Addiction is a treatable disease yet it is viewed as a behavioral problem by a majority of the population. The loved ones of addicts find it difficult to regard the condition as a disease rather than a behavior. The Disease Model of Addiction states that the sources of addiction may be biological, genetic, environmental or neurological. Addiction is a chronic illness that can lead to death if left untreated. Addiction is a social problem in that it affects the health and financial status of individuals and the community; affected individuals often have poor health and economic constraints. The paper has three primary goals: to investigate the scope of drug addiction, the relevance of the disease model of addiction to social work and to provide an analysis of the current literature concerning the topic.
Scope
Addiction models refer to the processes used by health facilities such as rehabilitation centers to treat the disease. In 2013, research by the National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) indicated that approximately 21.5 million Americans aged above twelve struggled with substance addiction (Nationwide Trends, 2015). In 2014, seven million people battled drug addiction in the USA; out of this figure, eighty percent were alcohol dependent. The study affects the drug addicts, their families, and the general population since it investigates the models used to cure the disease and their application. The number of drug addicts continues to grow due to the manufacture of new drugs by the day. The US government spends at least $700 billion every year in activities related to drug abuse such as crime, health care and reduced work productivity (Nora D. Volkow, 2016). Therefore, it is essential to investigate the various addiction models to protect the society from the adverse effects of drug addiction.
Relevance to Social Work
The Disease Model of Addiction is important to social work since drug addiction affects the whole society. There is a link between substance addiction and crime. In 2007, a study by the Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance sampled 14,000 students in the USA in both private and public high schools (Bandura, 2013). The results showed that students who consumed at least five drinks, used marijuana or cocaine within the last thirty days were twice as likely to carry weapons into fights compared to those who consumed no more than five drinks and did not use cocaine or marijuana (Bandura, 2013). Additionally, drugs lead to a lower IQ that risks the future of the USA. Individuals who abuse marijuana and other drugs in their adolescent years risk developing lower cognitive functions such as thinking and memory processing. The issue is relevant to social work since it affects the health, financial and social aspects of the general society. The health of the addicts deteriorate, and this puts more pressure on government resources and the clinical staff who treat them. Moreover, their families suffer from psychological issues as well as financial constraints since the treatment is expensive and addicts often misuse finances set aside for family expenditure.
Current Literature
The current research is characterized by various models and contributions of individuals to the drug addiction menace. (See, 2013) Gives an analysis of the various addiction models, the theories and treatment options. According to the moral model, addiction is perceived as a criminal activity and a sin. Consequently, drug addicts have a weakness in their characters. To overcome this vulnerability, they should have the moral strength to resist addiction; this model has limited empathy for addicts. Spiritual belief in a core component of the recovery process. The temperance model, the person cannot control the addiction. Other models described in the paper are psychological, disease, social learning, and social education. The treatment options are group therapy, treatment modality matrix, residential treatment, outpatient treatment and empirically supported therapies (See, 2013). This source falls under qualitative evidence since there is no mention of any statistics, regarding tables, graphs or percentages. The various models, treatment options, and theories are described in details.
(Nora D. Volkow, 2016) Describes the neurobiological advances in the disease model of addiction. The article links addiction to brain functions such as stress and contradicts the notion that addiction is a disease. Most drug addicts begin the behavior by consuming drugs to relieve stress or to “relax” after working for long hours. An analysis of the stages of addiction is vital to its treatment. The phases are binge and intoxication, withdrawal and adverse consequences, fixation and anticipation. During the binge and withdrawal stage, the individual experiences a high level of dopamine release in the brain. Repeated exposure to a reward makes the dopamine cells fire while anticipating the stimuli rather than the reward making the individual continuously yearn for the drug. In the withdrawal stage, the person is depressed, restless and has low energy (Nora D. Volkow, 2016). In the final step, the individual obsesses with getting the drug. The article contains a mixture of qualitative and quantitative data. The author says that eight to ten percent of Americans aged twelve and above are drug addicts. Also, there is the use of imagery as there is a diagram of the brain depicting the addiction stages. The image has a different color code for every phase to enhance the reader’s understanding.
(Nick Heather, 2017) Challenges idea of addiction as a brain disease. To support the claim, the authors state that unlike illnesses, recovery from drug addiction is mainly social interventions and there is minimal medication prescribed to the patients. The article also challenges the notion that drug addiction is chronic due to the high number of people who recover from it. Whitter and Sheedy revealed that more than half (58%) of alcohol addicts recover (Nick Heather, 2017). Another study in Canada showed that fifty-one percent of recovered drug addicts become stable after treatment. A similar study by Life in Recovery Survey indicated that 79.4% of people who recovered from drug addiction engaged in productive activities (Nick Heather, 2017). Therefore, the perception of the disease as chronic is uncertain. The article contains both qualitative and quantitative data since it gives a detailed description of why drug addiction should not be considered a chronic brain disease and figures in the form of percentages to support these claims.
Theoretical Framework
The social learning theory (SLT) was developed in the nineteen seventies by Albert Bandura. In this theory, the process of treating addiction is driven by objectives. Positive behavior is reinforced using rewards. SLT states that people increase their drug use frequency if they are sure of getting rewards. Drug abuse depends on many factors such as the person’s history, lifestyle, and personality. Individuals who grow up in homes where parents use alcohol and other drugs are more likely to abuse drugs than those with sober guardians. Television programmes with drug use scenes encourage viewers to adopt the behavior, especially teenagers since they are easily influenced. Moreover, interacting with friends who use drugs leads to the adoption of their practice (Hillman, 2016). Hence, the first step to recovery is to get rid of drugs within the addict’s vicinity. The significance of this theory to the topic is that it points out the cause of drug addiction. A problem can only be solved if it is tackled from its origin.
Future Directions
Ø How can a physician prevent a recovering drug addict from reverting to their old ways if the environment is not conducive?
Ø How can the moral model of addiction be applied to individuals without strong spiritual beliefs?
Ø How can a patient be convinced that they have power over their addiction in the temperance model?
I would start with the first question because many drug addicts stared the harmful behavior due to frequent interactions with the addictive substances in their homes and around friends. Thus, it is easy for them to use drugs again, more so if they live in drug-infested neighborhoods. Currently, alcohol and other drugs such as cigarettes and marijuana are used at parties. Therefore, a recovered individual is continuously tempted to partake in these drugs as they interact with their loved ones. Moreover, the moral model requires that an individual possesses a strong spiritually belief of what is right and wrong. However, in the current world, more people are becoming less spiritual due to the adoption of scientific beliefs.
Lastly, the temperance model states that people cannot control their addictions. The model indicates that there is no difference between a heavy drinker and a moderate one, which is false since moderate drinkers rarely become addicts as they can control their intake.
References
Bandura, A. (2013). An Introduction to Drug Addiction and Crime. In Theory Part 1
(pp. 1-27).
Hillman, N. (2016). Applying Social Learning Theory Constructs to Better Understand Non-Prescription Stimulant Use in College Students. The University of Wisconsin-Whitewater.
Nationwide Trends. (2015, June). Retrieved from National Institute on Drug Abuse: https://www.drugabuse.gov/publications/drugfacts/nationwide-trends
Nick Heather, D. B. (2017). Challenging the Brain Disease Model of Addiction: European Launch of the Addiction Theory Network. In Addiction Research and Theory. Taylor and Francis Group.
Nora D. Volkow, G. F. (2016). Neurobiologic Advances from the Brain Disease Model of Addiction. New England Journal of Medicine, 374(4), 363-371.
See, N. J. (2013). Models and Theories of Addiction and the Rehabilitation Counselor.
