Drug addiction can be defined as the compulsive and obsessive act of using drugs and increasing the dosage, in a bid to increase the level of pleasure gotten. With drug addiction comes withdrawal symptoms because, once the individual stays from drugs for a while, there are some unpleasant health effects which the person experiences.
There is no known specific cause of drug addiction. However, environmental, genetic and psychological factors are known to play an important role. Hence, it can be said that there are various factors which induce drug addiction in an individual.
Some health specialists are of the opinion that, the greater part of drug addiction stems from the psychological causes. Some of these psychological causes include:
- Mental illness such as anxiety and depression
- Being unable to relate and communicate with others
- Poor academic or work performance
- Poor skills to cope with stress
Next is the environmental causes, and it has been proved that an individual’s environment is a major factor when it comes to drug addiction. Drug addiction is usual in environments where drug abuse is allowed. There is no escaping it, children who were raised in homes where drug addicts are present, become drug addicts in the future.
A good percentage of adults who are addicted to drugs, started in their teenage years, and it was most likely due to their environment. Some of these children had parents who did not pay good attention to the welfare of their children. They were possibly addictive, abusive and inattentive. Parental oversight and drug experimentation are major causes of drug abuse.
Other environmental factors are listed below:
- Sport participation where performance-enhancing drugs are utilized
- Peer group pressure
- People with lower socioeconomic status
- Ethnicity and Gender
For the genetic causes, it can be seen that drug addiction seems to be prevalent in some families than others. The genetic causes of drug addiction are evident in numerous gene sequences. However, science has not been able to accurately identify all the genes involved.
In some genes, especially those in the brain receptors of nicotine, are known to promote drug addiction.