Introduction

Alcohol and other drug addiction have caused serious health consequences for Australians most of whom are facing serious health issues. Around one in every 20 Australians is facing serious health issues due to drug addiction or other substance abuse. For this instance, the current study will evaluate this AOD issue in the context of Australia focusing on three different areas such as understanding addiction, the cycle of drug addiction and evaluating one evidence-based model which is the social learning model. Furthermore, the study will present some scholarly articles to argue and support the facts represented within the study.

Critical discussion

Understanding of addiction

As per the research by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (n.d.), addiction has been considered a relapsing and chronic disorder which has been characterised by compulsive drug seeking and utilisation regardless of its adverse consequences. The term “addiction” has been considered the strong psychological or physical urge or need to do or use something. For instance, substance addiction has demonstrated the strong physiological urge or dependence on the usage or consumption of substances even though individuals are aware that this can be harmful in psychological or physical manner (National Institute on Drug Abuse, n.d.). This has led me to understand that addiction for a long time has led to major brain disorders involving functional changes towards the brand circuits including self-control, stress, reward and more.

I also learned that addiction can lead to loss of control, compulsive usage or consumption and still continuous usage of substances or drug addiction. In this regard, addiction to alcohol has led to major poor nutrition, paranoia, anxiety and more for the short-term period, however in the long-term this has led to a high risk of cardiovascular disease, liver damage, permanent brain damage and more (Prasad, Raju & Kumar, 2023). On the other hand, the addiction to cannabis has caused cancer of the lungs, throat, mouth and tongue persistent bronchitis including major mental health disorders (Hader Clinic Queensland, 2021). Therefore, I can state that addiction to different drug addiction has led to different adverse impacts on both the physical and mental health of individuals.

I also understood that as the individuals are not willing to stop taking drugs or any kind of substance, this has led to major withdrawal symptoms such as insomnia, nervousness,

depression, anxiety, agitation and more which seems also harmful for both physical and mental health (Alsheikh, 2021). This has led me to learn that quitting or withdrawing from addiction is also challenging yet hard. In this regard, it is understood that AOD addicted brands are quite different from the normal brain physiologically and chemically where the main reason is associated with the usage of AOD as this has altered the way a normal brain has functioned.

These changes in the brand chemistry have led to major addiction including its tolerance and withdrawal symptoms which all have led to huge cravings. This has led me to learn and understand that addiction has altered the brain chemistry which has affected any addicted individual’s thought process as well as their decision-making process.

The Cycle of Addiction

Through the evaluation of the cycle of addiction which was developed by Patrick Carnes, it is understood that the cycle has seven potential stages where in the first stage, an individual has felt shame due to a wounded belief system. The main reason behind these wounds can include sexual abuse, negligence, physical and emotional abuse, childhood attachment issues or injuries and more which has made any individual feel shame and due to this shame, his or her emotions have been triggered and caused major problems such as stress, BLAHSTO (bored, lonely, angry, hungry, stressed, tired and overwhelmed) (Carnes, 2013). This emotional trigger has led an individual to preoccupation or fantasy or obsession and further leads to the ritualisation stage.

The ritualisation stage has demonstrated the actions of using drug addiction or any kind of substance by triggering emotionally and this ritualisation can be built for months, weeks or hours. After that, this action has led to acting out the normal behaviour or compulsion and step by step an individual’s despair has led to guilt and then shame and then again to the obsession stage. Any individual’s despair, shame and guilt have made them again emotionally triggered and the consequent consumption of drugs and any other substances has made them drug addiction, alcohol or substance addicted (Carnes, 2013). In this regard, individuals have lost their control over

behaviour and feelings of shame, guilt and remorse have led to feelings of dissatisfaction this has made them feel huge pain and they start to fantasise about the addiction to resolving their returned pains. In this regard, the term withdrawal has been also known as detox or detoxification which occurs when anyone is willing to cut back or quit the usage of alcohol or other drugs (Das, 2020). In this regard, physical or physiological dependence on drug addiction and alcohol can lead to major troubles in the withdrawal process which can also make them emotionally triggered and relieve pain they can use alcohol or drugs again. Therefore, through the utilisation of the cycle of addiction has been demonstrated explicitly about how this cycle has impacted addiction.

