Drug Addiction

Drug addiction is an abnormal structural condition of the human body which makes a person to always crave, seek out and use a substance despite its negative effects. In simple terms, it means a heavy reliance/dependency on a drug which could disrupt normal human life activities. For some people, an addiction to drugs can happen when the need to escape pain be it emotional, physical or psychological make them resort to taking drugs which offers a temporary relief from the pain. For others, it can just be sheer habit or from taking it for fun that leads to addiction/dependency. Many addicts do not intend to become addicted on drugs; destroy their lives or to upset loved ones; but continuous taking of a drug can lead to acute craving which makes them to seek out and use, without planning for it, they become addicts or drug abusers.

The continuous craving of a drug can lead to a user abusing or using more drugs than necessary just to experience the intoxicating effect of the drug. Drug addiction is known to decrease the ability of the body to respond to stimuli, cause concentration and memory loss. Getting addicted varies from person to person and from drug to drug. For instance alcohol or codeine needs many more exposures than cocaine or heroine to make their users addicts. Addictions can be from ordinary over the counter drugs, prescription tablets and illegal substances/drugs but most common addictions are from legal substances like caffeine, nicotine, pain killers and alcohol.

These are some examples of drugs known to cause addiction:

Caffeine
Nicotine(from tobacco and cigarettes)
Cocaine
Alcohol
Morphine
Heroine
codeine
Meperidine/Demerol
Methadone
Temazepam
Benzodiazepine
Crack
Crystal Meth etc

Treatment may vary depending on the type of drug, duration of use and amount used. It could be complex but relies on changing behaviour or attitude towards craving and seeking out drugs. Crave behaviour is vulnerable to relapse even after long periods of abstinence. The immediate goal of treatment is to reduce drug abuse, minimise the social and medical complications of abuse/addiction and to improve the individuals ability to function. Helping the individual achieve lasting abstinence from drug is the ultimate goal in the treatment of drug addiction.