Addictions. can produce major issues. Addiction causes a physical change in brian

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1 Addictions! Addictions are when someones use of something is abused and can produce major issues. Addiction causes a physical change in brian functions. It can produce life consequences, such as loss of a job and financial troubles, worsening of negative personality traits, loss of other interests, repetitive relapsing, and possibly ending in death. Anyone can become addicted. Addictions are the most common public heath problem in the United States. Nearly 22 percent of the general population in the United States, at some point in their lives, can expect to have significant problems with substance misuse or abuse. Research shows that a personʼs tendency for developing an addiction may be inherited. Medication and different types of treatment can offer hope for the patients with addiction. Addictions can come from many different things such as, alcohol, illegal or prescription drugs, food, gambling, internet, nicotine, shopping, or work. There are several different treatments that can help with these various types of addictions but the person must be willing to try and get better.

2 ! Treatments can help in many different ways. It can interrupt the life-threatening, self-perpetuating cycle, promote abstinence, remove the sick thinking, overcome avoidance, stigma, and shame, provide constant available support and help, clear up physical consequences to the body, provide a new way to think, feel, and act, foster social rebuilding of shattered lives and families, and provide connections to support systems such as family, church, and different types of groups.! Alcohol addiction, is when you use alcohol in binge and heavy drinking on a regular basis. A large number of people get into serious trouble because of their drinking. Studies show that every one in thirteen Americans are alcoholics or abuse alcohol in some sort of way. Also, fiftythree percent of men and woman in the United States report that one or more of their close relatives have a drinking problem. This is a serious problem in most cases because it can be life-threatening. When someone is drinking heavily it can increase the risk for certain cancers, especially ones that have to do with the liver, esophagus, and throat. In addition to being more likely to get cancer, drinking damages your brian. Some of the symptoms of an alcoholic include; a strong need to drink, the inability to limit onesʼs drinking on any given occasion, withdraw symptoms such as, nausea, sweating, shakiness, and anxiety when the alcohol use is stopped after a period of heavy drinking, and when alcoholics need to drink greater

3 amounts of alcohol in order to get high. Situations that may occur for an alcoholic during a twelve month period may include; failure to fulfill major work, school, or home responsibilities, having recurring alcohol-related legal problems, such as being arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol or for physically hurting someone while drunk, continued drinking despite having ongoing relationship problems that are caused or worsened by drinking, and drinking in situations that are physically dangerous. Treatments to help with alcoholism depends on the severity of the problem. Some of the treatments may included getting all the alcohol out of the system, and taking doctor prescribed medications. Aside from these things, counseling can help teach alcoholics to identify situations and feelings that trigger the urge to drink and to find new ways to cope that do not include alcohol use. Although alcoholism can be treated, they have not yet found out a cure for it. In other words, even if the alcoholic has been sober for a while, they still have a higher risk of getting cancer, and the brian and organs are still damaged. For a successful recovery, cutting down on alcohol does not help, cutting it out all together would be necessary.! Drug addiction, is a relapsing brain disease that is chronic and causes compulsive drug use, which makes someone unaware of harmful consequences to themselves and the people that are around them. Even

4 though the initial decision to take drugs is voluntary for most people, the brain changes that occur over time challenges a persons self control and ability to resist intense impulses, urging then to take drugs. Drugs are very harmful to the brian. Most drugs contain chemicals that tap into the brainʼs communication system and disrupts the way that nerve cells normally send, receive, and process information. Other drugs have similar structure to chemical messengers called neurotransmitters, which are naturally produced by the brian, but allows the drugs to fool the brains receptors and activate nerve cells to send abnormal messages. When a person continues to abuse drugs, the brain adapts to the overwhelming surges, which will reduce the abusers ability to enjoy the drug. There is not a single factor that will tell whether a person will become addicted to drugs or not, but the more risk factors that a person has, can lead to them having a better chance that taking drugs can lead to addiction. Some risk factors may include; a personʼs environment that has many different influences, from family and friends to socioeconomic status and quality of life in general. Factors such as peer pressure, physical and sexual abuse, stress, and quality of parenting can greatly influence the occurrence of drug abuse and the escalation to addiction in a personʼs life. Also, development plays a huge role in drug addictions. For example, genetic and environmental factors interact with critical developmental stages in a

5 personʼs life to effect addiction vulnerability. Even though, taking drugs at any age can lead to addiction, the earlier that drug use begins, the more likely it will progress to more serious abuse, which poses a special challenge to adolescents. Younger brains are still developing in the areas that help with decision making, judgment, and self-control. Because of this, adolescents may be more likely to do risk-taking behaviors, including trying and abusing drugs. Drug addiction is very preventable if you donʼt do drugs. However, it doesnʼt always work out that way. Some treatments that a drug addict can take part in are; getting detoxification, dual diagnosis, residential treatments, participate in physiological assessment programs, behavioral therapy, and/or join motivational programs.! Food addiction, is a disorder where an individual uses food as a way to cope with stress, emotional problems, and just problems that happen daily. Unlike bulimia, compulsive overeaters do not follow their binging with purging behaviors. Therefore, the main problem of food addiction is obesity. Obesity is a celebration of appetite over will power. It is a hurting psychological wound with feelings of loneliness and shame. Frequently people regard obesity to a payment for success. For example, if they think their life is going good and they are financially stable then they think they can eat everything that they want. Food, to many people is a form of relaxation and reception of emotional satisfaction and is

