Psychology Essay: Critically Analyse the Reasons Why People Take Drugs

This essay delves into the multifaceted reasons behind drug use, examining the physiological and psychological effects of drugs, the various methods of consumption, and the long-term consequences of addiction. It explores the neurobiological, psychological, and sociocultural theories that attempt to explain why individuals become dependent on drugs, including factors such as peer pressure, mental disorders, and the desire for pleasure. The essay also presents statistical data on drug consumption rates, highlighting the prevalence of substance abuse across different demographics and the impact on public health, government policies, and media portrayals. Furthermore, it discusses the attitudes of the public, government, and media towards drug addiction, as well as the importance of drug abuse prevention strategies that focus on environmental and internal factors, aimed at limiting the development of problems associated with psychoactive substances. The essay concludes by emphasizing the need for comprehensive approaches to address drug addiction, incorporating both individual and societal interventions.

Running Head: PSYCHOLOGY 0
“Critically Analyse the Reasons Why People Take Drugs”
Essay
Student Details

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Analyse: The Reasons why people take drugs
The drug is a kind of medicine or a harmful substance that has a physiological effect on the
body after the consumption of it. In addition, it might cause a change in the organism's
physiology, when consumed (Drug Aware , 2019). Drug consumption can be done via
inhalation, dissolution, absorption, smoking, patch on skin, injection and ingestion. Long-
term usage of the drug can influence the chemical system of the brain and adversely affects
the body’s functions of learning, judgement, decision-making, stress, memory, and behaviour
of the person. Despite all these negative factors, which has harmful results, some people have
become addicted to it. There are many reasons for the usage of drugs by people.
The usage of the drugs at early ages could cause harmful changes in developing brains. The
people feel the livelihood progress and they become drug additives as they are taking it in a
constant manner, which is injurious to health. Especially some of the drugs such as opioid
painkillers, stimulants and cocaine are the more addictive drugs as compare to the other ones.
Behind the drug addiction, there are lots of reasons such people want to do an experiment,
they have the family history of drug addiction, loneliness, peer pressure, mental disorder,
prescribed by the doctors or it provides the pleasure to them. Even many people are not able
to understand that when they use become drug addicted. The drug addiction is kind of the
complex disease, which can be cured but it takes time and strong will power. The high usage
of drug occupies the consumer’s brain in such a manner that it has become harder for him to
quit the drug usage.
The consequences of drugs influence physically, psychologically, legally, and socially. In
long-term consumption of the drugs, it effects harmfully and causes lungs or heart disease,
cancer, mental disorder, AIDS, and another disease. In addition, the long-term consumption

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of the drug is the reason for drug addiction, which leads to brain disorder (Gateway
foundation, 2019). Hence, the drugs can cause critical physical loss. In the case of
philological effects, the drugs are the proactive effect on the people mood. The drugs can
cause a certain reaction to the emotion of people, which changes the mood of the people and
some people find it enjoyable. Hence, they become psychologically drug addicts. The legal
consequences of the drug abuse people are that they have to face many problems related to
survival, which leads to the difficulty in obtaining employment. The illegal consumption is
the crime in the eyes of law (Black Bear , 2019). Hence, it can negative consequence to the
drug addicts to survive in this environment. The social consequences of drug abuse influence
the behaviour of drug addicts. The people who consume the drug illegally is not acceptable in
society, and they have to face many of the social problems which influence their behaviours
negatively (María, 2015).
In accordance with the World Health Organisation, drug addiction is referred to the
hazardous use of the psychoactive substance, which leads to the dependence syndrome
(World Health Organisation , 2019). These substances include drugs consumption, opioid
analgesics, alcohols and benzodiazepines. In Australia, there was a survey conducted to find
the prevalence rate of drug consumption, almost 324 adults had participated in this survey
and it had been observed that males have the highest prevalence rate as compared to females
(Australian Government , 2019). The significant differences found in the substance abuse
were for age, income, retirement, community involvement and gender. In addition, this
survey reveals that the females, retired individuals and the non-baby boomers protectively
use the drugs and they are not addicted to it. While in the case of the upper-medium income
earner are the addicted ones. Apart from this survey, according to the studies happened in
America, it had been found that the people belong to 50 age group and above needs the

