- Refer to your introduction post in the week 1 discussion board and find what you gave as reasons that people become addicted to substances. In this section, please focus on the process of addiction rather than the initial use of a substance. Using what you have learned in this class, explain what you were correct about in your original answer, and anything you have since changed your mind about. Imagine that you are explaining addiction to the person who wrote your original answer. In your essay please address the following questions:
- What is addiction? In this question, please focus on addiction rather than the first time someone tries a substance. Is addiction a disease, a willful pattern of voluntary behavior, or some other kind of disorder that falls somewhere in between? Provide specific evidence from this class, with references, to support your position. You need to answer this question, then support your answer as you go through the rest of your essay.
- What problems do you see with the explanation of addiction as physical dependence?
- What models do you think best describe drug use and addiction? What aspects of addiction does this model describe well, and what aspects of addiction does this model not describe well?
- What are the key things you learned this semester about the pharmacology and neurophysiology of substances of abuse, and how does this support your position regarding addiction? Important: USE PHARMACOLOGY/NEUROPHYSIOLOGY to support your position on addiction in the first bullet point. You need to use specific facts learned in this class, with references, for full credit.
- What is addiction? In this question, please focus on addiction rather than the first time someone tries a substance. Is addiction a disease, a willful pattern of voluntary behavior, or some other kind of disorder that falls somewhere in between? Provide specific evidence from this class, with references, to support your position. You need to answer this question, then support your answer as you go through the rest of your essay.
- You may write your essay within the context of a single class of drugs – for example, using opiates as a case to illustrate your point(s) – or you may use drugs in general to support your ideas. In either case, you must support your claims with facts and evidence.
- There is no minimum or maximum word limit, but your essay should be long enough to raise and support your points. It is unlikely that you will be able to do this in just a page or two.
- Include references to support your ideas. You may use any format you like for listing your references, but please include references
References:
Text: Hancock, Stephanie, and William McKim (2018) Drugs and Behavior: An Introduction toBehavioral Pharmacology 8th ed., Pearson. ISBN-13: 978-0-134-40502-5. ISBN-10: 0-134-40502-1.• Recommended: Pleasure Unwoven: A Personal Journey About Addiction by Kevin McCauley. Productof The Institute for Addiction Study. h ttp://www.instituteforaddictionstudy.com, 2006. DVDo Provides an explanation of some of the concepts we will cover this semester.o Most of this DVD is available on Youtube, and the first segment may be available athttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wxiKVQR90VM&list=PLA8F895 37FD4C3FD1About this Course
