Addiction

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Addiction

• Objective 3.1 and 3.2

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Take the addiction quiz

• Objective 3.1 and 3.2

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How did you score

• If you scored...Then...
• 50 up Net addiction likely
• 35 49 Net addiction possible
• 21-34 Borderline 'Net addiction
• 20 No 'Net addiction

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Prologue DiscussionHow would you define
addiction?
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What is Addiction

• Addiction is a condition that results when a
  person ingests a substance (alcohol, cocaine,
  nicotine) or engages in an activity (gambling,
  tweeting, internet surfing, etc.) that can be
  pleasurable but the continued use of which
  becomes compulsive and interferes with ordinary
  life responsibilities, such as work or
  relationships, even health.
• Users may not be aware that their behavior is out
  of control and causing problems for themselves
  and others.

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What is Addiction

• The word addiction is used in several different
  ways-It has biopsychosocial implications.
• The term has been partially replaced by the word
  dependence for substance abuse. Addiction has
  been extended, however, to include psychological
  components as well.

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What is Addiction

• Some researchers speak of two types of
  addictions substance addictions (for example,
  alcoholism, drug abuse, and smoking) and process
  addictions (for example gambling, social media,
  spending, shopping, eating, and sexual activity).
  
• There is a growing recognition that many addicts,
  such as drug abusers, are addicted to more than
  one substance or process.
• In other words It is a complicated problem.

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What is Addiction

• Some researchers speak of two types of
  addictions substance addictions (for example,
  alcoholism, drug abuse, and smoking) and process
  addictions (for example gambling, social media,
  spending, shopping, eating, and sexual activity).
  
• There is a growing recognition that many addicts,
  such as drug abusers, are addicted to more than
  one substance or process.
• In other words It is a complicated problem.

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Discussion 1How does one become addicted to a
substance or process?
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Objective 3.1Explain factors related to the
development of substance abuse and addictive
behavior.
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Risk Factors

• Biopsychosocial Factors
• Genetic Predispositions/Pleasure centers in the
  brain
• Mental Illness
• Social Learning

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Discussion 2Do some people seem more
susceptible to addictive behavior than others?
Explain.
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Genes and addictions

• Geneticists believe that the reason some people
  try substances or processes and do not become
  addicts, while others do so very quickly is
  probably linked to the type of genes we inherit
  from our parents.
• For example, some people can smoke once in a
  while, throughout their lives, and never seem to
  become addicted, while others are unable to stop
  smoking without experiencing the unpleasant
  withdrawal symptoms.

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Genes and addictions

• Geneticists believe that the reason some people
  try substances or processes and do not become
  addicts, while others do so very quickly is
  probably linked to the type of genes we inherit
  from our parents.
• For example, some people can smoke once in a
  while, throughout their lives, and never seem to
  become addicted, while others are unable to stop
  smoking without experiencing the unpleasant
  withdrawal symptoms.

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Addictive Gene?

• The physiology of addiction is that the way the
  brain becomes addicted to a drug or process is
  related to how a drug or process increases levels
  of the naturally-occurring neurotransmitter
  dopamine, which modulates the brain's ability to
  perceive reward reinforcement.
• Several brain-imaging studies suggest that people
  addicted to such drugs as cocaine, heroin and
  alcohol have fewer dopamine receptors in the
  brains reward pathways than non-addicts. The
  level of D2 receptors that each person has is
  genetically dependent.

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Alcoholism and D2 receptors

• Addiction researchers have found that alcoholics
  brains contain significantly fewer D2 dopamine
  receptors than normal drinkers. This type of
  research suggest that at the genetic level, some
  people are genetically vulnerable to certain
  addictive behavior.
• People with this altered D2 genetic makeup
  experience life less intensely because the
  neurons in their Reward Systems are innately
  under-stimulated (thus they seek pleasure).
  They sometimes self-medicate to compensate for a
  lack of pleasure they find in normal
  activities. These people describe their first
  drug-taking experience as filling a hole theyd
  always felt.

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The importance of Dopamine and Pleasure Seeking

• Understanding Dopamine and Reward Centers
• http//youtu.be/Ql_wAovRKO8

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The importance of Dopamine and Pleasure Seeking

• In certain areas of the brain when dopamine is
  released it gives one the feeling of pleasure or
  satisfaction. These feelings of satisfaction
  become desired, and the person will grow a desire
  for the satisfaction.
• To satisfy that desire the person will repeat
  behaviors that cause the release of dopamine.

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The importance of Dopamine and Pleasure Seeking

• For example food and sex release dopamine. That
  is why people want food even though their body
  does not need it and why people sometimes feel
  the need sex.
• These two behaviors scientifically make sense
  since the body needs food to survive, and humans
  need to have sex to allow the race to survive.
• However, other, less natural behaviors have the
  same effect on one's dopamine levels, and at
  times can even be more powerful (which is why one
  may feel the same physiological drive to tweet
  that they feel to eat). Often these behaviors can
  result in addiction due their effect on dopamine.

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Substance abuse and Dopamine

• Cocaine is by far the more severe dose of
  perceived dopamine that one can experience in the
  brains reward center. Cocaine chemically
  inhibits the natural dopamine cycle.
• Normally, after dopamine is released, it is
  recycled back into a dopamine transmitting
  neuron. However, cocaine binds to the dopamine,
  and does not allow it to be recycled.
• Thus there is a buildup of dopamine, and it
  floods certain neural areas. The flood ends after
  about 30 minutes, and the person is left yearning
  to feel as he or she once did. This is the
  physiological basis of substance addiction.

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The Brain and Addictions

• Addiction in a physiological nutshell
• Addictive drugs provide a shortcut to the brains
  reward system by flooding the nucleus accumbens
  with dopamine.
• The hippocampus lays down memories of this rapid
  sense of satisfaction, and the amygdala creates a
  conditioned response to certain stimuli.

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The Brain and Addictions

• The nucleus accumbens, seems to be flooded with
  dopamine (which carries the message of pleasure
  to other parts of the reward system) in people
  with various addictions, these reward centers
  appear active under an fmri scan.

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Discussion 2What role does ones peer group
play in addictive behavior
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Peer Pressure and Addiction

• The Importance of Peer Pressure in Substance
  Abuse
• A common motive for first time drug and alcohol
  use is peer pressure. This desire to fit in
  ensures that there is a constant pool of new
  recruits who may later develop an addiction.
• Membership of a social group that supports
  substance or process use encourages people to
  keep on using these substances.
• Many of us are socially drawn to pick up
  addictive behaviors like social media to feel
  included in our social groups.

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Social Learning and Addiction

• The Importance of Peer Pressure in Substance
  Abuse
• Social learning theory describes how people learn
  from watching others. Many addictive substances
  and processes are often socially learned from
  watching others have fun from using and/or
  abusing the substance or process.
• In other wordsIf the individual observes that
  other people appear to receive rewards for
  certain behaviors they will be tempted to model
  these behaviors..

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Social Learning and Addiction

• For example, if you notice attractive people
  drinking or smoking, and you watch them being
  rewarded for this behavior (e.g., they attract
  positive attention), then theres a strong chance
  that youll also choose to drink or smoke the
  next time you are in a similar environment.

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Discussion Question

• Are your peers drawn to certain behaviors
  because it appears pleasurable? What are real
  world examples?

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Final Notes

• What role can culture play in addictive behavior?
• Can the social situation play a role in substance
  abuse?
• Can values, beliefs, and other cognitive factors
  influence addictive behavior?

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Tomorrow

• Examine prevention strategies and treatments for
  substance abuse and addictive behavior