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treatment for their addictions in recent years. In addition, it had been predicted that by 2020,
almost 4.5 million people of this age needs the addition treatment (Li & Caltabiano, 2017).
The reason behind the dependency of the people on drugs had been related to the variety of
theories and to understand these approaches, there is the summary in the following
paragraphs with the details explanation in three different areas of it. The first theory had a
focus on the drug’s effects (Smith, 2019). The name of the theory is neurobiological theory
suggests the understanding of behaviour and learning of the people. This theory helps in
elaborating the drug dependency in the biological terms. The second theory had the focus on
behavioural model and differences of the individuals. The name of the theory is
psychological theory suggests the understanding of human thoughts, behaviours and
emotions. This theory helps in elaborating the behaviour of the person who is drug addicted.
The final theory had a focus on environmental and cultural factors. The name of the theory is
sociocultural theory suggests the understanding of the contribution to society for the
development of the individual (Bancroft, 2010). This theory helps in elaborating the causes of
drug dependency due to the social factors, present in the culture and the environment. These
theories help in understanding the reason why people take drugs.
As per the world recent years survey, the drug consumption dependency is the considered as
the “International Classification of Diseases” and it had been observed that there is the
presence of more than three indicators of dependence in the last preceding years. In addition,
in this survey consumption of Tobacco smoking had not been included (Our World in data ,
2019). With the help of the widespread under-diagnosis, it had been estimated that the use the
combination of a source includes the records related to the records of medical and national
aspects, epidemiological and survey data, and models of meta-regression. Almost 208 million
populations international consume the drugs illegally. In the United States as per the national
survey of drug consumption and health denotes that across the nation almost 19.9 million

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people are consuming the drugs illegally. In addition, it had also been observed that out of the
whole percentage of drug illegal consumer, 8% of the total population are of age below 12
years.
The mostly illegal consumed drug named as marijuana and accordance to the “United
Nations World Drug Report” that one-fourth of the population of the world consume this
drug. In addition, most of the people in this percentage is belongs to the age group of 15 to 64
years. Moreover, in the young generation of the world were exposed to the drug, which leads
to the drug consumptions at their early ages. Recently, a study happened in Europe shows
that 10% to 40% of teens consumes marijuana. In addition, 4% to 6% children belong to the
age group of 15 to 16 years, consuming the cocaine in Denmark, UK, Norway, Italy, Spain,
and France (UNODC , 2019).
The influence of drug consumption mainly has an impact on the public, government and
media. In the case of public, the people show the negative attitudes towards the drug addicts
as compared to the metal illness ones. In addition, it had been observed that the insurers,
housing facilities providers and employment policies, do not support the drug addicts.
However, the drug which is used to cure diseases such as diabetes, heart disease, or personal
failing is supported by the public as the drug is used as the treatable medical condition. In
recent years it had been observed that socially the people suffering from mental illness are
acceptable but with the drug addicts, socially people think that the addicts are the bad
personalities especially those who are consuming drugs illegally (Johns Hopkins , 2019). A
survey conducted in between 30th October to 2nd December 2013, in which 709 participants
had participated. This survey conducted to find the attitude of the public towards drug
addiction. In the survey, it had been found that most of the participants had negative opinions
about drug addiction. In addition, the survey also denotes that the public strongly opposes the
policies, which might help in the drug addiction recovery (Johns Hopkins , 2019).

