Addiction is a bio-psycho-social disease. The person has an impossible to prevent psychological and physiological need for any habitual drug, substance or behavior, the amount and frequency of taking the substance taken or the addictive misbehavior gradually increases, the emergence of withdrawal symptoms when the substance is not taken or the behavior is prevented, and this addictive behavior It is when the lack of medication, substance or behavior becomes increasingly impossible to continue daily life over time. Addiction is a chronic disease and must be treated.
The rates of tobacco, alcohol and drug use are increasing rapidly in Turkey and the world, and the age of starting to use substances. is decreasing gradually. Like other addictions, social media, computer-game addiction and gambling addiction lead to psychological, sociological and economic losses to the individual, family and society.
Preventing addictions, which can be considered a disaster for society, is important at all ages, especially in family communication and education. and is an insidious disease that requires attention in all cases.
HOW DOES ADDICTION DEVELOP?
Addiction is a vicious circle. The person first feels curious about the substance, but at the same time he is afraid of the effects of that substance.
If curiosity overcomes fear, the person who starts using it by saying "nothing will happen once" thinks that he will never use it after trying it once, as a result of small and rare trials. "So I can go in a controlled manner, this is in my hands," he thinks. In the next stage, the person denies that he has a problem with substance use and thinks and believes that he is in control and can quit whenever he wants. He does not pay attention to the warnings of the people around him.
After a while, he tries to quit or at least to go in a controlled manner. They make intense efforts to both use the substance and get rid of it. And as a result, it disrupts their daily work. If he is a student, he will have conflict with the school administration, and if he is an employee, he will have conflict with his colleagues. Despite all this, they continue to use substances. They decide to quit every time, but they never succeed. They feel guilty every time they fail, and this time they turn to substances again to get rid of this feeling.
The person first denies and belittles the consequences of substance use, attributes this situation to others, and rejects it. The person may not actually be drinking that much, the substance he uses makes him feel good, there are many other things in life that are unhealthy or the substance used is not as harmful as it is said.
It is not easy for people to accept that substance use is heading towards addiction. When a person receives criticism and reaction from outside, he always has his own valid reasons.
If I didn't want to, I wouldn't drink. If I wanted to, I would quit now.
I drink because of this job, this marriage or you.
>I only drink with friends on weekends, etc.
However, all these justifications are effective to some extent. After a while, the person realizes the consequences of substance use. However, this awareness is not enough to change their behavior. A person cannot stop himself from going back and forth between continuing and quitting. On the one hand, his lost dreams and goals, the physical and psychological damage he suffered, the reactions he received from his environment, and on the other hand, his inability to stop himself from addiction. Changing your circle of friends and habits will not be that easy.
On the other hand, physical problems such as changes in the brain and withdrawal symptoms caused by substance use make it difficult to get away from substances.
HOW IS ADDICTION DIAGNOSED?
Addiction has behavioral, social, biological and genetic causes; However, no reason alone is sufficient to explain addiction. Although there are many factors that lead to substance use or related problematic behavior turning into addiction, it is basically both a biological and psychological process. The person's mental characteristics, genetic predisposition, environmental factors, accessibility to the substance-behavior, family structure, social environment and cultural characteristics are the most important factors in the person's starting to use substances and turning into addiction.
The following criteria are required for the diagnosis of addiction, which is a psychiatric syndrome. It is sufficient to see only three of them together.
Development of tolerance to the substance used
Withdrawal symptoms occur when the substance is stopped or reduced. Emergence of substance use
Efforts made to control or stop substance use but were unsuccessful
Spending a great deal of time to obtain, use or stop using the substance
Reason for substance use negatively affecting social, professional and personal activities p>Substance use forces the person to seek substances despite their harm. The first drug use is a choice made by the person with his or her free will. But repeated drug use causes changes in the brain. These changes push the person to seek drugs and use them repeatedly, despite their negative effects (family problems, theft, losing friends and other physical or mental problems).
These are diagnostic criteria based on substance addiction. The same applies to social media and gaming-computer addiction. Most of the time, the person does not accept that he is addicted, but as time goes by, the relevant situation covers a significant part of his daily activities.
WHO IS ADDICTED?