Evidence-based models: Social Learning model

As per the view of Wendt et al., (2022), it is seen that evidence-based practice has involved the integration of clinical research and knowledge such as from education to prevention and treatment. In this regard, contingency management, continuing care, narrative therapy, solutions-focused, cognitive behaviour theory, motivational interviewing and more major potential evidence-based interventions (Magill, Kiluk & Ray, 2023). Along with that, there is a significant evidence-based model which is the social learning model. This model has demonstrated the concept of dependence is not only related to chemicals but also social and behavioural in nature where the addictive users have been found to be highly influenced by the drugs (Smith, 2021). The social learning model has summarised that any individual who has engaged in an activity they think is pleasurable for them has been found at risk of building dependence on that pleasurable activity. In this regard, the term dependence has been demonstrated as the learned behaviour which has resulted from the process of conditioning, modelling and thinking about the usage or consumption of substances (Smith, 2021). Through the lens of this theory, it is understood that addiction can be caused by the functional relationships between the drug-centric behaviours, social environment and personal characteristics of an individual which has indicated the emergence of effective treatment interventions (Smith, 2021). Moreover, this theory also demonstrates that when an addictive person has decided to quit consumption of drugs or alcohol, only then the treatment seem vastly effective in terms of its benefits.

Conclusion

The study has presented the key idea of drug addiction as per the National Institute of Drug Abuse which has stated addiction as a chronic disorder that has a relapsing behaviour of using the drug or other substances despite its immersive adverse impact on health. Furthermore, the study has evaluated the concept of the addiction cycle. The study has represented the facts showing there is a neuroscientific activity in the brain that restrains a person from not taking drug addiction. In this instance, the person gets Involved with repetitive actions of taking drugs.

Furthermore, the study has evaluated social learning as an evidence-based model for the current context.

References

Alsheikh, M. Y. (2021). Post-acute withdrawal syndrome: the major cause of relapse among psychoactive substances addicted users. Archives of Pharmacy Practice, 12(4-2021), 91-

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Carnes, P., (2013, October). The Cycle of Addiction. Edited by Marnie Ferre and Laura M. Brotherson.

Das, S. K. (2020). Detoxification of drug and substance abuse. Medical Toxicology. DOI: 10.5772/intechopen.90380

Hader Clinic Queensland, (2021). Cannabis Addiction Treatment. Retrieved on https://haderclinicqld.com.au/cannabis-addiction-treatment/ [Accessed on 15 March 2024]

Magill, M., Kiluk, B. D., & Ray, L. A. (2023). Efficacy of cognitive behavioral therapy for alcohol and other drug use disorders: is a one-size-fits-all approach appropriate?.

Substance Abuse and Rehabilitation, 1-11.doi: 10.1016/j.bbr.2020.112954

National Institute on Drug Abuse, (n.d.). What is drug addiction? Retrieved on https://nida.nih.gov/publications/drugs-brains-behavior-science-addiction/drug-misuse-addiction [Accessed on 15 March 2024]

Prasad, K. S., Raju, P. N., & Kumar, D. V. N. (2023). NATIONAL SEMINAR ON DRUG ADDICTION AND ABUSE AMONG YOUTH (DAY 2023).

https://skrgdcgudur.ac.in/userfiles/Final%20proceedings%20Day%202023.pdf

Smith, M. A. (2021). Social learning and addiction. Behavioural Brain Research, 398, 112954. doi: 10.1016/j.bbr.2020.112954

Wendt, D. C., Huson, K., Albatnuni, M., & Gone, J. P. (2022). What are the best practices for psychotherapy with indigenous peoples in the United States and Canada? A thorny question. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 90(10), 802. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/ccp0000757