InThinking Revision Sites

INTHINKING REVISION SITES

Own your learning

Why not also try our independent learning self-study & revision websites for students?

We currenly offer the following DP Sites: Biology, Chemistry, English A Lang & Lit, Maths A&A, Maths A&I, Physics, Spanish B

"The site is great for revising the basic understandings of each topic quickly. Especially since you are able to test yourself at the end of each page and easily see where yo need to improve."

"It is life saving... I am passing IB because of this site!"

Basic (limited access) subscriptions are FREE. Check them out at:

www.StudyIB.net

Health problem: Addiction

  • /
  • Psychology textbook/
  • 8. Health psychology/
  • Health problems/
  • Health problem: Addiction

People have always used a range of substances in the hope of an effect, such as inducing self-confidence, having fun, or relaxing. Most substances - even coffee - can produce dependence, as well as withdrawal symptoms after long-term use.

The term addiction suggests that the individual cannot control his or her behaviour. An addiction is characterized by behaviour and other responses that always include a compulsion to use the substance continuously, in order to experience the psychological and physiological effects and to avoid discomfort in its absence.

In the UK, the General Household Survey (GHS) found that in 2006, 23 percent of all men and 21 percent of all women were smokers. Of these British smokers, 59 percent said it would be difficult to go without smoking for a whole day, and 16 percent said they had their first cigarette within five minutes of waking up. This could indicate “addiction”.

Addiction is characterized by continued use of the substance, despite knowing about problems associated with the substance; persistent desire and/or unsuccessful effort to control substance use. Addiction can be psychological and/or physiological:

Psychological addiction relates to craving— that is, a strong desire to smoke. Situations associated with smoking, as well as the smoker’s mood and psychological state, come to serve as “triggers” for the craving - for example, after a meal, when talking on the phone, during work or study breaks, and when feeling angry.

Physiological addiction relates to symptoms such as tolerance - that is, a person needs more of the drug in order to achieve the same effect - and withdrawal symptoms if the substance is not taken - for example, nausea, irritability, anxiety, difficulty concentrating, and increased appetite.

The general increase in life expectancy over the past 150 years is considerably less for smokers than for non-smokers. Already in the 1950s, evidence indicated that smoking was predictive of lung cancer. Today, a substantial number of the adult population still smoke, even though most of them are aware of the related health risks.

In order to understand why people begin to smoke, why they continue, and why they experience difficulties giving up, researchers have investigated biological, psychological and social factors that may promote smoking.

The biological approach can explain why smokers continue to smoke once they have started. The active ingredient in tobacco is nicotine, a psychoactive drug. By inhaling tobacco smoke, the average smoker takes in 1 - 2mg of nicotine per cigarette. Some of the effects of nicotine are as follows.

It stimulates the release of adrenaline, which increases heart rate and blood pressure.

It stimulates the release of dopamine in the brain’s reward circuits, which results in a brief feeling of pleasure. Within a few minutes, the acute effects of nicotine wear off. The pleasant feeling causes the smoker to continue smoking to maintain the pleasurable effects and prevent withdrawal symptoms.

It acts on acetylcholine receptors in the brain, as if it were the natural neurotransmitter. With repeated smoking, the brain adapts to what it regards as normal levels of acetylcholine in order to restore balance. One way to do this is to grow more acetylcholine receptors.

Research suggests that nicotine may be as addictive as heroin and cocaine. Once smokers are addicted to nicotine, they will experience withdrawal symptoms when the level of nicotine is not constant in the body. A substantial number of smokers declare that they would like to quit smoking - up to 70 percent of current smokers in the US, according to figures from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Most psychologists today, however, do not take a simply biological approach - instead, they combine approaches into what is referred to as a biopsychosocial approach. When using this approach, several factors may play a role in substance abuse and/or addiction. These include:

  • Genetic predisposition.
  • Environmental and personal stress
  • Personality factors such as neuroticism and/or self-esteem
  • Family and peers
For WHO and national health boards around the world, a major concern is preventing children from starting smoking. According to the American Lung Association, around 6000 adolescents under the age of 18 start smoking every day. People who start smoking in childhood have an increased chance of lung cancer, compared to smokers who begin later in life. They are also more likely to become addicted because the young brain is particularly vulnerable to the addictive effects of nicotine. This is a major reason why governments and health psychologists try to prevent young people from starting to smoke in the first place.

Research in psychology: DiFranza et al 2007

Addicted after the first puff?

DiFranza et al. (2007) conducted a longitudinal study of 217 adolescents (mean age of 12) in Massachusetts (US). Most of the children were European American, and they all reported having inhaled a cigarette at least once. They completed psychological evaluations and reported their history of tobacco use, as well as answering questions relating to attitudes and beliefs, and to the social environment, such as family and community. Eleven of them were interviewed. Tobacco dependence was assessed, based on reported cravings, changes in tolerance, time devoted to smoking, and inability to quit.

The results indicated that the adolescents who had an immediate experience of relaxation after the first puff were more likely to become addicted to cigarettes.

67 percent of those who recalled a relaxation effect after their first inhale became dependent, compared to 29 percent of those who did not experience such an effect. According to the researchers, post-inhale relaxation was also the biggest risk factor for being unable to stop later. Of the participants who experienced the relaxation, 91 percent said they were unable to quit, and 60 percent of those said it was as if they had lost control. The conclusion of this study seems to be that it takes far less to become addicted than was previously thought—at least for some individuals. It is not known why some people are more sensitive to nicotine than others.

ATL:  Inquiry

Carry out a bit of your own research.  Develop a survey to see why your peers who are not taking psychology believe that people begin smoking.  When carrying out the survey, be sure to find out from each participant whether he or she smokes.  Keep all data anonymous.

  • To what extent were the responses biological, cognitive, or social in nature?
  • Was there a difference in the types of responses received from smokers vs non-smokers?
  • What does the data say about your participants' belief in the level of "choice" in starting to smoke?

Going further - Compare your results to an IB school in a different country.  Are there cultural differences in your data?

 Teacher only box

The goal of this activity is for students not only to find out what the community's general perceptions about smoking are before they start studying addiction but also to practice writing and carrying out a survey. They could, of course, carry out a questionnaire instead, but surveys are easier to evaluate as the data is quantitative in nature.