Causes Of Drug Addiction

What causes drug addiction?

Although scientists, physicians and other medical experts are in agreement that drug addiction is a worldwide epidemic that is growing larger every year, they are divided in their opinions as to the cause of it. The most common theories are:

A Genetic Predisposition

This theory espouses the idea that genetic inheritance is a major contributing factor in addictive behavior. In fact, researchers believe they have mapped the gene responsible, although much work is still needed to understand how it works and what can be done to control the addiction once the exact gene or genes are located. Although some scientists are skeptical of ever isolating a particular gene responsible for addictive behavior, they do agree that genetics and heridity play prominent roles in addictive personalities.

Mental Illness

Many doctors believe any addictive behavior is the result of mental illness. While they believe medically supervised drugs can help wean a person from more dangerous, addictive drugs, they believe that psychiatric counseling is the most important treatment tool.

Inappropriate Peer Interaction

The power of peer pressure cannot be denied. And allied with a genetic predisposition or underlying mental illness, it can be a time bomb waiting to explode.

Brain Disease

Brain disease is believed to be the result of voluntary drug use over a period of time Eventually, the drugs interact with different areas of the brain causing the alteration of the brain's level of consciousness, perception and emotional. Continued use can alter the brains structure and funtion permanently, even long after drugs are discontinued.

Social Philosophical Causes

Many drug treatment centers believe that an alteration in an addict's belief system can have a major impact ie: freeing them from drug dependency, in their addictive behavior. While proponets of this idea consider addiction a disease, they do associate addiction with bad personal choices and they strive to motivate people to change their lifestyle, up to and including their circle of friends, to keep bad habits from returning.