Causes of Drug Addiction

No one wants to be a drug addict or alcoholic, but this doesn’t stop people from getting addicted. The most commonly asked question is simply - how? How could my son, daughter, father, sister, or brother become a liar, a thief, someone who cannot be trusted? How could this happen? And why won’t they stop?

Drug use can be influenced by a number of factors. Most people use drugs to change how they feel because they want to feel better or different. They use drugs for the perceived benefits, or the benefits experienced, not for the potential harm. This applies to both legal and illegal drugs.

People use drugs to relax, have fun, to be part of a group, out of curiosity, and to escape from physical and/or psychological pain. Many of the reasons young people use drugs are the same reasons adults use drugs.

Different types of drug use

Drug use can be categorized into five main areas, with most drug users falling into the experimental and recreational categories. Harms associated with drug use can occur at all levels of use.

Experimental use: when a person tries a drug once or twice out of curiosity. Novice users run the risk of a lack of tolerance to the drug, and of not knowing how they will react, as well as the risks that may be associated with the effects of the drug.

Recreational use: where a person chooses to use a drug for enjoyment, particularly to enhance a mood or social occasion.

Situational use: where a drug is used to cope with the demands of particular situations. For example, amphetamines have been used by long distance truck drivers to maintain alertness and by athletes to gain energy. People who experience bereavement are often prescribed benzodiazepines (minor tranquillisers) to cope with grief.

Intensive use: also known as "bingeing", where a person consumes a heavy amount of drugs over a short period of time, or use is continuous over a number of days or weeks.

Dependent use: where a person becomes dependent on a drug after prolonged or heavy use over time. They feel a need to take the drug consistently in order to feel normal, or to avoid uncomfortable withdrawal symptoms. Dependence can be psychological, physical, or both. Only a relatively small number of drug users become dependent drug users.

It is common for people to move between categories, and one stage does not inevitably lead to the next. Movement between categories occurs for complex reasons, as a person attempts to balance the perceived benefits from using the drug against what the person believes are the costs of using the drug.

There are numerous reasons why an individual would begin using drugs or alcohol. One common thread throughout all the reasons is that the drugs or alcohol produce pleasurable effects which the individual likes. The individual knows that each time they use they will feel good ("high"), so they seek out this feeling. At first, using drugs is about the pleasure obtained through taking them. As time goes on though, the individual begins to feel they need the drugs to feel normal. This fall into addiction is unintentional and usually unforeseen by the addict.

The causes of drug addiction depends on the nature of the drug being abused, the person taking the drug and the circumstances under which it is taken. Some medications - for example certain sleeping pills or painkillers - are physically addictive. They have a specific effect on the body which leads to tolerance and withdrawal symptoms. Others may lead to a psychological addiction if people have a craving for the effect that the drug causes.

There has been some speculation that some people may be more prone to drug abuse and addiction than others. Research is being carried out into whether there may even be genes that predispose certain people to addiction. Social circumstances are important in drug abuse. Peer pressure, emotional distress and low self-esteem can all lead individuals to abuse drugs. Ease of access to drugs is another influence. People abuse drugs for a reason. Understanding what the person's motivation is helps to explain why that person is abusing drugs.

Here are a few more causes of drug addiction:

• changes in the brain take place as a result from drug use contribute to addiction and abuse
• drugs possess reinforcing qualities that make them more addictive than others
• easy access, and environmental, psychological, and cultural factors play a role in who starts or continues to abuse drugs
• drugs "numbing" effects help to ease the emotional/physical pain that the individual is experiencing
• drugs produce a sense of euphoria that make the individual feel good

Drug addiction is also caused because some substances are more addictive than others, either because they produce a rapid and intense change in mood; or because they produce painful withdrawal symptoms when stopped suddenly. Social learning is considered the most important single factor in the cause of drug addiction. It includes patterns of use in the addict's family or subculture, peer pressure, and advertising or media influence.

The first thing you must understand about addiction is that alcohol and addictive drugs are basically painkillers. They chemically kill physical or emotional pain and alter the mind’s perception of reality. They make people numb. For drugs to be attractive to a person there must first be some underlying unhappiness, sense of hopelessness, or physical pain.

As a result of their experiences created by the biological reinforcement and high tolerance, the person comes to believe that the drug of choice is good for them and will magically fix them or make them better. They start to develop an addictive belief system. They come to view people who support their drug use as friends and people who fail to support it as their enemies.

At this point the person is experiencing both positive and negative reinforcement to keep using. If they continue to use they experience euphoria and pain relief. This occurs because the brain releases large amounts of reward chemicals when they use their drug of choice.

If they stop using, they experience dysphoria or pain and suffering. They start to experience a sense of anhedonia that is marked by a low grade agitated depression and the inability to experience pleasure. They begin to believe that they have no choice but to keep using.