Essay on Is Addiction a Brain Disease - 2426 Words

Position Paper: Is Addiction a Brain Disease? Introduction Addiction, it is all around us, affecting people from all walks of life, it is not limited to certain social classes or lifestyles. It is found in every ethnic group, regardless of gender or age. It affects our neighbors, our friends, and our family either directly or indirectly. Although substances such as alcohol and illegal drugs are two of the most common addictions we hear about, there is a wide range of substances and even activities such as gambling and shopping. There is some debate whether addiction is a brain disease or a choice. This controversy has been going on for years and a decision whether or not addiction is a brain disease has yet to be reached.†¦show more content†¦If a person can make the choice to take drugs then they can also make the choice to stop taking drugs, especially during those times in between when they are not taking drugs. For a person to voluntarily continue taking drugs of their own accord then they should be held accountable for their addictive behavior and not use brain disease as an excuse. Further, circumstances such as economical, health, or personal issues resulting in a person’s choice to take drugs ironically can be the same reasons for them to either change their pattern, stop taking drugs, or get help versus the unavoidable, involuntary effect of a diseased brain. Additionally, those that choose to continue being addicted over a long period of time illustrates that by making that choice they are not helpless compared to a person who has a chronic disease. â€Å"Rather than being the inevitable, involuntary product of a diseased brain, these actions represent the essence of voluntariness. The addict’s behavior can be modified by knowledge of the consequences. Involuntary behavior cannot (Satel, Goodwin, 1998, pg. 5). As a result of that knowledge the addicted person is in control and can take be in charge of their actions to change the cycle and make a deliberate effort to change. 5 My Position: My position is optimistic onShow MoreRelatedIs Addiction A Brain Disease?1680 Words   |  7 Pages Cognitive Addiction Addiction is a Brain Associated Disorder that Allows the Body to Become Dependent on a Substance Oliver Sutton General Psychology 150-101 Professor Shawn Matthews 30 September 2014 Oliver Sutton Professor Shawn Matthews General Psychology 150-101 30 September 2014 Is addiction a brain disease? 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Although for most people, the initial decision to use drugs is a one time lapse in judgement, the brain isRead MoreAddiction : Lack Of Will Power Or Brain Disease?1186 Words   |  5 Pages Addiction: Lack of Will Power or Brain Disease? Demonika M. Martin PS101 Introduction to Psychology Park University . I. Introduction Addiction is a disease that continues to fester and destroy individual’s lives. Once an individual is under the influence of drugs they no longer have control over their actions. Drug user’s brains are hijacked and taken on an explosive ride that begins with pleasure and ends in the damage of their brain. â€Å"Drug use is on the rise in this country andRead MoreDrug Addiction: A Brain Controlling Disease823 Words   |  3 Pagesdrug addiction has left a major impact on the brains of each user. Drug addiction is a relapsing brain disease that is characterized by brain malfunction that alters the way the users think and behave. Normal balancing Mechanisms go haywire, allowing the drug to control the brain. Drug addiction has been a major concern for scientist in recent years. With research drug addiction is categorized as a neuron-disease from its large impact on the brain. Drug addiction is a complex brain disease characterizedRead MoreThe Disease of Addiction Creates and Imbalance Between the Limbic and Frontal Lobes of the Brain1889 Words   |  8 PagesPatho-physiologists define addiction as a disease, thus affording to the chemical imbalance between the limbic and frontal lobes of the brain (Litowitz 2012). Psychologists have taken a broader approach, linking neuroscience with a binomial relationship to human behaviour in order to diagnose and challenge whether addiction is mind over matter, or indeed a neurological disorder (Burton, Westen, Kowalski, 2012). The following essay will firstly discuss three theories of psychology and how they eachRead MoreThe Problem Of Drug Addiction952 Words   |  4 Pagesthe eventual drug addiction is essentially involuntary. Drug addiction is a complex and chronic disease, a brain disease, which changes the way the brain functions. Drug addiction, much like chronic illnesses such as heart disease and diabetes , disrupts healthy, normal functioning organs. This has harmful consequences that are both preventable and treatable (Branch, 2011, pp.263-265). Drug addiction is considered a brain disease as drugs change the brain structure and how the brain operates. TheseRead MoreA Critical Look At Brain Disease1371 Words   |  6 PagesCritical Look at Brain Disease Addiction, such as drug or alcohol addiction, is explained by a Dr. Nora Volkow in a HBO series on addiction as a disease of the brain that translates into abnormal behavior. This disease is known as brain disease which refers to disruptions in the brain s motivational and reward circuitry that results from the cumulative effect of repeated use of certain substances. The documentary, Addiction, drove home the point that drug addiction is a brain disease that is aRead MoreAddiction as a Disease: Addiction is a term that has traditionally been used to refer to1400 Words   |  6 PagesAddiction as a Disease: Addiction is a term that has traditionally been used to refer to psychiatric syndrome that is caused by illicit drug use. Actually, addition is the only psychiatric condition whose symptoms are regarded as an illegal activity. In most cases, this term is described on the basis of drug use, which is the main focus of many research and treatment programs. Generally, drug addiction has significant negative effects on individuals using the drug and those around them such as