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In the case of government, the attitude towards the drug addicts appears clearly that there is
the need to take some strict action for the issue of illicit drugs and the young generation.
Since 2012, it had been observed that there have been a number of significant changes
happened in the attitudes, perceptions of drug and drugs use motivation, which had become a
risk factor for the community and the government. The government attitudes towards drug
addiction are not that much strict than required. In addition, this leniency might cause harm to
the community (Mayoclinic , 2019). The reason found after the drug consumption is that
people consume it to have fun. For this problem, some of the governments have adopted the
prevention approach, which indicates the dangerous effects of drugs to people, who are the
drug addicts and the aim of this approach is to support them for quitting the drug addiction
(Foundation for the Drug free world , 2019).
In the case of Media, the attitude towards the drug addicts shows that media influence public
opinion. Media had a greater impact on people’s mind. By watching TV and newspapers, the
public is influenced by both perspectives. Either they start consuming the drugs or they quit
the drugs depends on what the media suggest to the viewer in its content (NCBI, 2019).
After lots of research, it had been found that the main reason for drugs consumption is drug
addiction. The daily or even several times if the drugs used by the person than he might
become the drug addict. In addition, due to this, the person starts blocking its thought and as
the effects, the drug addict starts taking a larger amount of drug. The person will later on
become so addicted that even if he doesn’t have that much money to afford the drug, he starts
doing wrong activities to make money to purchase the drugs and this is considered as the
illegal activity pursued by the drug addicts (National Institute on Drug abuse, 2018). The
problems faced by drug addicts that they are not able to meet with any kind of obligations, as
they are not in their senses. Moreover, if the consumption is not stopped on time then it may
cause a critical issue to the drug addicts.

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For the prevention of the drug overuse, there is the process can be adapted named as “Drug
Abuse Prevention”. This process helps in limiting the development of problems, which are
associated by using the psychoactive substance. The efforts for prevention have a focus on
the individual and its surroundings. The environmental prevention also helps in these efforts
as they do not support the demand of the drugs and puts the limitation on the availability of
the substance abuse. The drug abuse prevention helps the minors, children and teenagers to
give them protection from the usage of the drugs (UNODC , 2013).
Two main factors influence the likelihood of drug abuse are environmental and internal
factors. The environmental factors in the adolescence of the individual include child abuse,
drugs exposure, media influence and peer pressures. In addition, if the drug addict wants to
survive in this kind of environment then they have to take the proper treatment which
normalises the drug usage in the community (World Health Organisation , 2019). The
internal factors include the individual self-esteem, poor social skills, overstress, mental
disorder and the attitude towards the drugs. Al these factors are responsible for drug
addiction at the time of teenage. In addition, poor parents are also responsible for this kind of
attitude involved in child behaviour. The main period of the risk for drug abuse is at the time
child’s life transitions. If the child is not having the proper attention due to divorce,
insecurities, puberty or moving to the new place, then the child might start taking drugs out of
stress and lately, he might become the drug addict.
For the prevention of the drugs, there are many interventions of drug use can be followed.
The main aim of drug intervention has a specific goal is to convince the individual to quit
drug addiction. At the time of drug abuse intervention, there is a requirement of lots of
attention to the loved one towards the drug addicts, which helps them to quit the habit of
taking the drugs. The loved to place an important role in helping the drug abuse to leave the
drug consumption and become normalise their survival just like a normal human being. At

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the time of drug intervention, the face-to-face conversation in between loved one and drug
addicts is the necessary task. Mostly these tasks only happened with the help of the drug
addict’s family, partner, colleagues, children, spouse, and friends. The main objective of the
drug intervention is to reduce the pain and destruction faced by the drug addicts at the time of
interventions (Thr Recovery Village , 2019). In addition, it helps them to learn the
importance of life and quit the consumption of drugs, which is harmful to life. Therefore,
with the help of various program designed at the time of drug intervention, drug addiction can
be removed for the life of the suffered individual.
The drugs are used for the various as shown in the above paragraphs but the consumption is
secured or not is dependent upon the person requirements which means if the person is taking
drugs to cure the disease then it considered to be the fine practice. However, if the person is
consuming the drug on a regular basis because of its habit then it is drug addiction which is
the chronic disease. According to the prevalence rate of the drug abuse, it can be seen that
now the days the drug addiction has been increasing day why day which is not the good sign
(Drug Abuse , 2017). However, with the help of interventions of drugs many programs had
been conducted to cure the drug addiction. Hence it can be said that the people use the drugs
for many reasons such as they like it, it gives them pleasure of happiness, they feel that they
are performing better, they are curious as others are doing the same practice, and the main
reason in the youth is they are drugs excite them. This reason causes critical problems in the
life of drug addicts.

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