Drug Addiction: Nature OR Nurture?
Is drug abuse the result of how we are brought up and raised, or is it the result of our genes? Are we born with it? This blog will explain the relationship between drug addiction and the nature – nurture debate.
It is believed that the use of drugs is a combination of both nature and nurture. This means that drug use is caused by someone’s upbringing and childhood AND is also the result of our genes and has therefore been with us since birth. There are various forms of evidence to support both sides.
Kranzler said “It is now widely accepted that genetic variation predisposes to alcohol and drug dependence, but it's also very clear that without environmental factors—including access to alcohol and drugs—addictions don't occur,”
There is evidence that heredity plays a significant role in increasing the chance of an individual developing an addiction to illicit drugs, alcohol, and tobacco. Researchers have contrasted alcoholism rates of adoptees born to alcoholic parents with those born to non-alcoholic parents. One study found higher alcoholism rates in sons whose natural parents were alcoholics than in sons whose natural parents were non-alcoholics.
The following case study showed the symptoms of babies born with drug addictions.
The number of babies born to drug addicted mothers has almost doubled in the last five years, it has been revealed. Last year there were 1,970 women who were addicted to drugs at the time of the birth, compared to 1,057 back in 2003.Of those 1,970 women with a drug dependency, 1,211 babies were born with their mother's addiction as the habit was passed on whilst the baby was still in the womb. It means that every day, five drug addict mums give birth to a baby and of those births three babies will suffer the withdrawal symptoms of their mother's addiction.The symptoms associated with babies who are addicted to drugs are a loud, high-pitched crying, sweating and stomach upsets. (http://yr10psychology.blogspot.com/2008/11/topic-10-drug-addiction.html )
Questions:
With the evidence gathered here, what is your opinion on the topic? Is drug addiction related to Nature or Nurture?
If someone were to do more experiments on this topic, do you think it is possible to find a better method of helping addicts if drug addiction was caused by Nature?
Sophie and Lucy
1. Drug addiction can be blamed on nature. However, this can only occur when the mother is addicted to drugs while the child is in the womb. If the mother is not addicted to drugs while the child is in the womd then it is HIGHLY UNLIKELY that the child will develop drug addictions when they are older solely through nature. However, if a child is brought up seeing drug addiction, he is more likely to develop it at a later stage.
ReplyDelete2. Yes, if the topic was to be explored further, then it is possible we would find better ways to deal with this kind of addiction. For e.g while the baby is in the mothers womb they could be given some kind of medication by which they would not get addicted at a later stage in their life.
Drug addiction is something that occurs from the surroundings around you.
ReplyDeleteSuch things as peer pressure and wanting to stand out can influence people to use drugs. Also when people have something stressful or upsetting in their lives they can sometimes turn to drugs.
This is why I believe that drug use is more to the nurture side of the debate. If a child grows up in a loving, supporting family, with friends who are the same popularity etc. the child is less likely to ever want or need to use drugs.
However, if I child is brought up with parents who smoke/do drugs, it is very likely the child will follow in their footsteps, as they have the availability of the drugs. Also if a child is being bullied they might want to be in the 'popular group' which could involve doing drugs/smoking or drinking.
In conclusion, I don’t believe that you are born with an addiction to drugs, it’s not physically possible to be addicted to something you have never experienced or been exposed to.
Alex W
I believe that Drug Addiction is mainly a result of nurture.
ReplyDeleteA child has a higher chance of becoming a drug addict if he/she sees their parents using drugs constantly. Even though the child may never have experienced the drugs themselves they have seen their parents doing drugs, which will make them more likely to do drugs.
Also if the mother is pregnant with the child and is doing drugs during the pregnancy, this can also affect the child. Because the baby is getting nutrients from the mother, they are also getting drugs and they can have a drug addiction even before they are born. This raises the point, does this support nature or nurture??
It can support nature in that the baby is still being made and is still in the womb, therefore the fact that the drug addiction happens in the womb and before birth may support nature.
