Critical Analysis Draft Week 5 (1)

docx

School

Southern New Hampshire University *

*We aren’t endorsed by this school

Course

PSY 406

Subject

Psychology

Date

Dec 6, 2023

Type

docx

Pages

Uploaded by CommodoreGalaxyBarracuda14

1 Critical Analysis Draft Robert Smith Southern New Hampshire University PSY-406-J2863 Contemp Issues in Addictions Nancy Baily November 29, 2023

2 Critical Analysis Draft Cannabis is a substance that has been reclassified as legal in most states and decriminalized or allowed for medicinal purposes in other states. The question remains does cannabis have a viable medicinal use or is its only use recreational. The evidence is mixed at this point. Up to now there really hasn’t been a lot of testing of cannabis in a rigorous way. There is evidence that indicates others, like CBD for seizures (one of the first indications that cannabis was approved for use of. In addition, THC has been known to help with things such as nausea and boosting appetite for people that have cancer. There are other studies that show the evidence to be a lot more mixed with its results. For example, using it for pain is one of the main reasons that people report using cannabis for. When speaking with patients they have reported that the cannabis has improved their quality of life. “In big studies that have been done so far, there are some indications from animal models that cannabis might help (with pain). When we look at human studies, it’s very much a mixed bag” (Rogers, 2023). When talking about cannabis, in a way it’s a misnomer for the reason cannabis is many things. There are many different cannabinoids and different concentrations of different cannabinoids. Most of the studying of this is based around THC and CBD. However, there are many more other minor cannabinoids and terpenes in cannabis products. Of these there are many varying concentrations. On top of this we have many ways of getting it into our bodies. Such as smoking, vaping, topicals, and edibles. For this reason and more it is making it more difficult to study the true effects of the cannabis. One of the major types of behavioral addictions that are commonly discussed int eh field of addiction is the idea of having a food addiction. “ The idea that you can be addicted to food has

3 recently gained increasing support. That comes from brain imaging and other studies of the effects of compulsive overeating on pleasure centers in the brain” (Goodman n.d.). When studies have been done with humans it was shown that for some people the same reward and pleasure centers of the brain that are triggered by drugs like heroin and cocaine. Especially foods that are highly palatable and rich in things like sugar, fat, and salt. Just as other drugs, highly palatable foods trigger the same feel-good chemicals in the brain. One of the most dominant is dopamine. When you experience the feel-good pleasure associated with dopamine in the brain from eating something, you may want to eat it again to get the same feeling that you got the first time. When you get rewarding signals in the brain this can sometimes override your fullness and satisfaction signals. When this happens, you are going to continue eating even when you are full. Compulsive overeating is a type of behavioral addiction. This is an addiction that will trigger intense pleasure. When this happens, you are likely to lose control over your eating habits. You can also develop a kind of tolerance to food. Which basically means that you will eat more, the less you are satisfied. Given that we can use CBD to help with food addiction. Food addiction is still one of the most difficult addictions to cure. However, experts believe that cannabis can help with this addiction. “Cannabinoid receptors CB1 and CB2 are found in every single human body. They are also found in the central nervous system and the brain, and they have been studied for the role they play in our overall health, irritability, pain, and other conditions” (Smith, 2020) When it comes to using CBD with obese people it helps to reduce food cravings. It does this by helping regulate the body’s reward system, resulting in cravings that are less severe. The study also showed that it helps with emotional overeating. Other than stress, other emotions can cause us to overeat such as being depressed or anxious. It can also help stop someone from

Your preview ends here

Eager to read complete document? Join bartleby learn and gain access to the full version

