Addiction is defined as a chronic, relapsing brain disorder that's characterized by compulsive drug seeking and use, despite harmful consequences. It's considered a brain disorder because drugs change the brain—they change its structure and the way it works. These brain changes are often long-lasting, and may cause the harmful behaviors seen in people that abuse drugs. Addiction may be a lot like other diseases, like heart condition . Both retard the age old, healthy working of the primary organ, have serious damaging after effects, and are stoppable and curable, but if left untreated, can last a lifelong. Addiction is defined because the ongoing use of mood-altering substances, like alcohol and medicines , despite adverse consequences. Genetic, psychosocial, and environmental factors influence the event and manifestations of the disease. Attributes of alcoholism include continuous or periodic damage control over drinking, concentration with alcohol, use of alcohol in spite of adverse effects, and deformation in thinking—most especially denial. To the brain, alcoholism and white plague are an equivalent . The disease of chemical dependency are often traced to neural pathways within the brain predating a diagnosis of addiction. A genetic predisposition alone isn't enough to predict addiction. Naturally, psychological and social impact make the person to use the addicting substances, and consequently the mingling of genetic predisposition and these impacts trigger the disease. Chemically dependent nurses are vulnerable to the scrutiny of boards of authority if their addiction affects the workplace. The terminology wont to describe alcohol and other drug use disorders is of key importance to both the study and therefore the clinical care of individuals affected by these conditions. A term, or the concept which it represents, could also be said to possess scientific utility when it meets the subsequent criteria: it's a definition which may be specified by regard to terms or concepts generally accepted as valid within a given scientific discipline; and it designates information (or A level of information) that's not already represented therein discipline by another term or concept. a replacement term is beneficial in science to the extent that it's both meaningful and non-redundant. Under the direct influence of the disease, the addict is in an altered state of consciousness, one that's now measurable with the newer imaging techniques. There are advantages for the nursing and medical profession to know these mechanisms, therefore the proper specialized approaches to addiction are often implemented. The level of “disease” also can help with the needed coverage for treatment, providing addiction its rightful equivalence with other diseases in psychiatry and medicine. Some still view it as an ethical failure or lack of will power A predisposition alone is usually not enough to cause the disease. Often, an individual is influenced by social factors, like peers and societal and familial norms, and psychological issues, like a history of physical or sexual assault , other trauma, and dual diagnosis. an obstacle of the term addiction, however, is that it often is employed pejoratively and may lead practitioners to avoid its use for fear of stigmatizing their patients and damaging their relationship with them.
