The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) reveals that approximately 5% of the world adult population has used an illegal drug or substance in 2018. The consequences of drug addiction are of more concern in society. Besides, there are more than 200,000 deaths annually, early sexual activities, family disintegration, delinquency, and high risk of crime and diseases caused by drug addictions ( Salehi, Taheri, Riasi & Mehrpour, 2017). Addressing the challenges of drug addiction should begin by examining the causative factors. Many theories discuss the causative factors of addiction. With advances in technology, these theories have changed and become more precise while explaining the causes of drug addiction and the remedies.
Substance Abuse Biological Influences
The biological factors that lead to substance addiction are the major interest regarding the topic. According to Capuzzi & Stauffer (2016), genetic and neuroadaptation are the main biological influences to addiction. The genetic theory of addiction argues that individuals may inherit substance abuse from their parents ( Capuzzi & Stauffer, 2016). Thus, those who use drugs suffer from a substance disorder that cluster within a family. The genetic research findings reveal that the monozygotic twin pairs have a higher chance of involving in concurrent alcoholism than in dizygotic pairs. On the other hand, the Neuroadaptation theory explains the inherent tolerance to the effect of a drug or substance, and the withdrawal upon stopping a drug use are both the results of neuroadaptation. Neuroadaptations impact the brain to oppose the drug's extreme action after repeated administration.
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Emotional and Psychological Variables That Influence Addiction
Psychology explains substance addiction influencers based on based on behaviors and emotions. The emphasis is on behavioural models and learning, pre-existing personality theories, cognitive theories, and rational choice models ( Capuzzi & Stauffer, 2016). Behavior theories, for instance, shows the observable actions like the administration of a drug and its availability. Also, the theories claim that easy access to a drug may influence a self-administration. It also looks at environmental influences, such as peer behaviors that influence the behaviors of drug use. From the cognitive theory point of view, the ability to positively or negatively regulate one's behaviors is a significant contributor to drug addiction. The theory explains that excessive reliance on external factors to control one's behaviors is a risk factor to drug addiction ( Hurd & Zimmerman, 2016). Personality is also another dimension that psychology explains drug addiction. For instance, the psychological resource model claim that some people take drugs to fulfill the emotional needs of a specific personality. Lastly, Emotional such as distress, anxiety, and depression, all link to drug addiction.
The Ethnicity, Gender, and Socioeconomic Status Role in Addiction Development
The relationship between drug addiction, gender, ethnicity, and economic status is debatable. National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) report reveals that men are more likely to use drugs than women and girls. The report also show that women’s chances of using drugs stand at 6.5%, while men’s possibilities of using drugs stand at 11.1% ( VanGeest, Johnson & Alemagno, 2017). The disparity is considerable and depends on the type of drug in question.
Also, there is limited research that discusses specific ethnic group to drug addiction. Most of the available data show a lot of controversies on this topic. Any question about ethnicity and drug use lies in stereotypes and racism. However, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) report discusses the matter further. The report exposes specific ethnic groups like African Americans, Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders and Native Hawaiians, Alaska natives and American Indians as among the top drug addictive ethnic groups. Concerning the economic status, most research studies on this topic agree that those whose financial stability is much lower are likely to abuse drugs ( Capuzzi & Stauffer, 2016). The causes of the economic status are lack of adequate education and crimes, all of which link to drug abuse and addictions.
How the Etiological Theories and Issues Linked to Substance Abuse and Addiction Have Changed Over Time
Historically, society perceived drug abuse as something sinful, a bad habit, and a disease. Looking at these concepts, they translate to the current theories on drug abuse, such as genetics, psychological, and behavioral theories of drug abuse. It implies that the knowledge, concepts, and ideas about drug addiction have changed over time. The moral model was significant in the 1940s to explain drug addiction as part of the wrong or unjustified behaviors in society. Currently, the ethical model has changed to behavioral concepts that define the relationship between environment and drug abuse ( Capuzzi & Stauffer, 2016).
Furthermore, the psychological models like learning, personality theory models, and cognitive-behavioral are part of the moral model. The current biological concepts, such as genetic influencers that explain drug addiction, were part of the disease theory that describes addiction many years ago ( VanGeest, Johnson & Alemagno, 2017). Though changes to economic, sociocultural, and psychosocial behaviours are also in drug addiction explanations, less have changed rather than the concept used to describe them concerning drug abuse and addiction.
How the Theories Differ Regarding Process and Substance-related Addictions
While substance addiction relates to drug abuse, process addiction relates to the activities that people get involved, such as gambling, eating, video game, and shopping. Biological theories explain substance abuse concerning genetic and Neuroadaptation. However, it makes minimal attempt to explore process addiction ( VanGeest, Johnson & Alemagno, 2017). Like substance addiction, psychological and behavioral theories explain process addiction based on emotional controls such as withdrawal, personalities such as sports, behaviors such as gambling and eating, and also cognitive. From the perspective of these theories, there are minimal differences between process and substance addictive other than drug and the activities ( Wilson, & Johnson, 2013). For instance, the consequences are nearly similar to withdrawal, anxiety, tolerance being part of both process and substance addiction.
Conclusion
The history and etiology of drug addiction have changed due to changes in technology and knowledge about drugs and its consequences. Based on the history and etiology of drug addiction, it is evident that the only terms used to describe drug addiction and how it relates to different factors in society have changed. However, the perception of the consequences of drug abuse is mostly similar.
References
Capuzzi, D., & Stauffer, M. D. (2016). Foundations of addictions counseling (3rd ed.). Boston: Pearson.
Hurd, N., & Zimmerman, M. (2016). Adolescent resilience: Promoting more positive outcomes among youth at risk of using and abusing substances. In The Oxford Handbook of Adolescent Substance Abuse .
Salehi, F., Taheri, M. M. H., Riasi, H., &Mehrpour, O. (2017). Recurrent syncope following substance abuse; a case report. Emergency , 5 (1).
VanGeest, J. B., Johnson, T. P., &Alemagno, S. A. (2017). History of substance abuse research in the United States. Research methods in the study of substance abuse (pp. 3-25). Springer, Cham.
Wilson, A. D., & Johnson, P. (2013). Counselors’ Understanding of Process Addiction: A Blind Spot in the Counseling Field. The Professional Counselor , 3 (1), 16–22. doi: 10.15241/adw.3.1.16
