Introduction
One of the consequences of using drugs is, eventually, an individual becoming addicted. Addiction refers to a neuropsychological disorder that involves persistently feeling an urge to engage in particular behaviors despite the significant harm or negative effects. The psychology that explains addiction covers many areas, such as an illness or personal problem, an effect of someone’s lifestyle, family history, or socioeconomic demographics. This paper aims to highlight what the field of psychology says about the negative effects of drugs and why people continue using despite the consequences.
Discussion
Using drugs once does not necessarily mean someone will never consume them again. In most cases, the drugs contain elements that can cause a person to become addicted. From a psychological perspective, it is important to understand how people enter into addiction. At the root of addictive behavior is a level of emotional stress deeply hidden within someone’s subconscious mind, and addressing it becomes a challenge. To relieve stress, pleasure is discovered in excess (Bechara 100). An example is when people choose to drink alcohol to ease their pain and ultimately find fun.
Stopping the behavior is a danger to someone’s mental state as they fear returning thoughts of the initial source of emotional stress. When a person is addicted, it suggests they lack healthy coping methods for the problem. The only mechanisms are distracting as well as unhealthy such as substance usage. Individuals dealing with addiction do not care about what matters since what is important to them is the desire to do something when that stress appears (Bechara 101). Some can stop their behaviors as their emotional stress does not manifest as among the addictive behaviors. Meanwhile, for others, their drug usage indicates an issue they may not have known and needs treatment. This leads to associative learning, which refers to learning to do something according to a novel stimulus.
Associative Learning
It is regarded as associative learning when an individual finds and takes drugs and ultimately gets high. The concept can be further explained using Ivan Pavlov’s experiment, where he rang a bell to call a dog and then rewarded it with food (Fouyssac and David 3015). A specific part of the brain controls associative learning, which it does via a neurotransmitter named dopamine. Dopamine is produced naturally by the brain when an individual does something rewarding or pleasurable.
The dopamine effect is a survival mechanism whereby eating or drinking feels good. It ensures continuity of life, family, and species in general. The element’s production is among the key drivers behind sex since, as much as the act is rewarding and pleasurable simultaneously, it is needed for survival (Fouyssac and David 3015). The main effect is that it creates a memory of the experience, which pushes people to seek the feeling again. People forget about the negative effects of drugs due to the moments of pleasure. As mentioned earlier, it is most likely that someone who uses the drug once will consume it again. The feeling established, regardless of how long, is enough to convince a person to forget everything they know concerning the negative effects and pursue a minute or two of a great time.
Conclusion
The paper has highlighted what the field of psychology says about the negative effects of drugs and why people continue using despite the consequences. It has been established that, in most cases, individuals experience addiction due to the pursuit of stress relief. Using the logic of the dopamine effect, once someone experiences something pleasurable or rewarding to them, they are most likely to pursue that feeling again. Eventually, it becomes impossible to convince them against the drugs as their desire to end their problem is more than the need to remain healthy.
Works Cited
Bechara, Antoine, et al. “A Neurobehavioral Approach to Addiction: Implications for the Opioid Epidemic and the Psychology of Addiction.” Psychological Science in the Public Interest, vol. 20, no. 2, 2019, p. 96–127.
Fouyssac, Maxime, and David Belin. “Beyond Drug‐Induced Alteration of Glutamate Homeostasis, Astrocytes May Contribute to Dopamine‐Dependent Intrastriatal Functional Shifts That Underlie the Development of Drug Addiction: A Working Hypothesis.” European Journal of Neuroscience, vol. 50, no. 6, 2019, p. 3014-3027.