AnnaTruttier_u03a1_Addictions

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1 Unit 3 Assignment: Impact of Addiction Anna Truttier COUN5108: Foundations of Addictions and Addictive Behavior Dr. Lawrence Pennington October 30, 2022

2 A choice, biological, or environment? That is the common discrepancy when it comes to discussing addictions. Those who succumb to addiction often are plagued by those opinions of whether they have chosen a life of substances, did biology have a hand in it, or whether it is environmental. Throughout this paper, these theories will be explored and posed questions. To expand and dissect this question, there needs to be an understanding of the theories that begin to explain the causes of addiction, understanding the impact substance abuse has on the individual’s neurological, how society has a hand in habits, and how it affects the interpersonal relationships around them. Causes of Addiction To understand the posing question addressing the two models, instead, addiction is a brain disease or biopsychosocial needs to be contrasted. Many mental health professionals sought to solidify the stance on addiction being a brain disease. When a person is on drugs and is recurrently exposed to them, these substances activate the fortification circuits through the neurotransmitter dopamine in the accumbens nucleus, ventral tegmental areas, and other brain areas (Volkow & Koob 2022). Which are laments terms that substances forever distort the brain configuration. These substances trigger dopamine responses, making it incredibly challenging to self-control one’s actions. There are three known stages of someone fighting addiction: binge and intoxication, withdrawal and negative affect, and preoccupation and anticipation (Volkow et al., 2016). Within the first region of binge and intoxication, this affects the region area in the brain that triggers associative learning or conditioning. This would be considered Palvolian learning, which means repeated experiences of reward become associated with the environmental stimuli that precede them (Volkow et al., 2016).

3 The second stage is withdrawal and negative affect. During this stage, a person with an addiction reward and motivational system becomes reoriented through conditioning to focus on the more potent dopamine release produced by the drug and its cues (Volkow et al., 2016). They are leaving the brain’s reward system much less sensitive to stimulation. Individuals no longer feel the intense feelings they once did when they initially started taking substances. This explains why a person with addiction frequently cannot understand why they continue to take the drug even when it no longer seems pleasurable (Volkow et al., 2016). The third stage is preoccupation and anticipation. The changes that occur in the reward and emotional circuits of the brain are accompanied by changes in the function of the prefrontal cortical regions (Volkow et al., 2016). This is where the argument of self-control and willpower are challenged. This part of the brain, the prefrontal is compromised and weakened, causing an individual to want to quit and get clean yet cannot seem to follow through with it. Many argue that the brain disease model causes acceptance of addiction and can also exhibit characteristics of being a crutch for those individuals. A greater emphasis on the biological aspects of addiction is a gateway to greater social acceptance of people with an addiction (Racine et al. l., 2017). Moreover, this brings up the opposing question: is addiction biopsychosocial? Self-control, willpower, and free will. These are all terms used when addressing addiction as a biopsychosocial theory. This theory can be detrimental to those individuals fighting addictions. It portrays them as loose cannons with poor decision-making skills and unreliable. The biopsychosocial model states that genetic, biological, psychological, and sociocultural factors contribute to substance consumption and should be considered (Volkow & Koob, 2022). This theory implies that addiction does not reside in the brain. Still, perhaps it relies upon a person’s willpower, changing perspectives, changing environments, mindfulness, or emotional

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4 growth and stating that one can stop consuming substances without needing treatment when the environmental circumstances that maintain the consumption change (Volkow & Koob, 2022). Impact of Addiction Many individuals have partaken in the use of an unlawful drug that is a synthetic drug called Methamphetamine (METH). Methamphetamine is an illicit stimulant abused worldwide (Shaerzadeh et al., 2018). Many studies have sought to figure out how methamphetamine impacts a person and how it changes a person neurologically. According to Shaerzadeh et al. (2018), methamphetamine has been reported to increase dopamine neurotransmission by regulating dopamine transporter activity. According to new research, when methamphetamine enters the bloodstream, it travels to the brain’s reward center, where it invades sending neurons (Effects of Methamphetamine on the Brain-Meth Project, n.d.). This causes dopamine to leak into the neuron and then spill into the synapse (Shaerzadeh el., 2018). Therefore, individuals feel that intense rush or “over- stimulation” when they receive their first dose or taste of methamphetamine. These waves of pleasure that take over our brain can last 8-12 hours (Effects of Methamphetamine on the Brain- Meth Project, n.d.). Once an individual has received their first taste/dose of methamphetamine, they continuously seek and chase that original high. Meth causes dopamine to flood our receptors when we take more. It finds less dopamine when it reaches the brain because meth has destroyed transporters and the receiving neurons. That overstimulation has caused receptors to withdraw (Effects of Methamphetamine on the Brain-Meth Project, n.d.). Ingesting meth just once can develop the same health discrepancies that taking other long-term substances has. Taking even small amounts of methamphetamine can result in many of

