Drugs and addiction (0)

Addictions
summary
2011
Table of contents
1. Addictions
Drug addiction
Behavioural addiction
2. Drug addictions
Smoking
Drinking alcohol
Doing drugs
3. Behavioral addictions
Playing video games
Use of the internet
Cutting
4. Interesting facts
5. Pictures
Used sources
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1. Addictions
Addiction has been defined as physical and psychological dependence on psychoactive substances (for example alcohol, tobacco, heroin, caffeine and other drugs) which cross the blood - brain barrier once ingested, temporarily altering the chemical milieu of the brain.
Drug addiction
Drug addiction can simply be defined as a "chronic relapsing disorder characterized by persistent drug-seeking and drug-taking behaviours".
Drug addiction is chronic, with no known cure . Controlled may be by means such as voluntary 12 step programs, group therapy , one on one therapy, and mandatory methadone maintenance . Treatment programs can be successful in treating the addiction. Without treatment, active drug addicts often end up dead, incarcerated, or in institutions .
Behavioral addiction
Behavioral addiction is a form of addiction which does not rely on drugs or alcohol. Increasingly referred to as process addiction or non-substance-related addiction behavioral addiction includes a compulsion to repeatedly engage in an action until said action causes serious negative consequences to the person 's physical, mental , social , and/or financial well-being. One sign that a behavior has become addictive is if it persists despite these consequences.
2. Drug addictions
The most problematic drug addictions among teenagers nowadays are smoking, drinking alcohol and doing drugs.
Smoking
Smoking is the practice where tobacco is burned and the resulting smoke (consisting of particle and gaseous phases) is inhaled. The practice may have begun as early as 5000–3000 BC. Tobacco was introduced to Eurasia in the late 16th century where it followed common trade routes. The practice encountered criticism from its first import into the Western world onwards, but embedded itself in certain strata of a number of societies before becoming widespread upon the introduction of automated cigarette -rolling apparatus.
Drinking alcohol
An alcoholic beverage is a drink containing ethanol, commonly known as alcohol. Alcoholic beverages are divided into three general classes : beers, wines, and spirits. They are legally consumed in most countries, and over 100 countries have laws regulating their production, sale , and consumption . In particular, such laws specify the minimum age at which a person may legally buy or drink them . This minimum age varies between 16 and 25 years , depending upon the country and the type of drink. Most nations set it at 18 years of age.
Alcohol is a psychoactive drug that has a depressant effect. A high blood alcohol content is usually considered to be legal drunkenness because it reduces attention and slows reaction speed . Alcohol can be addictive, and the state of addiction to alcohol is known as alcoholism .
Doing drugs
Recreational drug use is the use of a drug, usually psychoactive, with the intention of creating or enhancing recreational experience . Such use is controversial, however, often being considered to be also drug abuse, and it is often illegal . Also, it may overlap with other uses, such as medicinal ( including self medication), performance enhancement, and entheogenic (spiritual).
3. Behavioral addictions
The most problematic behavioral addictions among teenagers nowadays are playing video games, use of the internet and cutting.
Playing video games
Video game addiction, or more broadly used video game overuse, is excessive or compulsive use of computer and video games that interferes with daily life. Instances have been reported in which users play compulsively, isolating themselves from family and friends or from other forms of social contact, and focus almost entirely on in-game achievements rather than other life events. There is no formal diagnosis of video game addiction in current medical or psychological literature .
Use of the internet
Internet addiction disorder (IAD), or, more broadly, Internet overuse, problematic computer use or pathological computer use, is excessive computer use that interferes with daily life. These terms avoid the distracting and divisive term addiction and are not limited to any single cause.
Online activities which, if done in person, would normally be considered troublesome, such as compulsive gambling or shopping , are sometimes called net compulsions. Others , such as reading or playing computer games, are troubling only to the extent that these activities interfere with normal life. Supporters of disorder classification often divide IAD into subtypes by activity , such as excessive, overwhelming, or inappropriate pornography use, gaming, online social networking, blogging, email, or Internet shopping. Opponents note that compulsive behaviors may not themselves be addictive.
Cutting
Self- harm (SH) or deliberate self-harm (DSH) includes self-injury (SI) and self-poisoning and is defined as the intentional, direct injuring of body tissue most often done without suicidal intentions. These terms are used in the more recent literature in an attempt to reach a more neutral terminology.
4. Interesting facts

• One in ten people who drink become alcoholics. It may only take using a drug like heroin once or twice to become addicted.
  
• Alcohol is the most commonly used and widely abused psychoactive drug in the world.
  
• After alcohol, marijuana is the most popular drug worldwide.
  
• Marijuana is the most common illegal drug used in the United States. Approximately 100 million Americans have tried marijuana at least once, and more than 25 million have smoked it in the last year.
  
• According to one national survey on drug use, each day approximately 6,000 Americans try marijuana for the first time.
  
• The number of young people who experiment with legal and illegal drugs dramatically increases between the school years seven to 11.
  
• Using certain drugs, even once, means you’re automatically addicted.
  
• Individuals may have gray outs (not being able to remember parts of the evening until someone reminds them) or blackouts (not being able to remember events of the night due to one's brain cells going to sleep).
  

5. Pictures
Lung cancer caused by smoking
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/images/ency/fullsize/9939.jpg
Alcohol can often be in attractive bottles.
http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lv6f5gdfjq1qdch5uo1_500.jpg
Extacy pills are colourful and have pictures on them, so teens may take them as candys and easily become addicted.
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_5x2pfEf6KPI/TAlTi4Oz4JI/AAAAAAAAASQ/xKLTGnjxcrU/s1600/Extacy.jpg
Cutting may have serious consequences.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0f/Schnittwunden.JPG
You can easily get addicted to video games as a child.
http://www.dennis-yu.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/videogame.jpg
Used sources
Alcoholism-and-Drug-Addiction-Help.com. 2008. Alarming and Disturbing Alcoholism Facts and Drug Addiction Facts. Available at http://www.alcoholism-and-drug-addiction-help.com/alcoholism-facts.html , accessed November 22, 2011.
HubPages Inc. 2011. Interesting facts about Alcohol... Available at http://ajayanpv.hubpages.com/hub/Interesting-facts-about-Alcohol , accessed November 22, 2011.
Mission Enabled. 2011. Drug Addiction Facts. Available at http://www.drug-addiction-support.org/drug-addiction-facts.html , accessed November 22, 2011.
Random History.com. 2007. 31 Random Facts About… Marijuana. Available at http://facts.randomhistory.com/2009/02/27_marijuana.html , accessed November 22, 2011.
State Government of Victoria. 2010. Drugs - some facts. Available at http://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/bhcv2/bhcarticles.nsf/pages/drugs_some_facts?open , accessed November 22, 2011.
Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 2011. Addiction. Available at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Addiction , accessed November 22, 2011.
Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 2011. Alcoholic beverage. Available at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alcoholic_beverage , accessed November 27, 2011.
Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 2011. Behavioral addiction. Available at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Behavioral_addiction , accessed November 22, 2011.
Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 2011. Internet addiction disorder. Available at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_addiction_disorder , accessed November 27, 2011.
Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 2011. Recreational drug use. Available at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Recreational_drug_use , accessed November 27, 2011.
Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 2011. Self-harm. Available at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-har m, accessed November 27, 2011.
Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 2011. Video game addiction. Available at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Video_game_addiction , accessed November 27, 2011.