Every person probably knows someone who has an addiction to something. Whether it be caffeine to drugs, addiction has a wide variety. But why do some people get addicted to things so much more than others? Is it because there is a biological reason causing a person to have a tendency to get addicted easily, is it innate in them? And if it is why do some people not get addicted to anything at all? Do they not have addictive traits or are they just more resistant to it.
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In this article it discusses how some people believe addiction is a disease that people are born with. Some experts believe it is a chemical within you that causes that addiction and it can be ‘triggered’ when the addiction behavior is first started. Other experts believe addictions form because of their environment. It poses the question of nurture vs. nature. Whether we are born with an addictive trait or we develop it because of our surroundings. This still has experts arguing over which is correct, which in turn causes a delay in finding treatments for addiction. It is also argued some addictions can be from psychological issues, which kind of goes with the nature vs. nature question.
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Furthermore, mentioned in this article is how addiction can be peoples outlet to experience more in life, like an adrenaline rush, but then end up getting addicted to what they are doing. They continue doing these bad habits because it gives them a sense of purpose, but almost always the habit is harmful towards them and by the time the harm sets in the addiction is already far under way.
Addiction can stem from all different types of sources and can come in all different forms. Whether you’re addicting to washing your hands or addicted to shooting heroin, experts are still arguing why it might affect people is certain ways.
I believe that addiction is definitely a disease and needs to be treated as such. People with addictive personalities often get mixed up with drugs and get in trouble with the law. This is wrong because addiction is treated like a crime instead of a disease.
I agree with what you talked about at the beginning of the post. I think that people who become can have addictive personalities and actually have a chemical within them that makes them this way. Why else would only some people become addicted to alcohol for example when others don’t. I think that some people are just born with the disease of addiction. I hope that one day scientists will be able to determine if there is really one single chemical or gene that people have that causes them to have their addictive personalities. Interesting post!