Addiction In 'Beautiful Boy: A Father's Journey'

Beautiful Boy: A Story of Addiction Through the Family’s Eyes Addiction is defined as, “a chronic but, treatable brain disorder.” The relentless need for drugs is trait an addict cannot control, since the make up of their brain has been altered. This in turn causes psychological and behavioral changes they cannot normalize. Recovery is the hardest part of addiction and many times individuals relapse and go back to using substances. Individuals who are not addicted have a difficult time understanding the complex nature of addiction and recovery. Many times we forget that addiction does not just affect an individual but also affects people that are surrounding them as well (What is Addiction). In the novel, Beautiful Boy: A Father’s Journey

Researchers believe that the orbitofrontal cortex is affected in an addict and the neural signals do not change based on the severity of the situation. Thus they are unable to get their brain to make sound choices. Then a malfunction in the anterior cingulate cortex allows addicts to continue making bad decisions. These two major malfunctions continually allow an addict to make unhealthy choices (Nauert, 2011). Nic did not choose to steal because he wanted to hurt his family. He simply did it because the drug did not allow him to think

It is when Karen and David find out that they have been robbed the feel betrayed by Nic and call the police to report the theft. His younger brother who has struggled to understand his disease and emotions associated with Nic feels betrayed his own brother would take his savings. Nic continued to steal from his parents because of the damage that was associated with how his brain was circuited. He stole because that was the only way he could supply his addiction (Sheff, 2008). It is hard to believe that your own blood could steal from you. Initially I believed that it was Nic’s choice to steal from his parent and feed his addiction. I didn’t understand that addiction was a disease till discussed it in class. We viewed addiction through a medical model and discussed how someone willpower was altered. It was then that I understood scientifically that ones ability to have the willpower to stop is altered when you do drugs. That is what leads Nic to betray his parents because he was unable to make a sober decision (Lopez,