Drug Addiction Essay

A drug addiction essay is an essay that describes what drug addiction is and how harmful drugs affect the human body negatively. Drug addiction has become a serious issue that many people have a challenge of overcoming once they are hooked. It does not happen overnight but takes time to build tolerance in the body for it to become a problem.

When someone is addicted to drugs, they can develop lung diseases, they can die, and can also affect society negatively. This essay will describe what drug addiction is, its causes, its impact on society and the human body.

What is Drug Addiction?

Drug addiction can be described as a harmful need to consume substances that have harmful effects on the body and soundness of mind. It is described as a chronic disease that ranges from illegal drugs, prescription drugs, and alcohol addiction. Drug addicts feel good after using drugs since the drugs release a chemical called dopamine in the brain regions. These psychological effects induce happiness and create an intense craving that leaves the person addicted to drugs.

Addiction to dangerous substances has become challenging to overcome because no one wants to talk about it or admit that they have a substance use disorder. It is especially a taboo topic among family members since many people view it as a bad habit. Anyone can become addicted to drugs since all it takes is to try it and you will be hooked.

What is drug abuse?

Drug abuse can best be identified when substance abuse causes a person’s life to be challenging, but they can still control their use. It is the wrong use of legal drugs in a way that you shouldn’t. Taking more drugs than prescribed or taking someone else’s prescribed drugs are the basis of drug abuse.

You may use the drugs for various reasons. Some of those reasons are to feel better, to ease stress, or avoid reality altogether. The only difference between drug abuse and drug addiction is that in drug abuse, a person can stop taking the drugs at any time of their choosing, unlike drug addiction.

Is Drug Addiction the Same as Drug Dependence

Drug dependence refers to the body’s physical dependence on a drug characterized by tolerance and withdrawal symptoms. On the other hand, drug addiction is marked by the change of behavior of a person abusing the drug by repeated use. This repeated use causes biochemical changes in the brain that cause people to behave irrationally and can sometimes lead to brain damage of the user.

What are some Addictive substances?

There are many classifications of additive substances today, but below are some of the known drug substances that are mostly abused;

• Heroin –This is a white or brown powdery substance of the opioid class made from morphine. It is a natural substance that is made from the poppy plant and causes euphoric effects in the brain.
• Cocaine- This is an addictive drug derived from coca and is prepared synthetically. It is sometimes used in hospitals as a strong pain killer when someone undergoes surgery and can also be abused as a stimulant by drug users.
• Alcohol- The scientific name of alcohol is ethanol. It is a liquid substance found in beers, wine, and other spirits to cause drunkenness. It is formed when yeast is broken down and ferments, creating the ethanol that causes a person to be drunk.

Alcohol abuse has been considered the number one problem that has affected young people by causing them sometimes to self-harm and get involved in reckless activities.

• Cannabis Sativa- This is an annual herbaceous flowering plant. It contains molecules called cannabinoids that are the compounds that stimulate the human mind to feel pleasure. Their major side effect is that it messes with the part of the brain that helps in decision making but can also be used in the treatment of various health problems by doctors.
• Methamphetamine- This is a synthetic, powerful, and highly addictive stimulant that directly affects the body’s central nervous system. Its side effects include; paranoia, confusion, irritability among others.

How To Write a Drug Addiction Essay

There are many essays about drug addiction that touch on various aspects of the topic. The drug addiction essays should give relevant information on the topic of drugs, their causes, effects, and the reasons why people use them. The introduction should be a brief description of the essay, definitions of the topics, and a small thesis statement that will be the main idea of the essay.

The ideas of a drug addiction essay should communicate properly to the reader that they would retain information. Your ideas should each be discussed in separate paragraphs and they should give all the details of the ideas you want to convey to your readers.

Finish off the essay by doing a conclusion paragraph where you highlight the main ideas that you have put in your body and do not add any new ideas in this paragraph. You can do this by revisiting the main ideas that you highlighted in the body and putting them as your conclusion.

What are some Theories Of Drug Addiction essay?

