Drug addiction

Definition of drug addiction

The terms "drug addiction" or "drug addiction" refer to a serious pathological condition in which the affected individual perceives the urgent need to take a given substance (usually opioids or other drugs of abuse), regardless of physical damage , psychological and social that this causes him.

Most of the time, the addict seeks euphoria and pleasure in the substance of abuse, perceived by the brain as an extreme need, to be reached at any cost. It is no coincidence, in fact, that the addicts lose family, friends, work and desire isolation rather than contact with other people: this behavior makes it extremely difficult to intervene with drugs or with “life-saving” psychological treatments.
However, it must be pointed out that drug addiction cannot and must not be referred only to so-called narcotic substances: in fact, even smoking and alcoholism are some equally dangerous variants. Furthermore, drug addiction can also depend on a continuous administration of medicines to treat an underlying disease: this is the case of drugs for the treatment of hypertension or for the treatment of depression, whose frequent use - even if taken within the recommended doses - can induce addiction; clearly the "addiction" in question cannot be placed on the same level as that derived from the abuse of illegal drugs: addiction to a drug must be seen only on the physical level (abstention from the drug creates physical harm ), while addiction to opioids and other illegal drugs is psychological (mainly) and physical, accompanied by a series of catastrophic side effects.
Common elements in drug addiction are abstinence, caused by abrupt withdrawal of the drug, and tolerance, in which the body requires an ever-increasing dose of that drug to achieve the much desired "euphoric" effect.
Drug addiction can cause short and long-term harm, including health, psychological, and social disorders.

Causes

Talking about the causes that provoke drug addiction is rather obvious: the person is driven by the desire to take a certain substance of abuse to obtain pleasure and euphoria, even knowing (often) what he is getting into. Many former addicts say that drug addiction has begun for fun, for challenge, for transgression, driven by the conviction that "you can stop as and when you want": this certainty, which turns out to be wrong from the first intake. It seems incredible, but the brain, in contact with drugs , is altered in his ability to perceive pleasure, triggering a series of mechanisms of an obsessive-compulsive nature, which turn out to be literally ruinous for the subject, who, driven by the need to take that drug again, ends up ruining his life.
In some individuals there is an innate propensity to abuse drugs, because they are genetically predisposed: this does not mean that every child born to a toxic mother and / or father will certainly become such in adulthood, although it is evident that these children register a propensity greater drug addiction than those born to healthy individuals.
Even the environment and companies can paradoxically affect drug addiction: those who live in disreputable environments or associate with companies whose alcohol, smoking or drug abuse is high, are predisposed to fall into the same vortex. Here too it is necessary to point out: homo faber fortunae suae, in the sense that it is up to the individual to do what he deems right with his life, so even if he associates with the "wrong" company he must be able to choose what is right to do from what is not.

The cause of drug addiction is ourselves!

Substances of abuse

Up to this point of the discussion we have only talked about "substances of" abuse, referring in general to illegal substances, alcohol, smoking and some drugs. Now let's see in detail which are the most commonly abused substances:

Central nervous system stimulants: cocaine, amphetamine, dextro-amphetamine, methylphenidate → tolerance
Hallucinogens: mescaline, phencyclidine (or angel dust), psilocybin, LSD (powerful psychedelic substance) → hallucinations of varying intensity
Sedatives and anxiolytics: barbiturates, benzodiazepines, alcoholic → addiction
Opiates and painkillers: heroin, opium, codeine, hydromorphone, oxycodone, meperidine → sedation alternating with euphoria and drowsiness.
Marijuana and hashish

What should make us reflect, in addition to the intrinsic drama of the condition, is that the "animal without reason (laboratory) initially tends to reject substances such as LSD and amphetamines, when they are placed in front of it, while the" man - therefore the " animal capable of reasoning - even looking for them obsessively.