Access to all documents
Unlimited textbook solutions
24/7 expert homework help

4 “eating your feelings” (Smith, 2020). Lastly it is shown that CBD has been shown to help us with brown fat, which in turn helps us convert unwanted fat into energy that we can burn instead of simply storing it. One of the social norms is evidence-based social norms approach to substance abuse prevention. This is a “simple concept with a profound implication: sharing healthy truths can reduce student use of alcohol and other drugs” (Butler Center of Research, 2015). When taking this approach, we are able to reach students, parents, schools, different communities, and especially peers. Young people are taught that a healthier life is a better life. And more realistic beliefs and to feel less pressure to “fit in” by using different substances. It has been shown that communities that use the social norms approach to prevent use do see a decrease in the students that use drugs. When looking at this social norm we can see that it would help those who feel the use of cannabis would allow them to be part of the in crowed isn’t always the right choice. When you have peers explaining to other peers that smoking isn’t the best thing to do, we can see less people using cannabis. Sometimes when information comes from your peers it has a stronger resignation to the person. Whereas if the information is coming from a book or someone that isn’t a peer the person may think of it as simply being an opinion of someone that doesn’t understand or isn’t with the in crowd. When we talk about the impact of the issue with respect to traditional models’ theories of addiction I think of the “Disease Model of addiction” This came from the shortcomings of the Moral Model and had gained widespread acceptance, particularly within the medical and scientific communities. This model considers addiction as a chronic, progressive, and relapsing brain disease that affects an individual’s ability to control substance use or engage in addictive

5 behaviors” (Rose, n.d.). When looking at the Disease Model, addiction is influenced by genetic, environmental, and developmental factors. That could predispose certain people to become substance users. You also could look at the Central to the Disease Model. In this model the understanding that addiction involves changes in the brain’s structure and functioning, leading to compulsive drug seeking. Also, reduces the ability to control substance use. When we look at both theories, we can see that cannabis would fall into them. Decades of research have suggested that recreational cannabis use shows risks of cognitive impairment across various domains. Also, structural and functional differences int e brain has been linked to early and heavy use. “With in the temporal lobe, which has a density of CB1 receptors, studies have focused on the hippocampus. Despite some inconsistencies across study designs and finding structural neuroimaging has indicated abnormalities in hippocampal volume and gray matter density of cannabis users relative to controls” (Burggren, et. al., 2019) Peer based recovery support is a process of giving and receiving nonprofessional, non- clinical assistance to achieve long-term recovery from substance use. It is provided by people who have experienced and lived the life of substance abuse. When we think of Peer-based approach we are talking about people who have similar addiction issues and have experience with addiction. These people are considered the peers of those we are working on helping. Usually, these peers do not have education in psychology. They typically have taken a course in Peer Support or a class such as Peer Support. These peers are there to support and promote long-term recovery. There are other types also. There is AA (Alcohol Anonymous) or NA (Narcotics Anonymous). These types of groups are strong examples of peer-based groups. We can also investigate mental health facilities that have peers. These facilities have people that also support the clients in their sobriety while the client gets help.

6 This is especially applicable to cannabis use for the reason that we find more and more people using cannabis each day. People that have used it in the past and saw the negative effects of the use can easily help those with the problems of usage today. People generally start using cannabis for the reason that they feel that it is a “harmless drug.” Well peer-based programs can help others to understand the seriousness of the drug. When looking at harm-reduction for cannabis users we would want to look at how we can put something in place of using the cannabis. Something that is not going to have the same harmful effects. We can look at the person replacing the cannabis with tobacco or possibly vaping instead of smoking the cannabis. We want to look at all the negative affects of the cannabis consumption and replace them with something that we cause our mental and physical body to think we are continuing the usage of the cannabis. Assessing the utility of treatment for the diverse population we would have to look at the community health programs that are available to the populations. With this comes the programs with less funding and ability to get more of the newer information and treatment options. Also, we would need to look at the different ethnic groups. For example, Asians place such strong emphasis on community, this makes it not as easy to discuss problems with a counselor who is outside their group. Also, when looking at diverse populations we would have to remember that some of these populations could include the LGBTQI+ who sometimes feel that they are being judged to start with. So, this would make it more difficult for them. This could be applicable to cannabis addiction or abuse in the sense that people sometimes see cannabis abuse as a problem that “isn’t a problem.” Detoxification is normally the first step in treatment. This involves clearing a substance from the body and limiting withdrawal reactions. We would then go onto doing therapy whether

Your preview ends here

Eager to read complete document? Join bartleby learn and gain access to the full version