People who influenced rizal Free Essays

When Racial was a young boy he would always spend time with his older brother, Pacing. He learned so many things from his brother. Pacing made a great impact on Racal’s life. We will write a custom essay sample on People who influenced rizal or any similar topic only for you Order Now As a child, Racial had so many interest, he was into painting, sculpting, reading, writing and many more. He grew up in a family that is exposed to books and there he learned to love reading and writing. One of the most important person that contributed to Racal’s being was his mother, Deodorant Alonso. During the time of Racal’s mother, it was very unlikely for a woman to reach college level, but she was able to reach college and was an expert in mathematics. Jose Racial learned from his mother about the ways of life and on being a good citizen to his country. There would be no Jose Racial if it was not for Deodorant Alonso. Because of Racal’s intelligence, he was sent to Banyan, a more advanced city in Laguna, and later on went to Atone Municipal nag Manila for advanced learning. There were parts of Jose Racal’s novels that was inspired by incidents that happened in Racal’s time. One incident that led Jose Racial to write about Isis in one of his novels was the incident that happened to his mother. Deodorant Alonso was accused of poisoning her sister-in-law and was punished without any proof. And another Incident that was told to Jose Racial by his brother was the execution of the SOMBRERO, an acronym denoting the surnames of the priests that was executed. How to cite People who influenced rizal, Essays