6 associated with love. Addiction of food usually begins in early childhood. Symptoms that can be associated with food addiction are; eating rapidly and often eating alone, uncontrollable eating or binging, eating even when the person is not even hungry, when overeating is followed by a sense of guilt and shame, preoccupation with body weight and distorted body image, withdrawing from social activities due to embarrassment about weight, a history of unsuccessful dieting, and depression or mood swings. Effects that addiction of food can have on people can be irregular periods, dental problems, swollen cheek glands, heartburn, bloating, hypertension, fatigue, nausea, weight gain, arthritis, sciatica, varicose veins, and toxemia during pregnancy. Also medical complications that a person can suffer from are, developing diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, and some forms of cancer. It may also lead them to run into more social problems. Even though there is really no easy way to deal with it, going to counseling and therapy can help. Treatment usually involves counseling for underlying emotional issues, medical and nutritional counseling, modifying eating patterns, and a good exercise program.! Gambling addiction, is when gamblers canʼt control the impulse to gamble, even when they know that their gambling is hurting themselves or the people that they love. People that are addicted to gambling canʼt get their mind off of it, and it is all they want to do no matter what

7 consequences come along with it. Compulsive gamblers gamble when they are mad, depressed, happy, up or down, it doesnʼt matter to them. Even if they know that the odds of winning are very slim, they are probably going to lose and they canʼt afford it, they do it anyway. Some symptoms that you might come across when looking for a gambling addict would be; they might gamble in secret or lie about how much they gamble, getting the feeling that others wonʼt understand, reliving past gambling triumphs or failures, always planning the next excursion, continuously thinking of how to get more money to gamble, multiple unsuccessful attempts to stop, gambling to forget or escape from pain, constantly trying to win back losses with more gambling, and alienating a personʼs friends, family or career. Treatment of a gambling addiction includes psychological, cognitive, behavioral and relaxation therapy either singly or in combination. It is necessary that the person concerned acknowledges the progressive illness and shows a strong desire to stop his activity. Denial always results in failure of therapy.! Work addiction, is when someone gets enjoyment out of working all the time, and when they feel compelled to do it. Some may get it confused with working hard, but it is not the same thing, just because you are a hard worker it does not mean that you are a workaholic. Symptoms that you may see in a workaholic may include; when the workaholicʼs

8 identity is in their work and it justifies their existence and is a means of gaining approval from others, and when they are over concerned with image, like when they believe that overworking earns them admiration. Also when they are prone to succumbing to figures of authority in a search for approval, even if it means surrendering or lowering themselves, when they use work as a means of escaping having to deal with real world emotions and feelings, when workaholics overwork and when they are not at work they are concerned and obsessed about it, and when they being to lye to themselves and others about their work habits, they also might lie about their passed successes and failures. There are three steps that a workaholic usually experiences; the early stage where the worker tends to be constantly busy and tends to take on more than can realistically be done, the second stage which is when the addict begins to distances themselves from personal relationships, and the late stage is when they start to have more serious physical and emotional symptoms like chronic headaches, elevated blood pressure, stomach ulcers and increased risk of stroke. Somethings that a workaholic can do to get better would be to; meditate daily, exercise for thirty minutes a day, laugh on purpose, make sure that they get enough sleep, spend time with people who do not understand your work, and make sure that they set a stopping time that they have to end working.

9 ! Shopping addiction, is when someone compulsively shops and gets pleasure from spending money and buying new things. Some symptoms that a shopaholic may experience is when they are spend way more money that is over their budget and more money then they can afford to spend, when they are compulsively buying and buying way more then they went to the store to get, when their shopping is a continuous problem and they don't just shop a lot around holidays, and when they are lying about going shopping. Treatments that can be done to help a shopaholic is to have them admit that they are a compulsives spender which most people say is half of the battle, they need to get rid of all checkbooks and credit cards which will fuel the problem, they should not shop by themselves because most compulsive shoppers shop alone and if they are with someone they are more likely to not buy as much, and they should find another way that they can spend their free time rather then going to the mall or shopping somewhere online. People with a shopping addiction can also go to counseling and participate in group programs with other shopping addicts.! In conclusion, addictions can produce life consequences, such as loss of a job and financial troubles, worsening of negative personality traits, loss of other interests, repetitive relapsing, and possibly ending in death. It is a very common problem and anyone can have an addiction.

10 Addictions can come from many different things such as, alcohol, illegal or prescription drugs, food, gambling, internet, nicotine, shopping, or work. There are several different treatments that can help with these various types of addictions but the person must be willing to try and get better.