According to the World Health Organization ‘health’ is described as “a state of complete mental, physical and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease”. The word ‘illness’ is defined by the Cambridge English dictionary as being “a disease or period of sickness that affects the body or mind”. These definitions will be used to explain health and illness through a psychological perspective and distinguish how addiction has impacts on a person’s day-to-day life.
Addiction is a social and psychological disorder exaggerated by a compulsive engagement. Addiction is the compulsive and psychological need for wanting to use substances such as cocaine and alcohol. These substances are symptomatic by tolerance and withdrawal symptoms. Addiction can affect an individual’s health and wellbeing, for example, a person can become depressed, which can make it hard for the individual too make relationships with other people, especially friends and family. Anxiety can also stem from this, and this can stop a person from getting or even keeping a job, as it can make people become very unsociable and feel lonely. These individuals who are suffering from these mental health illnesses will drink alcohol and take drugs to forget how they are feeling within themselves. Addiction as a whole is classed as an illness, this is because some of the symptoms are long-lasting, such as heart attacks and poor coordination. When individuals start taking drugs and drinking alcohol in their adolescent years, their effects will not be as serious as a longer-term user. These symptoms are things such as euphoria or an increased sex drive. If the individual then continues to take the substances, he risks becoming addicted. If people don’t become addicted over the years, they will find in the adult life that they will develop symptoms such as muscle cramping, collapsed veins, becoming dependent and developing withdrawal symptoms, if they have not had the ‘buzz’ that they need. They will then think they cannot function without it, and the person may also get flashbacks.
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Addiction from the behavioral perspective can mean that a certain smell, like after shave or perfume, can become a trigger for someone’s relapse or the cause of an individual’s misuse of drugs or alcohol. It also can mean that when individuals are younger and they see their friends drinking or taking drugs, they can be peer pressured into taking part as their behavior will influence the person. This can then be a risk as the young person may become dependent. Relapsing can also occur when the individual is still ‘hanging around’ with a person or a group of people that are taking drugs or drinking alcohol on many occasions. Addiction can become all-consuming, and a person will organize his life around drink and drugs. Theorist B.F. Skinner says that behaviorism is often referred to as stimulus and response psychology. It is also an apparent conditioning account for observant behavior (responses) in terms of environmental events (stimuli). Only in classical conditioning is the stimulus seen as triggering a response. Individuals who abuse drugs more than necessary are twice as likely to struggle with mental health disorders such as anxiety and depression. People who continue to abuse drugs and alcohol are likely to develop illnesses such as kidney failure and liver failure, which are life threatening.
Addiction from the humanistic perspective views other people on another level of consciousness, the likes of what we understand is very different to what a person who is suffering from addiction is thinking. The humanistic approach is giving someone a chance to say how they are feeling or thinking without an immediate response. It also explains that everyone has free will, and makes it clear that people should stop and think: ‘What is it like to be that person’. Humanistic therapy is highly acceptable to patients. Humanistic psychology suggests that addiction is an individual’s response to boredom, loneliness and other struggles. Theorist Abraham H. Maslow said: “While awareness of being alive is the most basic of human experiences, we do live in a world of our own creation. We have a unique perception, and it is our perception of external reality which shapes our lives not external reality itself. Our main factor is our sense of self and constantly in the process of forming and reforming”. The humanistic approach says that addiction is caused by boredom and loneliness, which then comes down to having mental health disorders, which this then addiction can lead to things such as brain damage, ulcers and strokes. There are therapies put in place so a person can be heard. The two perspectives agree with each other as the humanistic approach is about how the person thinks with their consciousness, and so does the behavioral approach. This is because the behavioral approach says that someone’s or a person’s behavior can become a conscious trigger.
In conclusion, the research I have obtained links addiction to behavioral and humanistic perspectives, as it seems that addiction has a lot to do with someone’s conscious mind, this affects how a person is able to get better. I also think my theories have linked this as the humanistic approach believes we create our own perspective, whereas the behavioral approach says the memories we have gained from our life trigger addiction, this comes down to the perspective we have had on things going forward in life. I believe the humanistic approach has a better way of explaining this.
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