Law and addiction: How new science is impacting the justice system

It is important to recognize that recovery is a lifelong process and that individuals with addiction may require ongoing support and treatment. By providing individuals with the tools and resources they need to manage their condition, we can greatly improve their chances of long-term recovery. Over time, the brain becomes less responsive to dopamine, leading to the need for more drugs or alcohol to achieve the same effect. The brain also undergoes other changes, such as an increase in stress and anxiety when drugs or alcohol are not present.

Reducing stigma is also essential for individuals with addiction to seek help without fear of judgment or discrimination. This can be achieved through education and awareness campaigns that challenge misconceptions and stereotypes surrounding addiction. Whether you think addiction is a disease or not, everyone can agree that addiction is a serious problem that adversely affects the lives of the people using substances as well as the people in their lives. The suffering that comes along with addiction can be immense, but treatment offers a ray of hope for the future.

By recognizing addiction as a chronic, relapsing brain disease, we can shift the focus from blame and punishment to treatment and support. This approach not only benefits individuals with addiction but also society as a whole. Stress, for example, can increase the risk of relapse by triggering cravings and making it more difficult for individuals to cope with their emotions.

Biological Risk Factors for Addiction

Learning the science behind addiction helps us understand why healing requires Sober House Rules: What You Should Know Before Moving In professional help—and why those in this process deserve as much compassion as anyone else. If you struggle with addiction, or love someone who does, learning how it works can only help. People affected by addiction need treatment to escape its grasp and heal its effects on their lives. By better understanding this multifaceted disorder, we can better address the problem—and treat those on this journey with compassion and care.

But when drugs enter the picture, they flood these pathways with an overwhelming surge of feel-good chemicals. While there is an element of choice in substance use, the neural actions of dopamine tilt the brain to be so interested in the immediate reward that it can’t even contemplate longer-term goals or exert control. That is why those who are addicted repeatedly act against their own best interests, frustrating everyone around them—and themselves.

Symptoms of Addiction

Professional treatment for addiction is an effective way to address both your physical dependence and addiction. These programs don’t view the people who ask for help as “addicts” but as individuals struggling with a chronic condition affecting every aspect of their lives. Repeated substance abuse alters brain chemistry, making it extremely hard to control cravings and resist use, even after periods of abstinence. This underlying brain change is why addiction requires ongoing management and support for long-term recovery. Experiences during childhood can have a lasting impact on an individual’s susceptibility to addiction. Research indicates that traumatic events, such as abuse, neglect, or household dysfunction, can increase the likelihood of developing substance use disorders later in life.

There is no single cause of addiction; people begin using substances for many reasons and one person’s path to addiction may look drastically different from that of another. No matter how one defines addiction or what term is used, what is clear is that addiction is an enormous problem in the U.S. that affects millions. Another irrefutable fact is that many drugs—both illicit and prescription—are quite addictive. Michel Sucher, program director for the Addiction Medicine Fellowship program with HonorHealth and Community Bridges Inc., said that SUDs are among the most eminently treatable of diseases but that early diagnosis and treatment was critical. He said that genome-wide association studies, done with millions of people, have identified a snippet of the genetic code that can predict vulnerability to addiction. Instead, our focus should shift toward understanding, compassion, and connecting people with quality care.

Can Addiction Be Considered a Disease? Exploring the Science and Debate

Twenty experts from the medical, science, academic and legal communities spoke at the event, discussing the latest research on addiction, treatments and what it means for the courts. If you’re struggling with addiction, the first and most important step is to seek help. There’s no shame in voicing your needs—it only signals your strength and commitment to change. There’s a difference between the initial choice to use a substance and the loss of control that characterizes addiction. While the initial decision to use a substance might be a conscious one, addiction itself is not.