Social Pressure and Perception Essay Example

Social Pressure and Perception Essay Picture yourself in the following scenarios, youve answered an advert in the local paper to take part in an experiment for psychology purposes, you arrive along with others but not realising that you are the only true volunteer. You are all placed in a darkened room and the only thing you can see is a pin point of light which tends to move (The Autokinetic Effect). Then later your all asked how much the pin points of light moved and then compared the answers collected from the other volunteers (Stooges). As an individual you give your answer which is different from your group answer. Another experiment involves two cards, one contains a single vertical line and the other card contains three different lengths of vertical lines. The end result in both of these experiments shows how we conform to others. Im going to explain in two ways in depth how we Conform to others, the Self Concept and Obedience. At the end of this essay you will see that Ive noted how important it is that we meet the BPS ethical guidelines when experiments like these are done. Conformity In 1935 a Psychologist called Sherif wanted to show how people conformed to other peoples ideas, so he used an experiment called the Autokinetic Effect and this involved placing the subjects in a darkened room with a pin point of light which would eventually move about. Sherif asked the subjects to estimate how much the pin point of light moved and they all gave very different answers ranging from one to seven inches. We will write a custom essay sample on Social Pressure and Perception specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Social Pressure and Perception specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Social Pressure and Perception specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer Each subject tended to make the same sort of judgement whenever they were tested. For instance their answers for the next set of tests would be the same as the previous experiments. These were the results that Sherif got when the subjects were tested on their own. However when they were sat in a room all together they seemed to give the same answers as each other. The result in this experiment is Conformity. In 1951 a Social Psychologist called Solomon Asch invented an experiment to explore how pressure from one person could affect another persons perceptions. In total, one third of the subjects who were put in this situation went along with the clearly erroneous majority. Aschs experiment involved 4 lines, 3 of the lines were different lengths to the 1st line. These were shown to college students in groups of 8 to 10. He told them that he wanted to study the visual perception and that their task was to decide which of the lines matched the same as the 1st line. It was obvious to see what the correct answer was. Asch asked the students to give their answers aloud. Only 1 student in each group was the real subject. All the others were confederates who were instructed to give inaccurate answers on a number of trials. Asch made sure that the real subject was the next to the last person in each of these groups to provide their answer. This is because Asch wanted the subject to hear most of the confederate incorrect answers before giving his own. The question is would the subject go along with the crowd? Asch was amazed to find that most of the subjects conformed to the majority at least once and the rest of them conformed on more than 6 of the 12 trials. When confronted with a unanimous incorrect answer by the other group members, the mean subject conformed on 4 of the 12 trials. Asch was disturbed by these results: The tendency to conform in our society is so strong that reasonably intelligent and well-meaning young people are willing to call white black. This is a matter of concern. It raises questions about our ways of education and about the values that guide our conduct. Theories of the self  When we are born into this world we do not know anything. We are unable to do things for ourselves and do not understand anything. As we grow and develop our self into the unique human we are today we see ourselves through others.  Charles Horton Cooley proposed the theory Looking Glass Self the process of developing a self-image on the basis of the messages we get from others, as we understand them. There are three components to the looking glass self: 1. We imagine how we appear to others.  2. We imagine what their judgement of that appearance must be.  3. We develop some self-feeling such as pride or mortification, as a result of our imagining others judgement.  4.  Charles Cooley basically tells us that we use others as a mirror and that is how we think others see us.  In 1969 Michael Argyle described four main factors that affect the way an individuals self concept develops and is maintained in day to day living. These factors are:  1. Other peoples reactions for instance if we are talking to another person and they seem to look at something else or seem to be in another place we feel that we are dull and boring the other person or dont seem interesting enough for the other person to want to pay full attention. 2. Comparisons with other people and how we should look to fit in, to be accepted by others. How we look in comparison to the next person for instance within a group/gang we would always want to be the better person within the group/gang.  3. Roles, Everybody has different sets of roles that they play in their life, for example: as a parent, as a neighbour, as a wife/husband etc. Each set of roles come with different types of behaviour. 4. Identification with others. Self-identity originally comes into existence through identification with others. Being part of a family, group, community or a culture is a primary psychological motivation based on the primacy for attachment, relatedness, emotional involvement with others, and the desire for acceptance and love. Through the process of identification with others the rudiments of the self are constituted through the internalization of others who possess the psychological characteristics of similarity.

