotes an
increasing demand of drug usage (Degenhardt & Hall, 2012).
The various physical effects of drug addiction are as follows
 Brain damage and stroke and seizure
 Hepatitis and other illness, contraction of HIV
 Liver and kidney damage
 Heart attack and irregularities in heart rate
 Respiratory problems which includes breathing problems,
emphysema, lung cancer
 Diarrhoea, constipation, vomiting, abdominal pain
 Changes in sleeping patterns, body temperature and appetite
(Wise & Koob, 2014).

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The abuse of alcohol is pattern of problem related to drinking which
results in social problems, health consequences. The alcoholism or alcohol
dependence refers to the disease that is characterized through abnormal
alcohol consumption.
The effects can be summarized depending on the short term and long
term consumption of alcohol. Short term effects of alcohol consumption can
lead to:
 Distorted vision, coordination and vision
 Bad breath and hangovers
 Impaired judgement
 Altered emotions and perceptions (Eisen et al., 2012)
The long term effects of alcohol consumption can lead to:
 Stomach ailments, vitamin deficiencies, loss of appetite.
 Sexual impotence
 Skin problems
 Liver damage
 Memory damage, Central nervous system damage and heart
damage.
The psychological effects of alcohol abuse lead to increase in violence
and aggression, lack of inhibitions, lack of interest in sex and uninhibited
sexual behaviour, sensory motor co-ordination, impaired memory,
depression, mood swings (Sayette et al., 2012).

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Question 5
Inside the brain, dopamine is a neurotransmitter that affects pleasure.
Pleasure is strongly attached with the mental health. When brain is
functioning properly, then brain receives a positive reward in the form of
pleasure that is induced by eating, sex and drinking. This is a normal
occurrence that happens inside the brain at the regular intervals. Dopamine
makes a person happy and helps in motivation. Alcohol and certain drugs
like heroin, stimulants, cocaine increases the output of dopamine one way
or other. These drugs not only increase the output of dopamine, but also
alters the way dopamine function. Drugs act to either alter the flow of
neurotransmitters or bypass the neurotransmitters and work directly on the
receptors resulting in change of signals produced by brain. For a short
term, these drugs produce the same kind of pleasure for a majority of
people. However, long term effects provide a permanent effect to the brain
that produces more happiness and pleasure. Brain gets habituated to the
dopamine production due to the excessive intake of drugs and alcohol.
Thus, brain loses the capacity to produce dopamine on its own and relies
heavily on the usage on drugs (Nutt et al., 2015).
Question 6
The disease concept of addiction explains addiction as a disease that
originates due to the environmental, genetic, neurological, biological
reasons. The concept emphasis that alcoholism and addiction is biological
or chemical issue which if left untreated can be fatal. Alcohol and drug

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addiction fits the normal concept of disease and only requires an individual
who is getting affected by distress, dysfunction, and discomfort. The disease
concept of addiction describes alcoholism and addiction as a predisposition
which is both exacerbated and influenced by the environmental factors. The
medical community accepted that addiction is a disease and need to be
medication for treatment and recovery (Volkow, Koob & McLellan, 2016).
Personality theory of addiction is a psychological model which is
related directly with the modes of thinking and personality traits. This
model also emphasizes on an individual’s tendency to develop addiction.
Researchers through studies have shown that there is a strong link between
the substance use disorders and affective disorders. People that exhibit
mood disorders also experience the substance use disorders. Personality
included 3 components: ego, superego, id. The id can be attributed to the
childlike, impulsive and instinctive. The id person wants satisfaction for the
cravings, urges and needs. In the alcoholic case, the id person craves for
alcohol (Meyer, 2012).
Question 7
The several problems that are caused to digestive system by alcohol
abuse are as follows:
 Alcohol enhances the development of mouth cancer and also
gum diseases.
 Due to the excessive intake of alcohol, heartburn is caused.

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 Alcohol damages the inner lining of the stomach that further
leads to problems like stomach inflammation (gastritis).
 Excessive alcohol intake develops the possibility of developing
the small intestine cancers.
 Alcohol consumption beyond a limit increases the tendency of
liver diseases.
The several problems that are caused to circulatory system by alcohol
abuse are as follows:
 Cardiomyopathy- it is characterized by enlarged heart muscle.
When heat becomes inflamed, it loses its potential and fails to
pump blood at an optimal level. This results in heart failure.
 High blood pressure- having more than 3 drinks can effectively
increase blood pressure temporarily. This on long term causes
hypertension.
 Irregular heartbeat- arrhythmia is irregular beating of heart,
and is caused by the excessive intake of alcohol.
Excessive intake of alcohol increases the blood pressure. High blood
pressure in turn is a common cause of kidney disease. Kidney functions the
important task of removing the harmful substances from the body.
However, the kidneys of the heavy drinkers work harder and thus the

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potentiality of filtering blood reduces. Alcohol dehydrates body and the
drying effect hinders the normal functioning of the kidney.
Due to excessive drinking of alcohol, the drinker develops a fatty liver
and the chances of developing cirrhosis increases ten times. The excessive
intake of alcohol affects the central nervous system and results in: altered
speech, impaired vision, dulled hearing, foggy memory, weakened muscles,
hazy thinking, and slow reaction time (Hamaguchi et al., 2012).

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