Addiction

Addiction is a complex condition marked by the compulsive use of a substance despite its harmful consequences; it can involve substances such as alcohol, opioids, cocaine and nicotine, or behaviours such as gambling. Scientific evidence shows that addictive behaviours share common neurobiological features — they strongly engage the brain's reward and reinforcement pathways, which affect motivation and involve the neurotransmitter dopamine. Importantly, the neurological changes addiction produces are reversible once the substance use or behaviour stops, though overall, addiction impairs a person's physical, physiological and psychological functioning.

Causes of substance abuse during adolescence include insufficient parental supervision and monitoring, poor communication between child and parents, poorly defined household rules, family conflict, parents who hold favourable attitudes toward alcohol/drug use, unrealistic expectations of what drug use will provide, and a general tendency toward risk-taking behaviour.

Addiction and dependence: Because of their perceived benefits — euphoria, a temporary sense of well-being — drugs and alcohol are used repeatedly, and what is often not realised is their inherently addictive nature. With repeated use, the tolerance of the body's receptors increases, so they respond only to progressively higher doses, driving greater intake and deeper addiction; crucially, even a single use of some drugs can start this process. Without guidance or counselling, a person becomes addicted and dependent on continued use — dependence being the body's tendency to show a characteristic, unpleasant withdrawal syndrome (anxiety, trembling, nausea, sweating) if the regular dose is suddenly stopped, a syndrome that eases again once use resumes.

Effects of drug/alcohol abuse: Immediate effects include reckless behaviour, vandalism and violence. Excessive doses can cause coma and death from respiratory failure, heart failure or cerebral haemorrhage, and combining drugs, or drugs with alcohol, often leads to overdose and death. Warning signs of abuse in young people include falling academic performance, unexplained absence from school/college, poor personal hygiene, withdrawal and isolation, depression, fatigue, aggressive or rebellious behaviour, deteriorating relationships, loss of interest in hobbies, and changes in sleep, appetite or weight. Longer-term, an abuser unable to fund their habit may turn to crime, and addiction commonly causes mental and financial distress across an entire family. Intravenous drug use carries the added risk of infections such as HIV and hepatitis B; alcohol use during adolescence risks loss of balance, liver cirrhosis and pancreatitis, and can predispose a person to heavier drinking in adulthood; chronic use damages the nervous system and liver; and use during pregnancy adversely affects the developing foetus. Some sportspersons also misuse drugs — narcotic analgesics, anabolic steroids, diuretics and certain hormones — to boost muscle strength, bulk and aggressiveness; in females, anabolic steroid misuse can cause masculinisation, increased aggressiveness, mood swings, abnormal menstrual cycles, excess facial/body hair and voice deepening, while in males it can cause acne, mood swings, reduced testicle size, lower sperm production, kidney/liver dysfunction, breast enlargement, premature baldness and prostate enlargement — effects that can become permanent with prolonged use. …