Addiction Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Addiction - Essay Example It is not easy to understand what causes addictions or how an addiction develops in a person. Although one can be addicted to almost anything (including pleasant and harmless things), being addicted to harmful substances, particularly alcohol and illegal drugs, is more than a social problem. As the National Institute on Drug Abuse explains, â€Å"One very common belief is that drug abusers should be able to just stop taking drugs if they are only willing to change their behavior. What people often underestimate is the complexity of drug addiction—that it is a disease that impacts the brain and because of that, stopping drug abuse is not simply a matter of willpower†. The causes and components of addiction are very complex and although many studies have been done throughout the years, there is still not a clear answer to the causes of addiction. It has always been thought that any of the following could contribute to addiction– lack of will power, poverty, moral weakness, mental illness, genetics, family socialization, anti-social personalities and societal problems. It was also believed that addiction is a disease; but again there has not been enough evidence to confirm that. Causes of addiction can be classified as either mental or physical. The physical causes may be genetic and the mental causes include such things as personality and thinking characteristics, emotional defenses and social influences. According to Wojtowicz et al (2007), some of the causes of addiction to be studied have included social and environmental factors; interactions between biological, psychological and social factors, misuse of prescription medication; and it may be a brain disease. Some of the social factors that may be responsible for addictions are antisocial behavior, crime patterns and criminal choices, intolerance of boredom, family history of drug use, social interactions and peer influence and