Biopsychosocial Model of Addiction & Example Free PDF Download

“HAT is not simply a pharmacotherapy; it is a treatment approach that is situated within a context involving neighborhood factors, the local drug scene, housing, policing, medical care, and other treatment services. Its role and effectiveness is entangled with the ancillary services available, drug policies, and treatment philosophy” (p.262). Gilllett argues that the causal model is based on a faulty account of human autonomy and consciousness and is scientifically and conceptually questionable.

Biological Dimension

Depression, anxiety, PTSD – these conditions can both contribute to and be exacerbated by addiction. Reflecting on these concerns, the authors stated “we had to be clear in our ethics applications and in our informed consent process with participants that HAT will not be available outside the context of the study” (p. 267). Although a full discussion is warranted pertaining to these challenges, these ethical concerns raised by Oviedo-Joekes et al. (2009) resonate with our present discussion. Primary features of the model are shown in boldface; variables exemplifying heroin-assisted treatment are shown in italics.

Overall Health

Thus the claim that “an addict cannot be a fully free autonomous agent” (Caplan 2008, p.1919) is debatable. Because of a tendency to focus on extreme pathological states, the wide range of normal is often forgotten. While making a decision is itself a mental act, a mental act or event does not cause behaviour alone, but is one part of the complex process between neuronal firing and action. Once an intention has been formed for example, to use substances one is aware of the intention, though intention itself does not sufficiently cause the individual to seek out or use drugs. From a neuroscience perspective, it is difficult to see such actions as completely free, particularly when explanations of natural phenomena are understood as causally ordered. The notion of free choice becomes particularly troublesome due to the conscious experience of acting freely.

The Biopsychosocial Model of Addiction

This area, known as the prefrontal cortex, is the very region that should help you recognize the harms of using addictive substances. But when you’re becoming addicted to a substance, that normal hardwiring of helpful brain processes can begin to work against you. Drugs or alcohol can hijack the pleasure/reward circuits in your brain and hook you into wanting more and more. Addiction can also send your emotional danger-sensing circuits into overdrive, making you feel anxious and stressed when you’re not using drugs or alcohol. At this stage, people often use drugs or alcohol to keep from feeling bad rather than for their pleasurable effects. The DSM-IV-TR differentiates between Substance Dependence and Substance Abuse.

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White (1996) gives an example https://yourhealthmagazine.net/article/addiction/sober-houses-rules-that-you-should-follow/ of a person who was initially attracted in youth to a drug culture because of a desire for social acceptance and then grew up within that culture. Through involvement in the drug culture, he was able to gain a measure of self-esteem, change his family dynamic, explore his sexuality, develop lasting friendships, and find a career path (albeit a criminal one). For this individual, who had so much of his life invested in the drug culture, it was as difficult to conceive of leaving that culture as it was to conceive of stopping his substance use. Drug cultures serve as an initiating force as well as a sustaining force for substance use and abuse (White 1996).

• Teens are especially vulnerable to possible addiction because their brains are not yet fully developed—particularly the frontal regions that help with impulse control and assessing risk.
• They support continued use and reinforce denial that a problem with alcohol or drugs exists.
• The repeated use of addictive substances or engagement in addictive behaviors hijacks the brain’s reward circuitry, primarily in regions such as the nucleus accumbens and the prefrontal cortex.
• As an initiating force, the culture provides a way for people new to drug use to learn what to expect and how to appreciate the experience of getting high.

The model attributes key role to biological determinants and explains disease as a condition caused by external pathogens or disorders in the functions of organs and body systems. Such an approach has its historic justification and sober house has proved effective in the control of massive infectious diseases. However, now that chronic non-infectious diseases prevail, its efficacy has not only become questionable, but also the issue has been raised of its economic justification. Addictive substances and activities hijack the brain’s reward system, leading to cravings and withdrawal symptoms. Over time, the brain adapts to the presence of the addictive substance, making it harder to experience pleasure without it. This holistic approach to understanding the development and progression of substance use disorders emphasizes the need to address multiple factors in both prevention and treatment programs (Skewes & Gonzalez, 2013).

For instance, the genetic predisposition to addiction can shape personality traits and influence social behaviors. It’s like a domino effect, with one factor setting off a chain reaction that ripples through all aspects of a person’s life. A biopsychosocial systems approach does not portray people as only controlled by the state of their brains. Addictive behaviours are neither viewed as controlled or uncontrolled but as difficult to control a matter of degree. Further, the clinically observed defining feature of addiction a loss of control is understood as a socially normative notion.

Cognitive Factors

Addictive substances and behaviors hijack this reward system, causing the brain to release dopamine in much more significant amounts than usual. This intense pleasure surge creates an influential memory association between the addictive substance or behavior and the feeling of reward. It’s important to remember that social and environmental factors interact with biological vulnerabilities. For instance, someone with a genetic predisposition to addiction may be more likely to develop an addiction if they also experience significant childhood trauma. Personality theories in addiction explore the connection between personality traits and a person’s vulnerability to addiction. These theories propose that specific personality characteristics can make someone more likely to develop or struggle with addiction.

• As Hyman (2007) has written, “neuroscience does not obviate the need for social and psychological level explanations intervening between the levels of cells, synapses, and circuits and that of ethical judgments” (p.8).
• Although substance use disorder is a primary diagnosis, it does not occur in isolation.
• The biopsychosocial systems model is grounded in systems theory in which knowledge occurs at the intersection of the subjective and the objective, and not as an independent reality.
• A client can meet the psychosocial needs previously satisfied by the drug culture in a number of ways.
• It wasn’t long before addiction specialists recognized its potential to shed light on the complexities of substance use disorders.
• Every learned action, whether pro-social or anti-social, may be prompted by social conditions such as a lack of resources, conflict, social norms, peer pressure, an underlying drive (e.g., hunger, sex, craving), or a combination of these factors (Bunge 1997).

These traits are considered the basic dimensions of human personality and can be used to describe a person’s tendencies across different situations. This model focuses on how individuals handle emotions, particularly negative emotions. People who have difficulty regulating their emotions, especially negative ones, may be more likely to turn to substances as a coping mechanism. These distorted beliefs can perpetuate addictive behaviors by justifying continued use or creating a sense of helplessness in the face of attempts to quit (Rezaeisharif et al., 2021). We’ve all heard the saying “you are the company you keep,” and when it comes to addiction, this can be particularly true.

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Such new iterations of systems theory concentrate on the cognitive and social processes wherein the construction of subjective knowledge occurs. The dynamic within these relationships can contribute to or inhibit the emergence of a complex behaviour such as problematic substance use, while regulating both inputs and outputs from changing internal and external environments. The complex behaviour contributes both positive and negative feedback, and thus affects how the complex behaviour emerges. Systems theory, therefore, balances reductionism and the intrinsic heterogeneity within systems. It allows for the development of more positive behaviours by understanding alternatives, and more possibilities and gives opportunities for making positive decisions with those options.