Essay Example on Addiction: The Automatic Behavior of Alcohol & Drug Abuse

Introduction

Alcohol and drug abuse is a tremendous societal challenge today. Addicts have patterns, which means that they have a repetitive behavior of using alcohol and drugs, again and again, without giving the action much thought. When people have an addiction, it becomes more of automatic behavior that they use alcohol so many times. Yet, they do not see any harm in it, or they do not want to stop because they associate this behavior with some rewards in it. However, at times, these addicts see the need to recover from the addiction, and this spells that they have known that patterns of alcohol use have gotten them into trouble, and they want to change these behaviors so that they now live a new life of sobriety. The problem is that in the course of recovery, individuals are still reluctant to change, or they are unable to get past their addictive behaviors, and this sees them have an alcoholic relapse. A relapse means that they return to their compulsive act of consuming alcohol after a period of sobriety. This means that the individual disengages from the recovery activities and goes back to alcohol use. This paper will expound on typical longitudinal patterns of recovery and relapse.

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Save 25%

Recovery process

Alcohol addiction does not occur overnight as it is a disease that develops gradually, and in the same way, the recovery process is gradual and can take weeks, months, or years. Pre-contemplation is typically the first stage in the recovery process (Kelly & White, 2011). Here, individuals experience adverse impacts of their alcohol addiction. However, they are not ready to change their behavior, and this is why they employ defense mechanisms and are reluctant to admit that they have a problem. They try to avoid the topic of alcohol and addiction and at times, make excuses for their consumption behavior. At this stage, some addicts may seek addiction treatment but not in their will. The pre-contemplation stage is followed by the contemplation stage. At this stage, individuals start to recognize that they have an addiction problem, and although they want to seek treatment, they are mostly undecided, whether it is the best course of action. Therefore, they wander between wanting and not wanting to seek treatment. People might be stuck at this stage for a long time, and when they stop thinking about alcohol addiction problems in favor of looking for solutions, they move to the preparation stage of recovery.

In the preparation stage, alcohol addicts have acknowledged that they have a problem and consequently decided to change and take necessary steps towards recovery. Here, addicts are committed to making a step, and though they are still deep in the drinking behavior, they have begun speaking out to communicate their desire to quit drinking. However, they may feel ambivalent about the move (Tuithof, ten Have, van den Brink, Vollebergh & de Graaf, 2014). The best choice here is for the addict to develop an appropriate recovery plan, which includes researching the types of treatment and lifestyle changes they need to embrace. It is after this step that the addicts proceed to the action stage. In this stage, an addict has already decided to achieve sobriety, and they want to execute a plan that they have already devised in the preparation stage. For many addicts, the first step at this stage is detoxification, after which they engage in programs that will address psychological, social, and behavioral problems. Since relapse is common at this stage, it is more of a combination of physical and emotional taxing for these individuals. The stage is followed by the maintenance stage, a stage that is characterized by enjoying the benefits of quitting drinking. Here, individuals practice learned behaviors in the action stage, and they also develop new strategies for preventing relapses. The last stage is termination, and this is a stage that is characterized by conquering alcohol addiction. Although there is still a risk of relapse, the alcoholic is sober and does not have cravings for drinking.

Age and the Prospects of Recovery

Alcohol and other drugs are embedded in a cycle such that individuals develop addiction problems across their developmental cycles. Two patterns are identified in the United States for the treatment of addiction-related to the onset of alcohol and drug problems. One of the pattern is characterized by the slow consumption of alcohol, which starts in late adolescence. The issue of alcohol and drug consumption then mature up to a point where the addicts reach a point of crisis and seek help during their mid-lives (White, 2016). The other pattern is where adolescents start the consumption of alcohol and drugs and become physically dependent on them. These individuals usually seek treatment during their early adulthood after they develop opiate-related problems.

One of the questions that dominate the topic of addiction and recovery is whether early age of onset of alcohol and other drugs related problems is correlated to the recovery process. The pre-adolescent onset of alcohol and other drug use is a common phenomenon in the United States. More than 80% of youths admitted to addiction facilities are aged 12 to 14 years, and this means that most people start addictive behaviors in the pre-adolescence stage (White, 2006). The age of onset is directly related to alcohol dependence in that those that begin alcohol and drug abuse practices before their 15 birthdays have a 40% chance of being alcohol dependence. Those at the age of 17 have a 24.5% alcohol dependence chance, and those between 18 and 19 years have a 16.5% risk of being dependent on alcohol. Those that had an onset of alcohol use at ages 20-22 have a dependence risk of 10% (White, 2006). In addition to increased high alcohol dependence, the early start of alcohol and drug use is directly correlated to quick problem development, which replicates to a more severe and complex problem, including relapse. This is a reflection that alcohol dependence is directly related to the age of onset such that the earlier the onset, the risker it is to develop alcohol dependence, and the more severe and complex is the problem.

