Disease Models of Addiction
Introduction
My client is a 30 years old Asian lady who is single and lives alone in a very nice condominium. She is an attorney and works in a large law firm where she happens to be very successful in her legal practice. She was raised in the U.S together with her brother by first-generation immigrants who were from Japan. Her brother is older than her and is a successful entrepreneur. After graduating from a prestigious law school she was hired by a prominent law firm. She has no religious connections.
After joining college and being away from home for the first time, she started drinking and occasionally using marijuana. Throughout law school, she maintained heavy use of alcohol and marijuana until recently when she began abusing cocaine. This has started to affect her job performance negatively. She was referred to a college based brief treatment program after excessively being intoxicated from the use of alcohol and marijuana at a college party. She completed what the college program required and did not receive any further treatment. Through the employee assistance program, she has been referred to as seek treatment.
According to Volkow, Koob &Mclellan (2016), addiction is a brain disease that is caused by neurobiological adjustments that occur after persistent use of alcohol and drugs and the addicts often have no control over. It changes how the body and brain function. It often leads to compulsive behavior and self-regulation is weakened. A person with drug addictions displays extreme interruptions in the ability to make decisions and having emotional balance. Addiction is caused by behavioral, environmental and biological factors. When addiction is left untreated, it may cause physical and mental disorders.
My client suffers from the disease of addiction based on her history. The treatment strategies that I will recommend for her first is that she needs to attend a behavioral counseling program. She then needs medication for the disease to help in containing the withdrawal symptoms in the process of detoxification which is the beginning process in addiction treatment. She should be assessed and treated for preceded mental health problems which include anxiety and depression NIDA (2019). To prevent a relapse, following up on her and her treatment will be equally important.
Social-cultural factors that include diagnosis and medical treatment of the client will affect her client's perception of the addictive behavior. This is because addictive behavior is associated with emotional burdens, relationship anguish, family unreliability and this may affect her perception of the problem Daley (2013). This problem causes an economic burden in terms of the money spent on the treatment, relying on people for help and probably the loss of a job which may affect the perception of the behavior. Infections of other diseases for example HIV may have an impact on addictive behavior.
Factors that may contribute to addictive behavior are social, psychological and economic. The main factors include drug accessibility and the use of drugs meant for medical treatment. Other factors include anxiety, distress, neurological uncertainty, family functionality, exhaustion and lack of sleep Mushtaq & Bibi (2018). The factors that may help overcome the problem include self-acceptance and regulation. Knowing how to maintain motivation and how to deal with cravings. How to manage thoughts, feeling and behaviors as well as a person’s lifestyle Hester, Lenberg, Campbell & Delaney (2013).
Conclusion
Addiction is a disease of the body and brain that is associated with uncontrollable use of one or more substances despite serious social and health consequences. Addiction causes many negative impacts on a person and leads to behavioral change. Counseling of addicts is a good way to start the treatment process of addiction. Treatment of addiction is essential to enable a person to live their lives free of addiction and avoid mental health disorders.
References
Daley D. C. (2013). Family and social aspects of substance use disorders and treatment. Journal
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Hester R. K. Lenberg K.L. Campbell W. Delaney H.D. (2013), Overcoming Addictions, a Web-
Based Application, and SMART Recovery, an Online and In-Person Mutual Help Group
for Problem Drinkers, Part 1: Three-Month Outcomes of a Randomized Controlled Trial
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NIDA. (2019). Treatment Approaches for Drug Addiction. Retrieved from
https://www.drugabuse.gov/publications/drugfacts/treatment-approaches-drug-addiction
Noman M. & Sadia B. (2018). Factors Contributing to Drug Addiction among Youth of Azad
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Volkow D. N. Koob F.G. & McLellan A.T (2016). Neurobiologic Advances from the Brain
Disease Model of Addiction: New England Journal of Medicine 374: 363-371