5 the same health effects as other stimulants, such as cocaine or amphetamines (Methamphetamine drug facts, 2022). Some short-term effects of Methamphetamine have increased wakefulness, faster breathing, rapid heart rate, and decreased appetite (Methamphetamine drug facts, 2022). Long-term effects of taking methamphetamine are addiction, severe dental problems, increased itching, anxiety, confusion, changes in brain structure, sleeping problems, and memory loss (Methamphetamine drug facts, 2022). The effect that meth has on the brain leads to social and cultural factors that will be discussed. Social and Cultural Factors The U.S. media has had a helping hand in the social and cultural stigmas that are surrounded by substance abuse, particularly methamphetamine. These stigmas can be felt from centuries ago. The U.S. popular media association of illicit drugs with non-white ethnic groups stretches back at least one century to images of the threat of Chinese immigrant opium dens, of ‘‘cocaine crazed Negroes,’’ and Mexican reefer madness that led to the passage of early narcotics control laws, including the 1914 Harrison Act and the 1934 Marijuana Tax Act (Netherland & Hansen, 2016). Particularly with methamphetamine, the printed press and television media has portrayed methamphetamine as a white drug used in low socioeconomic locations. Methamphetamine has been constructed as a white drug used in poor rural communities (Netherland & Hansen, 2016). This sets apart the usual rhetoric for Caucasians and their social status. Methamphetamine has been constructed as a white drug used in poor rural communities, which denotes the decline of white quality and cultural anxieties about white social position. (Netherland & Hansen, 2016). While the media paints Caucasian individuals who use methamphetamine as “bottom feeders” and “white trash.” Socially and culturally, their person of color counterparts finds it incredibly difficult to receive help for their methamphetamine addictions. Racial and ethnic

6 minorities have experienced disparities in healthcare across a broad range of diseases and health problems, particularly substance abuse disorder (Mennis & Stahler, 2016). Due to stigmas, imprisonment, health problems, and violence, persons of color find it incredibly challenging to receive the help they need and deserve. Research indicates that African Americans and Hispanics have more barriers to accessing treatment services, lower utilization rates, and less satisfaction with treatment than Whites (Mennis & Stahler, 2016). Impact on the Family and Intimate Relationships Methamphetamine is not only a public health issue, but it affects many individuals, particularly families that are interwoven with family members who are methamphetamine users. Recent research has focused on families in which parental methamphetamine use is reported (Dyba et al., 2019). According to a recent study, methamphetamine use is growing in popularity among women. Since women of childbearing age more commonly use methamphetamine, and as sexual disinhibition is one effect of the substance, many methamphetamine users are parents of young children (Dyba et al., 2019). Since children are involved and are directly affected, these families must get the proper support they need from professionals. Providing professional support to these families has become an increasing challenge for service providers, and close cooperation between child welfare and drug treatment services is frequently required (Dyba et al., 2019). As one can imagine, when methamphetamine or any substance, there tend to be preconceived notions about the family dynamic, and generally, those notions are correct. A study conducted in Germany found that these families, usually living in low socioeconomic status, have mental illnesses, have rage and feel volatile due to methamphetamine use, and have low self-confidence regarding their parenting styles and themselves (Dyba et al., 2019).

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7 When kids grow up in such conditions, their safety, mental health, health, and stability are at the mercy of the adults. These children tend to exhibit behavioral problems in the form of externalizing tendencies, ADHD symptoms, emotional disturbances, increased risks of trauma, physical abuse, sexual abuse, and neglect (Dyba et al. l., 2019). Given this information, there must be resources in place for these families. Internationally, the range of existing interventions is broader and varies regarding the intended outcome, treatment setting, target group, and type of intervention (Dyba et al., 2019). With these programs in place, effectiveness is imperative. In Germany, a program denounced as SHIFT has been developed and implemented. The intervention is intended primarily for methamphetamine-involved mothers and fathers. It accounts for their specific challenges and support needs, such as fostering sensitive and non-violent parenting and reflecting the impact of methamphetamine use on family, relationships, and their children (Dyba et al., 2019). With the implementation and development of SHIFT, hopefully, this program will be able to help address family matters such as issues related directly to methamphetamine use, incorporate family resiliency, consider characteristics of methamphetamine-using parents in terms of cognitive capacities with long periods of use (Dyba et al., 2019). Models of Addiction According to the brain disease model of addiction (BDMA), substance addiction is a chronic, relapsing brain disease (Kuorikoski & Unusitalo, 2018). The brain disease model opens the door to offering updated and new evidence on the brain and addiction. The BDMA is currently influential in informing addiction policy and the development of new treatments but remains highly controversial across the addiction research community (Kuorikoski & Unusitalo, 2018). While a person voluntarily chooses to partake in substances, the brain disease model states that the effects of importance severely influence the brain. This immediately suggests that