OR
It can support nurture, because the mother is nurturing the child and giving it the drugs through the umbilical cord. Also the drug addiction is not part of the baby’s genes, it is only caused because it is given to the baby through mother’s use of drugs.
Therefore drug addiction is mainly nurture because it is not actually in the baby’s genes, it is just that chances are if the mother is a drug addict, then she has used drugs during the pregnancy will gives the baby a drug addiction.
I think that a person can be more likely to develope drug addiction due to their genes, just like a person is more likely to suffer from depression if theyre parents suffer from depression. If there is an imbalance in certain chemicals in the brain, a person becomes depressed, this imbalance can be passed down genetically. I believe the same thing occurs with drug addiction. A person can genetically be given the 'ability' to be addicted.
ReplyDeleteRyan
I believe that drug addiction is a topic where we cannot be sure which side to take. There is significant evidence provided to say that drug addiction is mainly the result of nature. The claim is: if your parents were addicts, so will you. This is true to an extent,but if the children were not exposed to alcohol/ drugs/ cigarettes at all, would they still have a craving to do drugs/alcohol/cigarettes?
ReplyDeleteIf scientists were to find that drug and alochol addiction were caused by nature, it would definitely be easier to help addicts.
Jillease
I agree with Kranzler’s statement, that a person’s genetic makeup may cause them to be predisposed to drug or alcohol addiction. Researchers have linked a receptor gene (DRD2) to alcoholism. Those who carry the fewer of the genes in their brain are more susceptible to drugs and alcohol to compensate for their addiction. This suggests that drug addiction is due to nature. Other studies show that “genetic factors are estimated to contribute to 40% - 60% of the variability in the risk of addiction” (American Psychiatric Association, 2005).
ReplyDeleteHowever these figures also mean that the remainder 60%-40% is caused by environmental factors. Even if someone is genetically prone, without a significant trigger, usually drug and alcohol addiction cannot occur. I believe that people without the genetic predisposition to addiction, may be just as likely to develop an addiction under certain circumstances.
I believe that alcohol and drug addiction is caused by the combination of nature and nurture however nurture may play a stronger role.
If drug addiction was proven to be caused by nature, it may provide an opportunity for health centers to monitor those who carry the variation in specific genes. However it may have no affect at all as it may be thought of as genetic discrimination.
Information gathered from:
http://ajp.psychiatryonline.org/cgi/content/full/162/8/1401
Cathy
It has been proven almost definitively that children absorb drinking habits from their parents. Drinkwise Australia has even started a campaign to stop parents leading their children into alcoholism through negative role modeling. This campaign targets parents who drink large amounts around their children and encourages them to limit their drinking in front of children. This show that nurture has a lot to do with drug addiction. It also is seen that if a child has no knowledge of drugs while they are growing up they cannot gain a predisposition to them.
ReplyDeleteI also believe that the case of babies of drug addicted mothers is a bit misleading because the withdrawal symptoms were a result of physical dependency on the drug which was introduced to them from their mother’s blood. So this is not a case of nature or nurture but of a substance being introduced to the baby resulting in a forced addiction
While it is obvious that many women with drug addictions who give birth then pass it on to their child, it can also be seen that without the environmental exposure to drugs and/or alcohol, the addiction becomes less and less likely to be passed on to the child.
ReplyDeleteAnother study on children whose parents were alcoholics or non-alcoholics revealed that sons whose parents were alcoholics were more likely to become alcoholics themselves. While some may argue that this is nature, I believe it is nurture, as they have been exposed to an environment where drinking alcohol is a common occurrence.
For these reasons, I believe that nature does play a part in drug or alcohol addictions as can be seen in the babies who develop these addictions, however nurture plays a bigger role in whether it exposes them to these substances and therefore will increase or decrease the likelihood that a child will develop an addiction.
I am unsure whether there would be a good method to help with drug addictions caused by nature, but it is suggested that hypnosis works well. Though it may help mentally, I do not believe that this is an effective treatment as addiction is more of a physical need for a particular substance rather than a mental want for it.
