Addictive Behavior

Addictive Behavior

Medical Professionals and patients regard addiction as a disease. One of the reasons for this view is the direct relation between genetic predisposition and addition. Another reason is the common phenomenon of victim’s failure to cope with life stress. Preoccupation, relapse, and compulsion are the three core components of addictive behavior. Therefore, addiction progressive complex behavioral pattern composed of psychological, sociological, and biological factors.

Viewing Addictive behavior as a disease is advantageous to the physicians because they can source for measures to manage, control, and provide solutions to those that seek treatment. Today, patients suffering from addictive issues receive aid through pharmacotherapy. The disadvantage to this mindset is that the management of the medical facilities can be focused on the accumulation of financial resources by monetizing treatment. Thus, the physicians label addiction as ‘disease’ for financial gains. Private treatment facilities mushroom to tap into the lucrative business of serving drug and substance addicts. This results in the loss of focus as the concerned parties expand the pool of patients for consultancy, admission, and insurance (Maddux & Winstead, 2012).

There is an implication that the conditions of the patient can be altered for the better especially if addiction is viewed as an acquired habit with roots in genetic, behavioral, or pharmacological factors. It is possible to employ psychological therapy and peer support groups in the treatment of patients that depend on substance abuse. The limitation is that the doctors ought to gain a deeper understanding if the patient’s culture and the location of his birth and upbringing. A successful treatment is mostly attainable if the physicians understand the social stance and beliefs of the victim. To develop an intervention program, there is a need to consider the standards that are socially acceptable with regards to drugs and substance use. Different people in different societies have varied definitions of addiction and addictive behavior. In fact, a number of diagnostic tests used as instruments for diagnosing addicts are derived from age-old beliefs that are commonly held. As such, testing patients without a prior understanding of the diversity of their background and beliefs can yield a negative impact. The distinction between a successful and unsuccessful treatment plan rests in a personal relapse or the adoption of new behaviors to tame addictive behavior.

Cultural factors and religious stance are also linkable to addictive behavior, similar to learned behaviors. If it is a custom for a given religious group participate in consumption of a particular drug or substance, the exact definition of addiction and substance abuse would differ from that group of believers to the other.

From the immoral or moral viewpoint, addictive behavior entails an engagement that offers a choice for an individual  to participate freely in particular activities thus making them the masters of their behavior and destiny. It is advantageous to have values and morals and to view addition as a sinful act because it keeps some individuals (especially young people) wary and alert. As such, they refrain from participating in ‘self-destructive' behaviors. All the people at the social policy level are affected by the aforementioned views. It calls for an enactment of laws and policies to curb the amount and content of substance that users consume at any given time. In the long-run, individuals emanating from a melting point of culture will conceive a ‘societal norm’ (Walther et al., 2012). Under this view, addicts that refrain from seeking treatment can be jailed for a given period of time or imposed a hefty fine.

References

Maddux, J.E. &Winstead, B.A. (2012). Psychopathology: Foundations for a Contemporary Understanding (3rd ed.) Routledge. Print.

Walther, B., Morgenstern, M., & Hanewinkel, R. (2012). Co-occurrence of addictive behaviors: personality factors related to substance use, gambling and computer gaming. European addiction research, 18(4), 167-174. Print.