The other question that prevails is whether the recovery process associated with a late onset of alcohol and other drug problems is similar or differs from other onset patterns. What emerges is that as age advances, alcohol consumption reduces. Nevertheless, more than 60 percent of people aged 60 to 94 years are alcohol consumers. Additionally, 13% of men and 2% of women above 60 years are heavy drinkers. What emerges is that more than 65% of adults who are heavy drinkers started drinking in adolescence and carried this problem through their lives to old age (White, 2006). The rest become heavy drinkers due to a lack of risk factors, including a lack of alcohol consumption in one's family. Among these individuals who are heavy drinkers at their old age, those with long drinking histories have worse outcomes compared to their counterparts who have shorter drinking histories. This, in a way, is associated with the fact that late-onset drinkers are easily swayed away by stressors such as financial constraints, which motivate them to maintain their recovery.

Another question that emerges is whether the success of recovery intervention is related to age. What appears is that most adolescents, as they transition to adulthood responsibilities tend to mature out of their alcohol and drug-related problems. For others, alcohol and drug use develop into a chronic problem that requires many years of multiple treatments (Dennis, Foss & Scott & 2007). It also emerges that following treatment, the majority of the adults have a precarious balance between recovery and relapse, and they are most vulnerable to relapse within the first month after treatment. What is prevalent, however, is embedded in the above outcomes is that treatment outcomes among adolescents are dependent on how quick is the intervention because of early intervention in terms of age and duration of use results into better clinical treatment outcomes (Satre, Chi, Mertens, & Weisner, 2012).

There are several outcomes in the recovery process for older adults. For older individuals with alcohol and other drug problems, in the short term follow-up, these people have remission rates similar to those of young adults. However, in the long term follow-up, they have lower remission rates compared to their younger counterparts. The other outcome is that females, unemployed, chronic health problems, and less alcohol use are associated with remission in older problem drinkers (White, 2016). The questions addressed above shows that recovery is low among adolescents. However, these rates increase through adulthood, but it declines at old age. This is associated with a lack of recovery capital among adolescents and the loss of this capital at old age, and that makes a recovery among these two groups difficult.

Relapse into Alcoholism

Even after quitting alcohol and drug abuse, these individuals have a high risk of going back to alcohol consumption behaviors. Relapse can occur at any stage of the recovery process. However, this risk is very high during the early alcoholic recovery stages or after an immediate turn of events such as the occurrence of traumatic events (Elkins, 2018). Nevertheless, it is critical for addicts in the recovery process to actively engage in actions that are aimed at preventing relapse for the rest of their lives. Usually, family members and friends see the benefits of their loved ones quitting alcohol so that they live a healthy life. This is the reason why they should look for several relapse signs. One of the signs of relapse is one speaking about missing alcohol. Individuals also start by becoming more isolated and behave secretively. In other cases, they start missing therapy appointments, hang out with others who consume alcohol, and appear anxious and depressed at times (Tuithof, ten Have, van den Brink, Vollebergh & de Graaf, 2014). The biggest sign of relapse is a slip, and it becomes essential for family members to be attentive so that they encourage the affected to seek further therapy to avoid a relapse.

Relapse occurs gradually, especially for people that have already achieved sobriety status. It starts with emotional relapse, where those in the recovery process start experiencing suppressing emotions. In other instances, they have lousy recovery behaviors, become depressed, develop defensive mechanisms of blaming others, and begin missing recovery therapies. Emotional relapse is followed by mental relapse, and in this stage, people start to think about triggers and experience cravings of alcohol. If they are not subjected to further the recovery process, they enter into the physical relapse stage and are obsessed with the desire to drink, and they turn back to their compulsive alcohol consumption behavior (Elkins, 2018). Slips can cause those in the recovery process to move through the three stages, and if a relapse happens, it might even lead to death in case the individual has liver cirrhosis. The common alcohol relapse triggers include stress, smelling alcohol, financial challenges, traumatic events, and abuse.

Conclusion

In terms of relapse, older adults and middle-aged adults have better remission and abstinence results compared to young adults. As discussed above, adolescents and older adults take the longest to attain remission (Xie, McHugo, Fox & Drake, 2005). Recovery is low among adolescents, but these rates increase through adulthood, but it declines at old age. This is associated with the lack of recovery capital among adolescents and the loss of this capital at old age, and that makes a recovery among these two groups difficult.