Caitlin
I believe that drug addiction is result of both nature and nurture. On the nature side of the debate, having parents with a drug addiction can affect a child. A child can be born with a drug addiction and can have experience withdrawal symptoms once the drugs start to leave their system. Once having drugs when they are born, a pattern can start to occur and drugs start to affect a person’s life. On the nurture side of the debate, the availability of drugs and peer pressure can also have an effect on person. If drugs are available on every street corner and people are constantly offering them to you, it is obviously likely that drugs will become a part of common day life unless intervention takes place. With influence of parents, friends and family that are drug abusers, the pressure of trying drugs can be too much and may cause people to take drugs. Ways to repent against drugs include intervention by others, admitting you have a problem and seeing a GP or just don’t take drugs. Therefore; I have come to the conclusion that drug addiction is a cause of both nature and nurture.
ReplyDeleteAlex Reddy
My opinion is that drug addiction is related to nature for the majority but nurture will effect someone’s drug addiction. It has been proven that if your mother was a drug addict then you have a high chance of having drug addict symptoms as well. It is also clear that without environmental factors including access to alcohol and drugs, addictions don’t occur. So it is fair to say that genetic variation gives someone the potential to be a drug addict. However at the very least exposure to drugs or alcohol is needed for this addiction to occur. If the drug addiction was caused purely by nature then I cannot see a way of helping addicts but if the addiction involved nurture as well then a method such as hypnotism could be used.
ReplyDeleteMandy :)
I believe that drug addiction is not solely either nature OR nurture. Being born as ‘drug addict’ obviously relates back to nature more than nurture, but there is nothing that proves, entirely, that the child was born as a drug addict. The symptoms (loud, high-pitched crying, sweating and stomach upsets) that the doctors have decided equal drug addiction at birth could be the cause of a number of other things, not just drug addiction. In saying this, I do not deem that it is impossible for a child to be born with a drug addiction. The way in which you are raised, if you go to a state school or not, if you are protected (even over protective) by your parents, your friendship groups, to a certain degree, are all factors deciding whether or not you will become a drug addict. These factors don’t definitely mean that the person will become a drug addict; neither does it mean that a person with a perfect family, schooling life and drug free friends will not become a drug addict, I believe that it just puts their chances higher. Concluding, I believe that becoming a drug addict is a mixture between nature and nurture.
ReplyDeleteI do believe that it is possible to find a cure for a person whose nature caused them to become a drug addict – perhaps the same techniques used for those who are not born with an addiction.
-Mel
I believe that drug addictions can be both the cause of nature and nurture. People can gain drug addictions through their environments and relationships, though that doesn’t mean that their addiction will become a genetic trait. As proven by the babies suffering from withdrawal symptoms it is obvious that drug addictions can be the cause of nature. Scientists believe about 50% of an individual's risk for an addiction is genetic. Therefore, making their predictions that both nature and nurture create drug addictions.
ReplyDeleteThe best way to help those who have gained this addiction through genetics would be rehabilitation. This will work with the mind to help overcome the minds addiction of drugs. Although this method may work better with people who have developed their addictions through their environment as they can recall what made them begin taking drugs and where, it can still be helpful for those who have a genetic addiction by controlling the mental addiction.
Izzy.
I believe that drug addiction is caused by nurture. As Kranzler said, addictions can’t occur if there is no access to the drugs. So if people are never exposed to drugs or alcohol then they will never think about what they are missing because they don’t want drugs are. Consequently they will never want drugs or alcohol.
ReplyDeleteMoreover, if children are exposed to alcohol and drugs when they are young then they might be more likely to use drugs and alcohol when they are older. For example, if a child sees his dad getting drunk every second night then when he gets older he may be more likely to also get drunk every second night because he has subconsciously seen his dad get drunk so often.
I just can’t understand how a person can have a natural or pre-determined addiction to drugs. Surely a person has to actually be shown drugs or see drugs to become addicted. Imagine some child in Africa that lives in a remote area and has never seen drugs before and then suddenly he just wants drugs for no reason. I just can’t see how that adds up.