Types Of Computer Viruses Essays - Computer Viruses, Free Essays

Types Of Computer Viruses Essays - Computer Viruses, Free Essays Types Of Computer Viruses A computer virus is a program that is designed to damage your computer, programs, and files. Like a virus in a living thing, a computer virus can spread if it is not removed. Some viruses are more dangerous than others. One of the most common places for a computer virus to appear is on a file found on the Internet or attached to an E-mail. For example, you may have a virus that just pops a message box on your screen, and then the virus is disabled, or you can have a virus that deletes half of your hard drive. Computer viruses didnt really exist until the mid 1980s. The first computer viruses were created in university labs to demonstrate how much of a threat the vicious code could be. There are many kind of viruses that exist today. Some of the most common of Computer Viruses are: File Viruses, Boot Sector/Partition Viruses, Multi-Partite Viruses, Trojan Horses, File Overwriters, Polymorphic viruses, and Stealth Viruses. A File Virus is the most common kind of virus. These kinds of viruses usually infect .EXE and .COM files, which are the main component of a program or application. A file virus can insert its own code into part of the file, so that when the infected program file is run, the virus is executed first. Most file viruses are memory resident. Because of this, they can easily attach themselves to other programs that are being run and start to infect that file. A simple virus will overwrite and destroy a host file, immediately letting the user know that there is a problem because the software will not run. Because these viruses are immediately sensed by the computer, they have a less chance to spread. More complex written viruses will cause more damage, spread easier, and are harder to be detected. Boot sector viruses infect hard drives and floppy disks by putting itself on the boot sector of the disk, which has the code that is run at boot up. Booting up from an infected floppy, allows the virus to jump from the floppy to the hard drive. These viruses are loaded first, and gain control of the system before MS-DOS could be loaded. Since the virus is run before the operating system, it is not MS-DOS-specific and can infect any PC operating system. These viruses stay in the RAM and infects every disk that is read by the computer until the computer is rebooted. After reboot the virus is removed from memory. Multi-Partite Viruses are the worse of both file and boot sector viruses. They can infect the host software components. These viruses spread like a file virus, but still insert itself into a boot sector or partition table. Because of this, they are difficult to remove. An example of this type of virus is the Tequila virus. Trojan Horses are the worst kind of viruses that exist. They contain malicious code that is meant to damage your computer. Unlike other viruses, this virus does not replicate itself. This virus waits until the trigger event. When the trigger event occurs, a message is displayed or files are damaged. Because of the nature of these viruses, there are some researchers that do not classify Trojan Horses as viruses. File Overwriters are viruses that link themselves to a program, leaving the original code intact and adding themselves over and over to as many files as possible. These viruses are made simply to keep copying itself. While, this virus is copying itself it is taking up more disk space and slowing down performance. Since these viruses often have flaws in them, they can inadvertently damage or destroy data. The worst kind of file overwriters, wait until the trigger event, then start to destroy files. Most of the viruses that exist today are Polymorphic. Recently a Mutation Engine was released. This software ensures that polymorphic viruses will only proliferate over the next few years. Like the human AIDS virus, polymorphic viruses grows fast to escape detection by anti-virus programs. Special encrypted code within this virus allows the virus to hide from detection. There are a limited number of kinds of polymorphic viruses. Because of this, they are easier to notice. An example

Geography at Harvard

Geography at Harvard In the latter half of the 20th century, geography as an academic discipline suffered greatly, especially in American higher education. The reasons for this are undoubtedly many, but the biggest contributor was arguably a decision made at Harvard University in 1948 in which university President James Conant declared geography to be not a university subject. In the ensuing decades, universities began dropping geography as an academic discipline until it was no longer found in the nations top schools. But American Geographer, Carl Sauer, wrote in the opening paragraph of Education of a Geographer that the interest [in geography] is immemorial and universal; should we [geographers] disappear, the field will remain and not become vacant. Such a prediction is bold to say the very least. But, is Sauers assertion true? Could geography, with all its historical and contemporary importance, withstand an academic hit like it took at Harvard? What Happened At Harvard? Several key figures emerge in this debate. The first was President James Conant. He was a physical scientist, used to the rigorous nature of research and the employment of a distinct scientific methodology, something which geography was accused of lacking at that time. His charge as the president was to guide the university through the financially lean times in the post-World War II years. The second key figure is Derwent Whittlesey, the chair of the geography department. Whittlesey was a human geographer, for which he was heavily criticized. Physical scientists at Harvard, including many geographers and geologists, felt that human geography was unscientific, lacked rigor, and was not deserving of a place at Harvard. Whittlesey also had a sexual preference which was not as widely accepted in 1948. He hired his live-in partner, Harold Kemp, as a geography lecturer for the department. Kemp was considered by many a mediocre scholar which lent support to geographys critics. Alexander Hamilton Rice, another figure in the Harvard geography affair, founded the Institute for Geographical Exploration at the university. He was considered by many to be a charlatan and would often leave on an expedition while he was supposed to be teaching classes. This made him an annoyance to President Conant and the Harvard administration and did not help geographys reputation. Also, prior to founding the institute, Rice and his wealthy wife tried buying the presidency of the American Geographical Society, contingent on Isaiah Bowman, chair of the geography department at Johns Hopkins University, being removed from the position. Ultimately the plan did not work but the incident did create tension between Rice and Bowman. Isaiah Bowman was a graduate of the geography program at Harvard and was a promoter of geography, just not at his alma mater. Years earlier, a work of Bowmans had been rejected by Whittlesey for use as a geography textbook. The rejection led to an exchange of letters which strained relations between them. Bowman was also described as puritanical and it is supposed that he did not like Whittleseys sexual preference. He also did not like Whittleseys partner, a mediocre scholar, being associated with his alma mater. As a distinguished alumnus, Bowman was part of the committee to evaluate geography at Harvard. It is widely considered that his actions on the geography evaluation committee effectively ended the department at Harvard. Geographer Neil Smith wrote in 1987 that Bowmans silence condemned Harvard Geography and later, when he tried to resuscitate it, his words put nails in the coffin. But, Is Geography Still Being Taught At Harvard? Four Traditions of Geography Earth Science Tradition - earth, water, atmosphere, and relationship to the sunMan-land Tradition - humans and the environment, natural hazards, population, and environmentalismArea Studies Tradition - world regions, international trends, and global relationshipsSpatial Tradition - spatial analysis, geographic information systems Researching Harvard academics online reveals the degree courses for each program are included to show the geographic nature of material being taught within them. Its also important to note that geography was likely ousted at Harvard because of clashing personalities and budgets cuts, not because it wasnt an important academic subject. One could say that it was up to geographers to defend the reputation of geography at Harvard and they failed. Now it is up to those who believe in the merits of geography to reinvigorate it in American education by encouraging and promoting geographic teaching and literacy and supporting rigorous geography standards in schools. This article is adapted from a paper, Geography at Harvard, Revisited, also by the author. Important References: Annals of the Association of American Geographers Vol. 77 no. 2 155-172. Vol. 77 no. 2 155-172.