Addiction Theories: A Comprehensive Exploration of Substance Use Disorders

On one side, some argue that addiction is a choice, not a disease, emphasizing personal responsibility and the role of individual decision-making in initiating drug use. However, this perspective often overlooks the intricate psychological and biological factors that contribute to addiction. The opposing view, which considers drug addiction a disease, highlights how addiction can alter brain chemistry and function, suggesting that it’s not merely a matter of choice. Critics question the existence of compulsivity in addiction altogether 5–7, 89, typically using a literal interpretation, i.e., that a person who uses alcohol or drugs simply can not do otherwise. Were that the intended meaning in theories of addiction—which it is not—it would clearly be invalidated by observations of preserved sensitivity of behavior to contingencies in addiction.

• In recent decades, researchers began to label addiction as a disease rather than a behavioral choice.
• These changes contribute to the compulsive drug-seeking behavior that is characteristic of addiction.
• However, the boundary for addiction is intentionally blurred to reflect that the dividing line for defining addiction within the category of SUD remains an open empirical question.
• This convention allows a systematic study of the condition, and of whether group members benefit from a specific intervention.

Chronic and relapsing, developmentally-limited, or spontaneously remitting?

Because addiction is such a complex phenomenon, there are many theories about what addiction is. It matters how people view addiction because that influences what they are willing to do about it, or even https://northiowatoday.com/2025/01/27/sober-house-rules-what-you-should-know-before-moving-in/ whether they believe they can do anything about it. In 1956, the American Medical Association (AMA) classified alcoholism as a disease. Substance use disorder and alcohol use disorder are just two forms of addiction.

• If not from the brain, from where do the healthy and unhealthy choices people make originate?
• Approaching someone about their drug use can be tricky; you must have a plan.
• The first of the seven chapters provides an overview of the history of drug use and abuse, as well as information about its current prevalence.
• By recognizing addiction as a disease, we open the door to more effective treatments, reduced stigma, and a chance for millions to reclaim their lives from the clutches of substance abuse.
• Substance use disorder and alcohol use disorder are just two forms of addiction.
• He also points out an interesting exception; American military men who served in Vietnam showed an astonishing 40% rate of addiction to opiates following their use.

These data suggest that commonly used diagnostic criteria alone are simply over-inclusive for a reliable, clinically meaningful diagnosis of addiction. They do identify a core group of treatment seeking individuals with a reliable diagnosis, but, if applied to nonclinical populations, also flag as “cases” a considerable halo of individuals for whom the diagnostic categorization is unreliable. Any meaningful discussion of remission rates needs to take this into account, and specify which of these two populations that is being discussed.

The primary figures on this side are behavioral scientists, and their belief is based on the idea that any activity capable of stimulating a person for pleasure or stress release holds a risk for addiction. This means that almost anything can potentially lead to an addiction, be it taking drugs, eating, or simply spending time on the internet. One of their most common arguments shines light on social media addiction. As social media has become a staple in modern society, many people have become hooked on this growing trend.

It does not, however, provide an argument against addiction as a brain disease. If not from the brain, from where do the healthy and unhealthy choices people make originate? Yes, it is clear that most people whom we would consider to suffer from addiction remain able to choose advantageously much, if not most, of the time. However, it is also clear that the probability of them choosing to their own disadvantage, even when more salutary options are available and sometimes at the expense of losing their life, is systematically and quantifiably increased. There is a freedom of choice, yet there is a shift of prevailing choices that nevertheless can kill.

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This model posits that addiction isn’t just about the substance being abused; it’s about how that substance hijacks our brain’s natural reward system. It’s a bit like a computer virus infiltrating your laptop’s operating system – it doesn’t just affect one program, it rewires the entire machine. Heyman concludes Chapter 4 by offering a hypothesis about why most, not otherwise psychiatrically disabled, drug addicts eventually cease their addiction. His view is based to a considerable extent on the case histories presented in Chapter 3, and it is that, “…whether addicts keep using drugs or quit depends to a great extent on their alternatives.” (p.84). That is, the change from abuse to recovery is based on choice alternatives. That, of course, begs the question of how choice can lead to the problem in the first place if choice is, in fact, the avenue to recovery.