I believe that if drug addiction was found to be caused by your genes then there would be better ways to treat the people. Scientists could use a form of gene therapy where genes are inserted into a person’s cells to treat a disease or in this case to treat someone’s “natural” drug addiction.
So in conclusion I believe that drug addiction is caused by nurture.
Iain
In my opinion, drug addiction is caused by both nature and nurture. The evidence shows that children are more addicted to drugs if they inherit this addiction genetically. This makes nature slightly more dominant than nurture. However, we need to consider things in more than one way. For example, children that are genetically addicted to drugs may lose this addiction if they don’t experience a drug filled situation. Furthermore, children that have strong will power may be able to prevent this addiction from occurring. Nature and nurture is obviously needed to produce a drug addiction.
ReplyDeleteIn order to prevent drug addictions in parents and their children, we could use several methods such as the aversion therapy (where the drug is seen as a “bad” or “disgusting” item by using imagination or an unpleasant stimulus- e.g. electric shock or a nauseous pill). Also, it would be wise for them to learn about the negatives of drugs and alcohol (e.g. drug and smoke education).
Tiffany
I believe that drug addiction and abuse is due to both nurture and nature. Nurture becomes an important part of a child’s development, because if they are subjected to certain behaviour, i.e. drug abuse, they are more likely to mimic the behaviour. When children are observing their parents doing drugs, they are more likely to imitate, as the child is more likely to replicate the actions of their role model. Therefore, nurture does affect the outcome of whether the child will be an addict or not.
ReplyDeleteNature becomes an important part of the child. If the child is born with the traits of drug abuse from their parents, they have inherited the behaviours of their parents. However, there is no actual evidence to state that drug addiction is due to nature or nurture.
If a further study was to be conducted, a way of helping drug addicts would maybe by hypnosis. Hypnosis can help the person who has inherited the drug trait. Being hypnotised may help the drug addict to overcome the addiction. Also, a way to help the drug addicts would also be to have a psychologist help the person. This can be done by talking to the person, mental representation and other terms of psychology.
victoria Denny
Addiction to drugs results from a combination of nature and nurture. Nurture is involved as, of someone is never exposed to any drugs or given the opportunity to develop an addiction to drugs, they will obviously never abuse them. Nature also plays a part in addictions via the brain’s reward system. Our genes determine how our reward system functions and therefore how likely we are to develop an addiction. One function of the reward system is to produce cravings, not necessarily of drugs or alcohol, but of more simple things like food. Hunger is a craving for food. You feel bad when you are hungry and better when you eat – that is the reward system releasing chemicals that make you feel better. The same is for drugs. But people whose genes make them more dependent on rewards and approval are more likely to develop addictions because they have a deficit of these chemicals, meaning they don’t feel better from trying to fix their cravings. This means that they will still crave drugs even after taking them; immediately or a short time later. This is how nature makes us more likely to develop a drug addiction. A study has been conducted into this topic and its findings suggest that the use of PET scanning of the brain can help to determine how treatment is working by viewing how effectively the drugs used are subduing cravings in the reward system.
ReplyDeleteTom
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/08/080812135513.htm
I believe that drug addiction is cause by both nature and nurture. This is because if a child’s mother is addicted to drugs, the child will most probably have a better insight/knowledge of the drug and the child will also have more ways to get to drugs easier. This would not be possible if you your parents were clean, instead of telling you about drugs they will be warning you about it telling you not to. They also might tell you that if you do they will punish you; this could be the opposite of a child’s mother who is addicted to drugs and they might not feel the need to warn the child or give them punishments. This showing that drug use is caused by someone’s upbringing and childhood therefore nurture, but then there is the side of nature with proof that it is also based on our genes and has therefore been with us since birth. Say that I believe that nurture is a stronger case because your nature side of it might not develop without nurture.
ReplyDeleteYes I believe that if the topic was explored further based on experiments or just viewing, it would be possible to find a better method of helping addicts if drug addiction was caused by Nature. This would help it more, because we would have more knowledge of the topic and we would be able to work around the problem and start thinking of way on how we can fix it.
Nicole Craig