8 the correct response to addiction is the development of pharmaceutical and other medical interventions for the dangerous condition portrayed in the mode (Kuorikoski & Unusitalo, 2018). The BDMA was set out to help, explain, and understand the stigma around addiction. However, it has been seen as analytically and ethically problematic in that it modulates social and cultural background in the manufacture and maintenance of addiction (Kuorikoski & Unusitalo, 2018). Within the BDMA, it is indisputable that substances alter the brain. The biopsychosocial model helps to understand how the environment influences addiction. It is challenging to articulate how these changes in the brain affect and are also caused by the socially constituted guidance of our behavior in the light of our long-term and short-term goals (Kuorikoski & Unusitalo, 2018). Biopsychosocial seeks not to challenge everything the BDSM proposes but to consider the deficiencies that addiction purely relies upon the hijacking of a person’s brain. Individuals with compulsions respond to incentives, and the Biopsychosocial model already points to how the background and central undercurrents skew pronouncements toward substance use (Hall et al., 2022). Biopsychosocial highpoints that we regulate our actions and our willpower. Conclusion Addiction is indisputably a disease that hinders a person. When a person becomes addicted, their brain succumbs to the alterations that substances have on it. Regarding addictions many factors can contribute to a person’s addiction, such as biology and environment. When trying to answer this question acquiring information on the causes of addiction, understanding the impact substance abuse has on the individual’s neurological, how society has a hand in addictions, and how it affects the interpersonal relationships around them.

9 References Dyba, J., Moesgen, D., Klein, M., Pels, F., & Leyendecker, B. (2019). Evaluation of a family- oriented parenting intervention for methamphetamine-involved mothers and fathers - The SHIFT Parent Training. Addictive behaviors reports , 9 , 100173. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.abrep.2019.100173 Effects of Methamphetamine on the Brain - Meth Project . (n.d.). [Video]. Retrieved October 31, 2022, from https://methproject.org/answers/what-does-meth-do-to-your-brain.html Hall, W., Carter, A., & Forlini, C. (2022). The brain disease model of addiction. Evaluating the Brain Disease Model of Addiction , 125–126. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003032762-15 Kuorikoski, J., & Uusitalo, S. (2018). Re-socializing the vulnerable brain: Building an ethically Sustainable brain disease model of addiction. Frontiers in Sociology , 3 . https://doi.org/10.3389/fsoc.2018.00039 Mennis, J., & Stahler, G. J. (2016). Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Outpatient Substance Use Disorder Treatment Episode Completion for Different Substances. Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment , 63 , 25–33. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsat.2015.12.007 Methamphetamine DrugFacts . (2022, March 22). National Institute on Drug Abuse. https://nida.nih.gov/publications/drugfacts/methamphetamine Netherland, J., & Hansen, H. B. (2016). The war on drugs that wasn't: Wasted whiteness, "dirty doctors," and race in media coverage of prescription opioid misuse. Culture, Medicine and Psychiatry, 40 (4), 664-686. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11013-016-9496-5

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10 Racine, E., Sattler, S., & Escande, A. (2017). Free Will and the Brain Disease Model of Addiction: The Not So Seductive Allure of Neuroscience and Its Modest Impact on the Attribution of Free Will to People with an Addiction. Frontiers in Psychology , 8 , 1850. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2017.01850 Shaerzadeh, F., Streit, W. J., Heysieattalab, S., & Khoshbouei, H. (2018). Methamphetamine neurotoxicity, microglia, and neuroinflammation. Journal of neuroinflammation , 15 (1), 341. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12974-018-1385-0 Volkow, N. D., & Koob, G. (2022). The brain disease model of addiction. Evaluating the Brain Disease Model of Addiction , 122–124. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003032762-14 Volkow, N. D., Koob, G. F., & Thomas, M. A. (2016). Neurobiology advances from the brain disease model of addiction. The New England Journal of Medicine, 374 (4), 363-371. https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJMra1511480

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