Drug Addiction Theories

Many people do not understand the mechanics of drug addiction. They believe that it is easy to stop using drugs as it is easy to start.  They have no clue about the complexity of this problem and that is why they consider people who abuse drugs as morally weak. 

There are a number of drug addiction theories but for each theory to be useful, it must take a multidimensional approach to understand addiction. It must also show and explain how drug abuse cycle leads to addiction.

Three drug addiction theories used to explain drug addiction:

1. Genetic theory

This theory aims to separate genetic causal factors from environmental ones.  The research that was done by its proponents reached the conclusion that children born by alcoholic parents and later adopted in a non alcoholic family are susceptible to alcohol than those born in normal families. This study also revealed that the case gets worse if these children are raised by alcoholic parents. This clearly shows that there are genetic predispositions that contribute to this addiction.

2. Exposure theories

There are two of them. That is: biological and the conditioning model. Biological theorists argue that when substances are introduced into the body on a regular basis, the body eventually gets used to them which in turn leads to addiction. It is assumed that once a substance is introduced let us say a narcotics, the body responds by adjusting its level of metabolism and becomes completely reliant on this drug to reach the required body level. In the process, one is trapped and has to regularly consume this drug, hence the addiction. On the other hand, conditioning model theorists argue that addiction results due to accumulation of drug substances in the body. They argue that as drugs are administered to the body on a regular basis, they take control of the body and even start controlling  behaviors of the user.

3. Adaptation theories

Adaptation drug addiction theories encompass environmental, psychological and Sociological theories. These theories hold that drug abuse behavior is learned or acquired from others. It is believed that people are influenced by others to engage in drug. They try to imitate what other successful drug are doing. They believe that subjective emotions plus exposure to internal and external factors contribute to drug addiction. They also believe that past conditioning on emotional regulation and social cognitive abilities plays a key part in addiction. These theorists also claim that people abuse drugs and substances in a bid to overcome or adapt to external and internal pressures.

As we have seen here above, the discussed drug addiction theories are all trying to demystify drug addiction.