Eingemauert walled in (Germany's inner border) Essay

Eingemauert walled in (Germany's inner border) - Essay Example The city of Berlin became a strange sort of island within the Eastern portion. One half of the city continued with western capitalist shops and businesses, while the other half developed under the more repressive communist regime. Citizens and visitors could not cross over from one side to the other without extensive border checks, and most Berlin families were suddenly divided by this physical barrier. Many East Germans tried to break through the alarmed fences, which were guarded by troops in watch towers. More than a hundred people were killed in these attempts, because the guards operated a shoot-to-kill policy. The ugly wall, with its defensive mines and barbed wire became known as â€Å"the death strip.† The purpose of this wall was to keep East Germans inside the communist area and to prevent them from escaping to the wealthier and freer society in the West. In 1989 the wall was finally destroyed, when communism failed, and ever since then Germany has been reunited. The wall survives today only in a few symbolic places as a reminder of the recent

To what extent were male and female adolescents' reading preferences Essay

To what extent were male and female adolescents' reading preferences gendered over the twentieth century, and did this change over time - Essay Example As the century progressed, research regarding the adolescent stage of life began to reveal that the angst of adolescence is not born of a single unavoidable cause, as had been previously thought, but rather is a complex relation between physical changes, social issues and cultural preparedness. These studies revealed the close relationship that could be traced through the adolescent’s development and how this reflected the signs of the times. Beginning with a brief overview of the changing theories regarding this age group in both physical and developmental contexts as they pertain to reading choice, an examination into the reading choices of adolescent girls and boys from the early 20th century, to approximately mid-century to more present times will prove enlightening regarding how changing roles in the greater society has had an effect, perhaps a reciprocal effect, upon the reading choices of adolescents working to define their own identity in a changing world. Concepts of adolescence in the early part of the 20th century seemed to be divided between one of two schools. One group of theorists believed the insanity of adolescence was more or less unavoidable as a natural outcome of the physiological changes that were taking place with the onset of puberty and the subsequent societal role changes expected (Blanchard, 1924: 15). The adolescent became overwhelmed with trying to adjust to physical changes at the same time that they were expected to take on new responsibilities and behaviours. According to this view, adolescence for both boys and girls was a time of great physical change, causing more hormones to be released into the bloodstream by the endocrine glands and throwing the entire physical system into an imbalance to which it requires time to adjust (Zorbaugh & Payne, 1935: 373-374). The mental issues of extreme unhappiness, extreme happiness, rebellion, mood swings and other seeming psychoses are simply the