Addiction is a major focus of an individual’s life which makes him or her to forego and lose control over other things in his or her everyday life. The addiction can be an action, substance, a thing or even a behavior. The addiction becomes an addictive behavior if whatever the individual is addicted to is causing harm to him or to other individuals either physically, psychologically or socially. An individual can happen to be addicted, reliant or even compulsively possessed with anything. Addiction can be grouped into two categories in regard to its cause. The first one is the addiction to materials such as drugs, alcohol, tobacco and so many other things. The second category is the behavioral addiction which is not caused by usage of substances. It is rather caused by constantly involving oneself in action until it results to negative effects to the individual’s physical, psychological, social or financial welfare. These actions may include things like internet, sex, gambling and so on.
Addiction as a topic is mostly encountered and applied in daily basis in the rehabilitation centers. Once a person gets addicted to certain substances such as drugs, the person is given assistance by being taken to a rehabilitation center for recovery. Many people in the rehabilitation centers usually have different problems dealing with addiction of different substances. They get started by being shown how to reduce the amount of the substance they are using and eventually they are able to stop completely. The addicts are educated concerning the risk of being addicted to things like alcohol and other drugs. They are taught the side effects of addiction and also the advantages of recovering from it. They are also taught how to engage themselves to different activities in order to keep away from the substance they were addicted to. Most of the time spent in the rehabilitation center is spent learning about addiction and how stay away from it (Nutt 62).
Addiction has affected my life to some extent because I think I am addicted to the internet. I always find myself blogging and surfing the web even late at night. At the beginning, I turned to internet in order to kill boredom and avoid loneliness but eventually I got possessed with it and spent endless hours surfing. I feel as if the internet is part of me which I cannot do without even for a single day. I spend most of my time online which makes me forego even many other important things such as attending classes or even going for a doctor’s appointment. My addiction to the internet has affected the relationships I once had with different people. I spend a lot of time surfing the web thus neglecting the time I once used to spend with my family and friends. I always have this feeling that my online friends understands me better than my real friends and family which makes me want to spend every single minute online. I feel like I have replaced reality with internet because it has affected my relationship with my parents especially because they are not ready to accept the fact that I am addicted to the internet which they think it has exposed me to a lot of bad influence. With a lot of counseling sessions, I have been able to stay off internet and now rebuilding the relationships I used to have with my family and friends (Nutt 43).
Having known so much about addiction, I will be able to deal with people who are addicted in my current career of nursing. Since I have been through addiction, it will be easier for me to deal with those patients who have the problem of being addicted to different substances. In today’s world, so many people get addicted especially to drugs and alcohol, and they end up in the hospital for treatment. As a nurse, I will have the privilege of being able to talk to these patients and teach them the dangers of addiction as well as how to avoid it (Nutt 23).
Learning about addiction and passing the knowledge to other people in the society is very important in helping how people will handle their everyday lives. Most of those people who are addicted to certain substances are unable to carry their duties effectively. Most of them even neglect the duties completely thus losing their jobs because they cannot hold their full-time jobs. When most of these addicts lose their jobs, it means that the economy goes down thus leading to lack of societal development. When people get addicted and have the responsibility of performing delicate jobs such as operating airplanes, trains, vehicles or as doctors; it means that definitely there will be a lot of lives lost thus bringing down the number of productive people in the society. Those people who get addicted especially to drugs and alcohol usually need a lot of money in order to be able to buy those drugs. Most of them usually do not have enough money, so they end up stealing in order to sustain their needs. Teaching the society about addiction is very important because people will know its negative effects thus they will be able to stay away from it and concentrate on building the society.
Works Cited
Nutt, David J. Drugs and the Future: Brain Science, Addiction and Society. Burlington, MA: Academic Press, 2006. Print.
