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Addictions
Definition-
Addiction is a dependence on a behavior or sub-stance that a
person is powerless to stop. The term has been partially replaced by the word dependence for substance abuse.
Addiction has been extended, however, to include mood-altering behaviors or activities. Some researchers speak
of two types of addictions: substance addictions (for example, alcoholism, drug abuse, and smoking); and
process addictions (for example, gambling, spending, shopping, eating, and sexual activity). There is a growing
recognition that many addicts, such as polydrug abusers, are addicted to more than one sub-stance or
process.
Description
Addiction is one of the most costly public health problems in
the United States. It is a progressive syndrome, which means that it increases in severity over time unless it
is treated. Substance abuse is characterized by frequent relapse, or return to the abused substance. Substance
abusers often make repeated attempts to quit before they are successful.
In 1995 the economic cost of substance abuse in the United
States exceeded $414 billion, with health care costs attributed to substance abuse estimated at more than $114
billion.
By eighth grade, 52% of adolescents have consumed alcohol, 41%
have smoked tobacco, and 20% have smoked marijuana. Compared to females, males are almost four times as likely
to be heavy drinkers, nearly one and a half more likely to smoke a pack or more of cigarettes daily, and twice
as likely to smoke marijuana weekly.
However, among adolescents these gender differences are
decreasing. Although frequent use of tobacco, cocaine and heavy drinking appears to have remained stable in the
1990s, marijuana use increased.
In 1999, an estimated four million Americans over the age of
12 used prescription pain relievers, sedatives, and stimulants for "nonmedical" reasons during one
month.
In the United States, 25% of the population regularly uses
tobacco. Tobacco use reportedly kills 2.5 times as many people each year as alcohol and drug abuse combined.
According to 1998 data from the World Health Organization, there were 1.1 billion smokers worldwide and 10,000
tobacco-related deaths per day. Furthermore, in the United States, 43% of children aged 2-11 years are exposed
to environmental tobacco smoke, which has been implicated in sudden infant death syndrome,low birth weight,
asthma, middle ear disease, pneumonia, cough, and upper respiratory infection.
Eating disorders, such as anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa,
and binge eating, affect over five million American women and men. Fifteen percent of young women have
substantially disordered attitudes toward eating and eating behaviors.
More than 1,000 women die each year from anorexia nervosa. A
1997 Harvard study found that an estimated 15.4 million Americans suffered from a gambling addiction. Over half
that number (7.9 million) were adolescents.
- Bill Asenjo, MS, CRC
Get more information on heroin rehab and addiction.
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