Addiction

Do you think addictive disorders should be treated like any other health issue? Why or why not?

Addiction is considered to be a very crucial challenge that the world is facing these days. The most tragic part of addiction is that several kinds of addiction mostly affect the younger generation. There have been numerous controversies regarding addiction and whether it is health issue or not. In any kind of disease, some part of the body reveals abnormal physiological function and medical treatment is required to recover. However in case of addiction, there is no case of physiological malfunction (Haugen and Musser, 2013). When a brain scan is done, there are results of some brain changes. Therefore, addiction can be stated as a chronic relapsing brain disease that happens due to the regular use of drugs and hence the harmful consequences are reflected. So, it can be said that addiction is a health issue which has adverse effects on one’s health and with longer use of drugs it can even lead to death of an individual.

Though the changes in the brain are not abnormal in any instances however there is certain change in the behaviour of the addicted person which is controlled by the brain. Like any kind of health issues, addiction also needs proper treatment to get rid of. The changes in the brain are in its different parts and the neuronal pathways become stronger. Thus the activeness of the brain decreases due to regular and high level of addiction. Research shows that due to addiction there are several health issues that one gets affected with which requires proper treatment procedure. In medical terms addiction is also stated as ‘learning disorder’ (Hollander, 2012).

  Research also reveals that tobacco addiction is considered to be the strongest as it persists for a longer period of time. Other kind of addictions fades away with age. Therefore to treat addiction accurately it is essential to know the level of addiction and the health consequences that are associated with the addiction.