Addiction The term addiction is addiction is used to define the prolonged use of mood altering substances regardless of their toxic and consumptive consequences. This includes, though not limited to alcohol and drug abuse. Such people normally indulge in other activities such as gambling, womanising, etc., which seem pleasurable at the time but, later on, become compulsive and interfere with regular life responsibilities, such as relationships, work and even health. Addicts, as they are called, are not, normally aware when their behaviour is getting out hand and creating problems for themselves as well as others. Some of the chief defining characteristics of addiction are: loss of control over substances and behaviour, obsession with substance, continued use and denial. Habits and patterns of addiction are usually marked by short-term gratification (temporary reward), together with delayed harmful long-term effects and costs. Physiological dependence arises when the addict’s body feels the need of the substance even for ‘normal' functioning’. Over time and often unknown to the user, this results in conditions like increased tolerance and withdrawal. Tolerance is characterised by the body continually adapting to the substance thereby requiring increasingly larger quantities to achieve the desired effects. Withdrawal symptoms are the physical and psychological effects they experience when the substance of use is reduced or discontinued once their body has become dependent on it. Withdrawal symptoms normally include, even though not limited to, irritability, anxiety, nausea, acute cravings for the substance, headaches, hallucinations, tremors and cold sweats. Addiction also includes cravings that are not always substance-related, for instance, sex addiction, compulsive shopping, overeating, gambling, sports, exercise, mobile phone and computer addiction. In these cases, the term is used to describe a chronic compulsion by people to indulge in certain activities, despite their damaging consequences to their physical and mental health, finances or social life. Often, there are other factors, biological and psychological, that contribute to such addictions. Biological Mechanisms Years of research has shown strong connections between substance abuse and their after effects. People affected by mood disorders are at even more risk of substance abuse disorders. Addiction and its effects are related in many ways since they play a vital role in influencing behaviour. For example, addicts are known to choose – advertently or inadvertently – outcomes that minimize negative effects while maximizing the positive ones. Negative effects The most highly studied research on addiction has to do with the relationship between substance use and its negative effects or disorders. It shows that those who experience the greatest levels of negative effects are also the ones at highest risk of continued use of substances as a coping mechanism. Here, substances are used to enhance mood and distract the user from unpleasant feelings. Once the user has become physical dependent, substance abuse is then mainly motivated by a desire to avoid negative states that accompany withdrawal. People highly affected by mood disorders (worry, anxiety, stress, tensions) most often report high levels of negative effects associated with their cravings. At the same time, while the negative effects increase the chances of substance use, the states induced by withdrawal are most commonly the reasons for continued and increased usage. Normally, people start using the substance for their enjoyable effects, but then resort to it compulsively to cope with the withdrawal symptoms; over time this results in dependence. Basis it is believed that those indulging in over-use of such substances automatically become over-responsive to negative stimuli leading to addiction. Negative effects are also a powerful indicator of risks of addiction in adolescents. High risk adolescents are found to be over-reactive to negative stimuli; this automatically increases their need for substance use subsequent to any negative emotion-arousing situation. Furthermore, researchers have found that adolescents who are more exposed to negative situations are at higher risk of moving from recreational to chronic use, very often, despite the family history of addiction and its adverse side-effects. Moreover, the tendency to indulge in high-risk behaviour in response to stress is highly predictive of certain features of substance abuse in youngsters. Early individual differences in response to substance use can predict the later usage patterns that cause ‘negative urgency’. Positive effects As against negative effects, positive effects are related to addiction both in high as well as low forms. For instance, those who experience high positive effects are more likely to indulge in risky behaviour like alcohol and drug abuse. People with high positive effects more often seek out substances for sensual pleasures. On the other hand, low positive effects usually induce initial use owing to insensitivity towards or lack of natural rewards. Extensive research has revealed the relation between positive emotional states to personal differences in high-risk behaviour. This is defined as the urge to indulge in high-risk behaviour in extreme positive situations, which is predictive of substance abuse problems, subsequently leading to addiction. Positive urgency has normally revealed a predictive relationship with increased usage and alcohol / drug related problems on campus, as well as its abuse after college. Moreover, this provides important information on how positive urgency could increase the possibility of substance abuse. Other important factors are individual differences in experiencing the pleasurable effects of substance usage. Some people may be more highly sensitive to the enjoyable effects of substance use and so experience them with more intensity, resulting to addiction. In fact, in cocaine addicts researchers have found over-responsiveness to substance affects – a higher response to methylphenidate in the brain in relation to emotional reactivity and mood. So, it follows that the intense emotional responses that these addicts show in response to substance use could be a result of the higher sensitivity the substances produce. Interestingly, there is a marked difference in how different individuals metabolize substances like alcohol or drugs. Such positive reinforcing effects, researchers say, are predetermined. Individual responses to alcohol or drugs differently effect their motivation to use. For instance, if a person experiences weak positive (and strong negative) effects from a substance, due to their biochemical profile, their expectations of the positive effects from the substance will naturally be low, thus decreasing their desire for continued use and subsequent dependence. Alternately, the experience of the positive effects increases the risk of substance use as well as the implicit relations between usage and its rewards. In conclusion Surprisingly, a number of addicts have even reported symptoms of inability to experience pleasure. Research shows show that chronic use of substance tends to reduce responsiveness to its positive stimuli. This could result in decreased ability to indulge in normal behaviour in response to natural rewards. Hence, low positive results also tend to prevent such individuals from replacing drug use with other satisfying activities, thereby increasing their use. It has also been found that during substance dependence the mental states that govern decision making are weakened with regard to natural rewards; however, at the same time they tend to increase emotional responses to drug-related stimuli. Therefore, under-responsiveness to positive stimuli is another vital factor that could drive the individual to use of the substance and further away from other natural alternatives. However, in most cases of addiction people become compulsive users mostly as a result of being exposed to continuous emotional stress, even if they do not have an addiction problem to begin with. Since these addictions are not based on drug, alcohol or their effects, they often explain why people frequently switch from one substance to a totally different kind one, or even to a non-addictive behaviour. The focus of the addiction does not matter; what counts is the need for action under stressful situations. To treat this calls for a deep understanding of how things work in the addictive psyche. All said and done, regardless of the kind of addiction, what is important is that we recognize that addiction is a disease. It is not so much an individual’s quest for pleasure as much as a need and, above all, addiction has little or nothing to do with a person’s strength of character.