Alice M Young Research Paper
Sandra Nigro
Intro to Psych M/W 5:30
19.November.2008
Addiction: Disease or Not?
Is addiction a disease or a psychological/biological disorder. First we need to consider what a disease is. In the following statements and research I will be attempting to compare to views on this matter. The importance of this topic is to really to discuss what is at hand. According to Alice M Young, addiction has a tremendous effect on the brain, both psychological and biological. Jeffrey A. Schaler, on the other hand, is trying to convince us that addiction is a disease. One author speaks of brain processes and the other on predispositions. This is what I came up with. In Alice M. Young’s article, Addictive Drugs and the Brain, she suggests that an addiction to drugs may effect brain processes, such as learning and emotion. (1) (Young, Alice M. 1999. “Addictive Drugs and the Brain”) According to this article, when one “uses” heroin it travels through out the body and reaches the surface of the neurons. Heroin turns into morphine and can cause profound physiological or psychological changes in the brain.(2) (Young, Alice M. 1999. “Addictive Drugs and the Brain”) When talking about the psychological effects, drug addiction alters our ability to learn and remember …show more content…
Young. Her information was clearer and makes much more sense, scientifically, than Jeffrey A Schaler’s article. Young ad some solid test and evidence about what drug addiction has on the brain, neurons and neurotransmitters. Though I’m not an advocate for animal testing, they provided information about the circuits involved in the ventral segmental area, the nucleus accumbens and the frontal cortex.(8) (Young, Alice M. 1999. “Addictive Drugs and the Brain”) She also discussed tolerance. The more one uses, the more they will need to get a “rush”. There is also physical dependence, in which the brain can not function normally with out the
Intro to Psych M/W 5:30
19.November.2008
Addiction: Disease or Not?
Is addiction a disease or a psychological/biological disorder. First we need to consider what a disease is. In the following statements and research I will be attempting to compare to views on this matter. The importance of this topic is to really to discuss what is at hand. According to Alice M Young, addiction has a tremendous effect on the brain, both psychological and biological. Jeffrey A. Schaler, on the other hand, is trying to convince us that addiction is a disease. One author speaks of brain processes and the other on predispositions. This is what I came up with. In Alice M. Young’s article, Addictive Drugs and the Brain, she suggests that an addiction to drugs may effect brain processes, such as learning and emotion. (1) (Young, Alice M. 1999. “Addictive Drugs and the Brain”) According to this article, when one “uses” heroin it travels through out the body and reaches the surface of the neurons. Heroin turns into morphine and can cause profound physiological or psychological changes in the brain.(2) (Young, Alice M. 1999. “Addictive Drugs and the Brain”) When talking about the psychological effects, drug addiction alters our ability to learn and remember …show more content…
Young. Her information was clearer and makes much more sense, scientifically, than Jeffrey A Schaler’s article. Young ad some solid test and evidence about what drug addiction has on the brain, neurons and neurotransmitters. Though I’m not an advocate for animal testing, they provided information about the circuits involved in the ventral segmental area, the nucleus accumbens and the frontal cortex.(8) (Young, Alice M. 1999. “Addictive Drugs and the Brain”) She also discussed tolerance. The more one uses, the more they will need to get a “rush”. There is also physical dependence, in which the brain can not function normally with out the