What addiction is
- Addiction is a strong desire to take a substance or do an activity, with difficulty controlling it despite harmful consequences.
- Features include tolerance (needing more for the same effect), withdrawal symptoms when stopping, cravings, and neglecting other activities.
- Substance misuse is using drugs or alcohol in a harmful way; addiction is when it becomes a dependence.
Explanations
- Biological: genetic vulnerability. Kaij's twin study of alcohol abuse found a higher concordance rate in identical (MZ) twins than in non-identical (DZ) twins, suggesting genes play a part.
- Psychological: peer influence. People may start using substances to fit in, copying friends (social learning), especially in adolescence.
- The diathesis-stress idea suggests a genetic vulnerability plus environmental stress can lead to addiction.
Treatments
- Aversion therapy pairs the substance with something unpleasant, such as a drug that causes sickness when alcohol is drunk, so the person learns to avoid it.
- Self-management programmes, such as the 12-step programme used by Alcoholics Anonymous, use group support and personal responsibility.
- Evaluation: aversion therapy can work in the short term but relapse is common; self-help groups give support but rely on commitment.
Key terms
- Addiction
- A strong urge to take a substance or do an activity, with difficulty controlling it.
- Tolerance
- Needing more of a substance to get the same effect.
- Withdrawal
- Unpleasant symptoms when a substance is stopped.
- Concordance rate
- The percentage of twin pairs who share a characteristic.
- Peer influence
- The effect of friends and people of the same age on behaviour.
- Aversion therapy
- Pairing a substance with something unpleasant to stop its use.
- Relapse
- Returning to the addiction after stopping.