In a drug addiction essay, several theories have been used to explain why people become addicted to drugs. These theories are;

• Genetic Theory- This is also known as an addictive inheritance, which attempts to separate the genetic and environmental factors of addictive behavior. Studies carried out in the past have proved that children born from alcoholic parents end up being alcoholics themselves in the future. These studies show that there is some genetic disposition to alcoholic addiction.
• Exposure Theory- The exposure theory tries to explain addiction as the introduction of substances in the body regularly. This exposure causes metabolic adjustments in the body requiring continued and increasing dosage of the drug.  This is because these drugs are said to mimic endorphins that naturally occur in the body as pain killers.

Harmful Consequences Of Addiction To Drugs And Substance

People who are addicted to drugs can have adverse effects on their mental and physical health. It affects the person’s life both socially and economically which can be a challenge to their life. Below are the specific consequences that drug addicts face in a drug addiction essay;

• Physical Health Problems– The use of these drugs can cause physical problems for the user. Problems such as abnormal body sensations, seizures, and even sudden death can affect the drug addict.
• Mental Illness – Mental disorders like depression, compulsive drug seeking, brain disease, psychosis, and suicidal behaviors are just some of the mental issues that a drug addict might face.

Effects of Drug Addiction on the Brain

The human brain is the most essential part of the human body and it is the most affected part. In a drug addiction essay, the brain has a lot of different tasks to do and if you introduce drugs to it, it can interfere with it’s normal workings. Drug use can lead to addiction which is a mental disorder that can be difficult to cure. These drugs affect three parts of the brain. These parts are; the brain stem, the limbic system, and the cerebral cortex.

When drug use becomes drug abuse or addiction

Most medicinal drugs are prescribed by a doctor for the treatment of diseases in the body. Sometimes these drugs prove harmful to the user and this creates a bigger problem for the user than the disease. Drug use becomes drug addiction when a drug user cannot be able to control the use of these prescribed drugs and this causes them to become addicted to them.

The only way that these people can get help from such situations is to get help from the doctors who prescribed them, or from rehab centers. These centers are uniquely suited to help those who suffer from withdrawal symptoms like erratic sleep patterns, respiratory problems, and mental disorders.

Myths and facts about drug abuse and addiction

In a drug addiction essay, certain myths are used to describe the way drug addiction works but most of them have been debunked by scientific facts. Some of these myths are;

• Myth– You have to use drugs for a long time before they can affect you.

Fact- It has been known that drugs affect the chemicals of the brain. These effects induce happiness for the user and thus can in turn have harmful effects on the body.

• Myth- You can stop using the drug any day you want.

Fact- Due to withdrawal symptoms, it can be difficult to just stop taking the drug unless it is monitored by a professional doctor.

• Myth- Teenagers cannot be addicted to drugs.

Fact- Drug addiction can happen to anyone despite their ages.

How drug abuse and addiction develops

Understanding how and why drug addiction happens is the first step to solving the drug addiction challenges in society in a drug addiction essay. Below are the specific steps that drug abuse develops;

• Introduction- The first step of drug abuse is the introduction from either a doctor or peer pressure from your friends.
• The brain- Once the drugs enter your system, they immediately head to the brain and this affects the person’s mental cognition.
• The Body- From the brain, the drug’s effects go to the rest of the body which later causes many problems that affect certain behaviors of the person like the feeling of euphoria.
• The addiction- From this first encounter, the body craves for the drug again to feel the euphoria and this makes the person crave more drugs.

Signs and symptoms of drug abuse and addiction

Below are the various signs and symptoms of drug addiction;

• Drug-seeking behaviors develop.
• The person is hostile towards everyone.
• Their sleeping and eating patterns change negatively.
• They take higher doses of the drug than prescribed.
• They have varying mood swings.

How to help Someone with drug addiction

In a drug addiction essay, a person addicted to cocaine, heroin, or any other illegal drug is a person in need of help. Bad habits like drug addiction can be dealt with by assisting the addicted person to get help. This help comes in many forms but the best way is to refer someone to rehab centers where they can get behavioral counseling from professionals with experience.

Overcoming such addiction will not be easy but it can still be done. The severe consequences of drug use have been known and proved by many people as a world problem. These problems can easily be solved if today’s society does not treat this as a taboo but just like any other disease that affects the body and mind of a human being.

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