Free Essays on Addictions

In this research paper I am asked to identify a social problem that is of interest to me. A social problem refers to a group of people, or a practice, that is considered deviant or contrary to what constitutes a â€Å"normal† or â€Å"valid† society. It is created with the assumption that the behaviour or group is universally considered problematic, or different from the norms of society. The word â€Å"problem† must be placed in context with a dichotomy of non-problem, or â€Å"right†. One can not define what is wrong with out having a comparable situation from which to draw conclusions. It is therefore the people within society who wield power who define this problem. They create the discourse of social problems, and then label what they see. This paper will focus on the social problem, labelled as addictions. I will not focus on any particular type of addiction, but will reference from the two major groups: substance abuse, and behavioural addiction. By referencing several types of addiction, I will establish that addiction stems from more than the current consensus to genetic predisposition. Recent research on the effects of drugs points us toward the conclusion that addiction is something very different from what we have thought it to be. To begin with, there is no necessary connection between addiction and drugs, or, more especially, the opiates (opium, heroin, and morphine). More precisely, addiction has little to do with what drugs contain, although it has a lot to do with what we think drugs can do to us. People often react physically to a placebo- a chemically neutral substance that is presented as being, say, morphine or some powerful medication- just as though it were the real thing. Psychological studies have shown that the way people react to drugs in general is as much a function of their cultural background, expectations, and emotional involvement in the situation as of the chemistry of the drug. T... Free Essays on Addictions Free Essays on Addictions In this research paper I am asked to identify a social problem that is of interest to me. A social problem refers to a group of people, or a practice, that is considered deviant or contrary to what constitutes a â€Å"normal† or â€Å"valid† society. It is created with the assumption that the behaviour or group is universally considered problematic, or different from the norms of society. The word â€Å"problem† must be placed in context with a dichotomy of non-problem, or â€Å"right†. One can not define what is wrong with out having a comparable situation from which to draw conclusions. It is therefore the people within society who wield power who define this problem. They create the discourse of social problems, and then label what they see. This paper will focus on the social problem, labelled as addictions. I will not focus on any particular type of addiction, but will reference from the two major groups: substance abuse, and behavioural addiction. By referencing several types of addiction, I will establish that addiction stems from more than the current consensus to genetic predisposition. Recent research on the effects of drugs points us toward the conclusion that addiction is something very different from what we have thought it to be. To begin with, there is no necessary connection between addiction and drugs, or, more especially, the opiates (opium, heroin, and morphine). More precisely, addiction has little to do with what drugs contain, although it has a lot to do with what we think drugs can do to us. People often react physically to a placebo- a chemically neutral substance that is presented as being, say, morphine or some powerful medication- just as though it were the real thing. Psychological studies have shown that the way people react to drugs in general is as much a function of their cultural background, expectations, and emotional involvement in the situation as of the chemistry of the drug. T... Free Essays on Addictions In this research paper I am asked to identify a social problem that is of interest to me. A social problem refers to a group of people, or a practice, that is considered deviant or contrary to what constitutes a â€Å"normal† or â€Å"valid† society. It is created with the assumption that the behaviour or group is universally considered problematic, or different from the norms of society. The word â€Å"problem† must be placed in context with a dichotomy of non-problem, or â€Å"right†. One can not define what is wrong with out having a comparable situation from which to draw conclusions. It is therefore the people within society who wield power who define this problem. They create the discourse of social problems, and then label what they see. This paper will focus on the social problem, labelled as addictions. I will not focus on any particular type of addiction, but will reference from the two major groups: substance abuse, and behavioural addiction. By referencing several types of addiction, I will establish that addiction stems from more than the current consensus to genetic predisposition. Recent research on the effects of drugs points us toward the conclusion that addiction is something very different from what we have thought it to be. To begin with, there is no necessary connection between addiction and drugs, or, more especially, the opiates (opium, heroin, and morphine). More precisely, addiction has little to do with what drugs contain, although it has a lot to do with what we think drugs can do to us. People often react physically to a placebo- a chemically neutral substance that is presented as being, say, morphine or some powerful medication- just as though it were the real thing. Psychological studies have shown that the way people react to drugs in general is as much a function of their cultural background, expectations, and emotional involvement in the situation as of the chemistry of the drug. T... Free Essays on Addictions Physical and psychological addictions are very alike and very different at the same time. Addiction means that the person addicted thrives on the substance or action. Physical addictions like alcoholism and heroin are sometimes very noticeable yet, psychological addictions like gambling are very hard to diagnose. A similarity between the two types of addictions are the stages that lead up to a full blown addiction. Addictions go through many stages before reaching the pinnacle of an addiction. For example, a gambler will first start off betting a dollar, then two, then ten, then a hundred until finally the gambler is broke. An example for a physical addiction would be the stages that lead to becoming a true alcoholic. It will all start with one beer, , then Jell-O shooters, then a margarita, then just drinking liquor straight up out of the bottle, then who knows what the drinker will turn to next. After going through all of these stages the term used for the addiction is usually dise ase because the addiction is going to slowly kill the person addicted. Though the term addiction is usually thought of as someone on drugs or drinking, many normal everyday people are addicted to the one thing everyone has a little of everyday, caffeine. Caffeine is one of North America’s leading addictions prevalent amongst teenagers. Caffeine is found in chocolate, soda, coffee, and tea. In conclusion, this shows that many things can become addictive. No matter what the addiction it is not good. If more people would realize this there would be less of an addiction crisis than there is today....