Drug addiction is becoming endemic in society. People abuse substances under different guises; leisure, health, emotional, and societal reasons. The recurrent misuse of substances will cause an individual to become addicted.
Experts classify the causes of drug addiction into four groups. They are biological causes, psychological causes, socio-cultural causes, and spiritual causes. In this article, we will review these causes with relevant analogies.
- Biological Causes: A person’s genetic makeup can affect their liking for a particular substance. People have different physiology; hence, what appeals to Mr. A may never appeal to Miss B. Psychologists consider this factor when they discuss the causes of addiction.
It is a scientific fact that the responses of people’s brains to diverse desires and activities vary. It is a major cause of addiction.
- Psychological Causes: Popular author James Clear suggests that forming a habit involves four steps. These steps are cue, craving, response, andreward. In this article, we describe drug addiction as the continuous use of a substance despite its harmfulness.
The psychological cause of addiction explores the fact that drug addiction is a habit. The individual develops the addiction due to a cue that their brain receives; it triggers a craving. The response to the craving is where the action of using the substance kicks in.
- Socio-cultural Causes: This is probably the most visible cause of drug addiction. In this article, we describe culture as the way of life of a group of people. The culture in an individual’s environment affects the person’s way of life.
In many cultures today (most urban), there is a tolerance for the abuse of substances. People who grow up in such environments have a likelihood of becoming drug addicts. There may be a transmission of this culture from one generation to another.
- Spiritual Causes: The lack of attachment to any spiritual entity may cause an individual to live a life devoid of moral values. It can drive a person’s drug addiction. The lack of spirituality is considered by psychologists as part of the causes of addiction.