More to Addiction than Substance Abuse, Group Says

[slimvictor]

Addiction is a chronic brain disorder that should be treated like any other chronic disease, according to a new definition from the American Society of Addiction Medicine.

In a public policy statement, the group emphasized that neurological mechanisms -- disruptions in neurotransmission, interruptions in the reward system, failure of inhibitory control -- are the key drivers of addiction.

"At its core, addiction isn't just a social problem or a moral problem or a criminal problem," ASAM past president Michael Miller, MD, said in a prepared release. "It's a brain problem whose behaviors manifest in all these other areas."

The statement describes addiction as a primary disease and not the result of other emotional or psychiatric problems. Addiction hijacks the brain's reward system, which involves areas of memory and emotion, and stifles areas of executive functioning, such as impulse control, the statement says.

And genetic factors account for half of the likelihood that a patient will develop addiction.

cont:
http://www.medpagetoday.com/Psychiatry/Addictions/28070

 

[phenmetrazine]

No shit. People really are pretty stupid as a whole. Drugs are a result of moral deficiencies or whatever? Yeah right more like environment and genetic predisposition.

 

[muvolution]

Most genetic traits are either "carriers" or "riders" meaning they either carry strong genetic information that will help the subsequent generation procreate better, or they are casually linked with these traits...

What purpose could addiction have in human evolution for such a high percentage of people to be pre-disposed to it?

 

[qwe]

^it certainly motivates a creature in an environment where the substance is scarce. it may facilitate mating, idk lol.

we have a symbiotic relationship with these plants that can, at times, be positive... that could influence genetic direction, imo, especially since we selectively cultivate.

 

[Solide]

What purpose could addiction have in human evolution for such a high percentage of people to be pre-disposed to it?

Possibly linked with some sort of survival mechanism? Drugs as a positive reinforcer such as sex, food etc (dopamine) .. conditions the mind that it's neccesary for survival or something. Not that I have any idea what I'm talking about.

 

[muvolution]

maybe alcohol was the specific cause of this... has been around long enough to affect evolutionary traits... and it is wholly possible that the more hardcore alcoholics were more determined and thus more likely to get their beer or wine, which served as significant sources of nutrition in early agrarian societies.

anyways, I didn't mean to hijack the discussion, just posing an interesting thought.

 

[footscrazy]

I've seen a theory that suggests alcohol was a safer alternative to drink than dirty water.

I would think that a strong desire for 'reward' would be a trait directly selected for, as it developed to get people to do things that helped them survive, like eating, having sex, etc, like Solide said, and could be easily hijacked by substances.

 

[muvolution]

I agree on the strong desire for reward and that drugs hijack those reward pathways that developed for extremely basic evolutionary reasons. That shit is like on the level of the reptillian brain, but there is something more, or some higher functioning going on, something, that determines a greater genetic predisposition to allow substances to hijack these pathways.

I don't know, or perhaps because this data is probably all from the modern era that environment and upbringing could determine someone's predisposition, not genetic factors.

 

[qwe]

i think that a good part of our species' social evolution, especially religious and ontological, is intertwined with natural chemicals (and, currently, artificial). mushrooms and other psychedelic psychoactives were integral in the formation of religion, imo (i wrote a paper on this).

drugs are a technology, and it's simply a part of the larger picture of technology accelerating our social evolution.

 

[LogicSoDeveloped]

To me, using drugs is a sort of second nature. Ever since I started, using drugs has never felt inherently taboo. The only part that isn't positive, imo, is the illegality of most drugs. I say that is the only unpleasant part for me as I don't really delve into the more addictive opiates/benzos/stims. This isn't true for everyone but my favorite type of drugs are the psychedelic ones. I just feel like I get so much out of using them and have never understood what is wrong about them. I just see it as a way of changing reality and I don't see how that is a bad thing.

 

[MyDoorsAreOpen]

Most genetic traits are either "carriers" or "riders" meaning they either carry strong genetic information that will help the subsequent generation procreate better, or they are casually linked with these traits...

What purpose could addiction have in human evolution for such a high percentage of people to be pre-disposed to it?

I'd say it's a "rider". Psychological studies that I've read have noted a strong correlation between a tendency toward addiction and novelty-seeking and adventurousness, i.e. becoming bored easily. People who are perfectly content with the familiar, cozy, same-old-same-old day after day are the least likely to become addicted to anything. I'd say the helpful trait is the bravery to explore beyond what is safe and precedented, which results in either far fewer or far more genetic offspring, depending on what the explorer encounters.