How Addiction Effects the Psychological and Physical...

Darlene Sledge Fundamentals Of Research Writing January 23, 2008 I. Introduction This qualitative research will investigate how addiction effects the psychological and physical functioning of daily life. Psychological functioning is the cognitive and behavioral characteristics of an individual and how they work. This research relates to counseling. The field of counseling looks at methods that will engage an individual with personal issues and how they cope on daily basis. I have several reasons why this topic is of interest to me. I am a Certified Alcohol/Drug Counselor, currently employed as a supervisor at a Women’s Residential Misa Facility. I have been in this field for 10 years and I remain baffled by the†¦show more content†¦This lack of control is the result of alcohol-or drug –induced changes in the brain. Those changes, in turn, cause behavior changes. The brains of addicted people â€Å"have been modified by the drug in such a way that absence of the drug makes a signal to their brain that is equivalent to the signal of when you are starving†, says National Institute of Drug Abuse Director Dr. Nora Volkow. It is â€Å"as if the individual was in a state of deprivation, where taking the drug is indispensable for survival. It’s as powerful as that.† Addiction grows more serious over time. Substance use disorders travel along a continuum. This progression can be measured by the amount, frequency, and context of a person’s substance use. As their illness deepens, addicted people need more alcohol or other drugs; they may use more often, and use in situations they never imagined when they first began to drink or take drugs. The illness becomes harder to treat and the related health problems, such as organ disease, become worse. â€Å"This is not something that develops overnight for any individual,† says addiction expert Dr. Kathleen Brady. â€Å"Generally there’s a series of steps that individuals go through from experimentation and occasional use [to] the actual loss of control of use. And it really is that process that defines addiction.† (HBO: Addiction: What IsShow MoreRelatedSubstance Abuse And Addiction : A Meta Analysis1711 Words   |  7 Pagesdependent of substance tends to affect an individual both physically and psychologically. When reformed, dependency settles in where abuser may have trouble living everyday life without substance sustaining abuser to tolerate the remainder of the day. 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