Causes of drinking and drug abuse

Entry 4.

They’re many types of drinkers; those consist of casual drinkers, social drinkers, binge drinker and those addicted to drinking. They’re all self-explanatory but what causes the addictive drinker to become dependent or how does drug abuse happen?

There are many stressors in life, these stressors can be school, bills and environment situation, things that people can’t control, which can influence people to do drugs/alcohol in an attempt to cope with these stressors. “Stress is unhealthy for the body, and there are different types of levels of stress, which leads to drinking, smoking and eating less” (Alcohol and Stress, 2017). Though there is an abundance of ways one could deal with stress, drugs and alcohol unfortunately can consume people. This process of self-medicating can be dangerous; those who use drugs and alcohol to cope with stress could become addicted to these substances, which could lead to health complications. These complications could be very mild, such as dependency and denial can be much worse, such as a potential overdose or even death.

People don’t intend to go to the doctors to get hooked on drugs, but sometimes it happens. Those addicted to prescribed medicine begin to believe a higher dosage is a cure to their illness. These addicts try to persuade multiple doctors to up to their dosage but once doctors deny their request due to concern of patience statue of medication addiction. Driving the addicts to outsource for the drugs, which ultimately leads to illegally obtaining them through drug dealers (McCormack, K. 2013). Because of this pill addiction epidemic, “There has been an up to rise in treatment for painkillers between 1996 through 2005” (Hooked on Prescription Pills, 2017).

The use of alcohol and drugs results in a change within the user’s mental state. People with mental disorders can feel that their condition can be overpowering, causing them mental distress. Hoping for a relief from these overpowering conditions can turn to drugs and alcohol. In actuality, “37 percent of alcohol abusers and 53 percent of drug abusers also have at least one serious mental illness” (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Issues). Though these users may believe drugs or alcohols are beneficial for their mental issues, in reality, drugs and alcohol only create bigger problems for the user. “Both drug-use disorders and other mental illnesses are caused by overlapping factors such as underlying brain deficits, genetic vulnerabilities, and/or early exposure to stress or trauma” (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Issues).

Everyone is different and not every treatment might work for them, but it doesn’t hurt to try.