Abstract
Addiction is a chronic relapsing brain disease that has significant impact on your brain and your behavior. People make choices throughout their daily lives and have a choice to start using drugs. The problem at hand is, once someone makes the choice to start using drugs, the pleasure sensation keeps you wanting more. There are a variety of reasons behind why people use substances such as alcohol and other drugs. Many people use substances because they like the way it makes them feel. The substance hijacking their brain’s pleasure system, leaves them wanting to do it again. The use of the substance in such way, influencing the brain to crave the substance, lose control over the ...view middle of the document...
The diagnostic criteria meet would indicate whether the substance use disorder is mild, moderate, or severe which would help to determine the level of care needed for an individual (Doweiko, 2014).
There are many possible reasoning’s behind why people turn to substances. Some use it to improve their athletic performance; others self-medicate to ease problems such as depression, stress, or the inability to cope. Others simply use drugs because their friends are using. The use of drugs or the quantity consumed, however, does not automatically mean ones addicted but when the substance use starts to affect someone’s daily life, at home, school, work, or relationship, there is a likelihood of addiction.
According to Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, (DSM-5), changed the terms used when diagnosing a patient. The DSM-5 changed the terms substance abuse disorder and substance dependence to substance use disorder (SUD). Substance use disorder has three classifications, mild, moderate, or severe. For a professional to indicate the severity of the disorder, they would use the diagnostic criteria to determine the level of care needed for the individual. The DSM-5 indicates for SUD to be determined, two or three symptoms out of 11 must be present. “The diagnosis of a substance use disorder is based on a pathological patterns of behaviors related to use of the substance” (American Psychiatric Association, 2013, p. 483).
If the use of alcohol and/or drugs are causing significant problems within work, school, or home these patterns indicate that substance use disorder is occurring.
When it comes to alcohol or drug related incidences in my area, there a many to choose from. I live in Bowling Green, Kentucky which is located near the Tennessee line. We encounter many different alcohol and drug related crimes. I work within the Warren County Justice Center and see trafficking of controlled substances, possession of a controlled substance, manufacturing methamphetamine, DUI charges, and wanton endangerment charges on a daily basis.
The incidences that happen in my area that stand out to me, is the case of Alex Harkins, an 18-year-old male who was killed by a drunk driver on June 25,2014. The woman responsible for the death is Kathy Keller, 28, who was driving an SUV. On the night of the incident, Harkins was driving home on his motorcycle when Keller struck him, pinning Harkins and the motorcycle under the SUV. Keller was traveling with her two young daughters in the car with her who were not injured. Alex Harkins, 18, was pronounced dead at the hospital. Kathy Keller was taken into custody and was held on a $250,000 bond on manslaughter, wanton endangerment, and DUI...