First of all, we need to point out that, For anyone who uses substances, there is a risk of becoming addicted. From alcohol to marijuana, from paint thinner to heroin, there is no substance that is safe to use. However, those with impulsive, novelty-seeking temperaments, those who take risks easily, those with broken family structures, neglected adolescents, and those with weak individual defense mechanisms as a way of coping with stress are at great risk.
ADDICTING SUBSTANCES
1)Alcohol
2)Caffeine
3)Cannabis (marijuana)
4)Cannabinoids (bonzai etc.)
5)Hallucinogens (LSD, mescaline, phencyclidine, etc.)
6)Volatiles (thinner, gasoline, gasoline, honey, etc.)
7)Opiates (morphine, heroin, codeine, methadone, etc.)
8)Sedatives, anesthetists and anxiolytics (diazepam, clorazepate, etc.)
9)Stimulants (amphetamine, ecstasy, cocaine (stone and layn etc.)
10)Tobacco
11)Other unknown substances
Another type of addiction that is increasingly increasing today is internet addiction. Especially among adolescents and young adults It has started to become more common. While betting and gambling are types of addiction that have existed for a long time, online betting has also been added to this. In addition, computer games, internet addiction, and virtual shopping addiction constitute addiction types that need to be treated.
Internet addiction through social media use, as Kent Berridge's research reveals, social media platform is a two-step process. It activates the cycle of desire and appreciation. While desire produces dopamine; The appreciation system creates an opioid effect. Desire is what drives the user to share, and liking creates satisfaction.
In addition, since the dopamine effect is stronger than the opioid effect, the user always wants more and thus shares more. We create expectation with every like, post and share we make. Therefore, publishing more posts corresponds to social currency earned in the form of a conversation born of dopamine craving.
AGE AND FREQUENCY OF THE OPERATION OF ADDICTION
Addiction is a candidate to be the most important health problem of our age, considering the effects it creates on the individual and society. The age of use is gradually decreasing and becoming widespread in the world and in our country. The 2017 report of TUBİM (Turkish Drug and Drug Addiction Monitoring Center) states that the number of drug incidents and people involved in these incidents increased by 8-11% compared to the previous year. In the substance use survey in the general population conducted by TUBİM in 2011, the frequency of lifetime substance use was found to be 2.7%. In the School Children Survey conducted by TUBİM in the same year, the lifetime substance use frequency was found to be 1.5%, and the average age of using the substance for the first time was 13.88 ± 2.39. It is seen that applications to substance and alcohol addiction treatment centers in our country have increased 7 times in the last 10 years. In this context, studies on preventing addiction and studies on new treatment approaches are of great importance.
FACTORS THAT INCREASE THE RISK OF ADDICTION
Your genes, family and friends are on the road to addiction. It is a combination of factors such as your personality, your environment and nutrition.
Family environment: It has been shown that familial factors affect substance addiction. If one or both parents or other members of the family have alcohol, cigarette, drug, etc. problems, engage in criminal behavior, and exaggerated use of social media, this increases the risk of addiction for other members of the family. In cases of parental addiction, the child's imitation of the parent's behavior plays an important role in addiction. Children who grow up in a balanced family environment where emotional and social interaction is strong, sufficiently safe, loving and affectionate can obtain the experiences necessary for their development. Such family environments enable family members to be aware of their responsibilities, to prepare adequate opportunities for independence for their children, and to ensure that they have a solid personality structure. Substance addiction is explained as the child's attempt to avoid integration with the family by rebelling and punishing, or by adopting a destructive and self-punishing lifestyle, as a result of the child feeling trapped in the closed family system. In addition, substance addiction is an individual's effort to maintain control over his or her own life and to be free from the life that is forced by his or her family. It has been reported that families of addicted adolescents are more limited in expressing their thoughts and feelings, have less respect for personal boundaries, have insufficient interest and trust in others, are more emotionally distant, and create a more negative atmosphere at home.
Peers and Environment: People with addictive friends are more likely to try drugs. Academic failures and inadequate social skills are another reason that pushes people to use drugs. Tension, distress, need for social release, social stress, and peer group approval of substance use may be sufficient for the development of a drug problem. Identification with the peer group has important effects on the development of substance use and addiction.
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