Access to all documents
Unlimited textbook solutions
24/7 expert homework help

7 it be in a group or as an individual therapy. There are different types of therapy, “cognitive- behavioral therapy, which helps people recognize and change ways of thinking that have associations with substance use. Multi-dimensional family therapy, designed to help improve family function around an adolescent or teen with a substance-related disorder. Motivational interviewing, which maximizes an individual’s willingness to change and make adjustments to behaviors. Motivational incentives that encourage abstinence through positive reinforcement” (Felman, 2018.) We also use peer driven programs to help with getting clean. Some of the approaches would be applicable and others would be not necessary. When dealing with cannabis use disorder or cannabis addiction, we don’t have a detox that we would use. During detox we are watching the client for illness and possibly giving them comfort meds. When getting clean from cannabis use, we can do it safely with out the use of detox. However, in the case that a person cannot seem to get clean on their own we could use detox. We would also use motivational interviewing techniques, therapy whether it is group or individual. Lastly, we would use peer driven programs. When it comes to the recommendations for addiction treatment programs specific to behavior or substance issues, I would have a few of them. One would be that all programs should look at the Peer Support Programs. These programs help those who need to get help. When talking to a counselor, therapist or doctor, there is a barrier between the client and the person trying to help. These barriers could be the biggest reason that a client doesn’t get clean. When we look at the issue at hand, we have to look at the person. The person with the issue may want to work with someone that has lived experience. Not just someone that has read a book and logged x number of hours talking to people.

8 One of the biggest things that come to mind when I think of someone that has taken the classes and logged the hours in a facility… Is did you ever live one day as an addict? I feel that having a lived experience and a story that shows that you can get sober and live a good life goes a long way. We all look at the people that are working in these mental health places as if they are perfect and well educated. Well, what if they had to be real and give their background. I know I would rather work with the one that has been there and done that, than the person that lived a good life and went to college and go to life experience. We also have to look at the individual as an individual. We now live in a day and age were people go by different pronouns. From my experience working in the industry and also all the research that I have done. I have not once seen anyone come forward with the idea that we need to see each client as the individual that they feel they are. We all need to be trained to ask the client what pronouns do they go by. Do they have a preference to a different name that they go by. We are all too quick to look at a person and assume that they are male or female. Not the way they feel they are. Part of getting sober is being respected and feeling comfortable in the area that they are going to be to get sober. When I look at the effectiveness of the recommendations that I have made and the research that I did, I have to say that I realize the information of what pronouns and the sex of person don’t come to the surface of any of the research. This is a complicated idea I do realize this. There are a lot of variables that must be looked at and need to be worked out. However, it wasn’t ever brought up and should be something that should be investigated. I also strongly feel that the peer supported processes are not being underutilized. The research does show that this can be highly useful, granted alone with the therapy.

9 With that being said, we have to look at the programs that help and use them. I have researched the ways to help people achieve sobriety. One of the biggest things that are showing the most successes are the Peer Programs. When compared side by side we have to agree that if we were able to grow programs that are more peers driven we could have more people with sobriety. Or even if we could merge the two. This would give us the best of both worlds like I wrote earlier in the paper. With all the research that I have done not once did I see anything mentioning the merge of the two programs. I have lived experience and also an education on how coping skills can help, this to me seems to be the winning system.

Your preview ends here

Eager to read complete document? Join bartleby learn and gain access to the full version

Access to all documents
Unlimited textbook solutions
24/7 expert homework help

10 References , B. (2015, September 1). The Social Norms Approach to Student Substance Abuse Prevention . www.hazeldenbettyford.org. Retrieved November 30, 2023, from https://www.hazeldenbettyford.org/research-studies/addiction-research/social-norms Burggren, A., Shiraza, A., Ginder, N., & London, E. (2019, July 31). Cannabis effects on brain structure, function, and cognition: considerations for medical uses of cannabis and its derivatives . www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7027431/ Felman, A. (2018, November 2). What are the treatments for addiction? www.medicalnewstoday.com. Retrieved November 28, 2023, from https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/323468 Goodman, B. (2023, April 15). Food Addiction . www.webmd.com. https://www.webmd.com/mental-health/eating-disorders/binge-eating-disorder/mental- health-food-addiction Smith, D. (2020, November 27). Can Cannabis Help with Food Addictions and Overeating - Does Weed Help or Hurt? [https://cannabis.net/blog/medical/can-cannabis-help-with- food-addictions-and-overeating-does-weed-help-or-hurt]. cannabis.net. Retrieved November 30, 2023, from Smith Rogers, L. (2023, August 25). The Evidence—and Lack Thereof—About Cannabis [https://publichealth.jhu.edu/2023/risks-and-benefits-of-legalized-cannabis]. publichealth.jhu.edu.

Critical Analysis Draft Week 5 (1)

Related Documents