Paul And Alex Drug Study

Both Paul and Alex seem to be unfortunate cases, however, Paul has a better prognosis. Multiple factors contribute to the causes of drug use and abuse. There are biological, psychological, cognitive, social, and cultural dimensions that come into play for the different causes of drug use and abuse. The biological dimension includes genetics and neurobiology. Genetics can influence how one would experience different drugs and that can help to determine who would and would not become abusers of drugs. Neurobiology influences drug use and abuse through the “pleasure pathway,” also known as the rewards system, which gives one the feeling of being high (the reward) through the mesolimbic pathway. One would continue or even increase use due to the

The whole idea of this is that if one has certain expectations of a drug before they use it they are more likely to act that way when using the drug. This dimension also mentions the effects of cravings that can deter efforts to remain abstinent. These cravings can be triggered by things that the user associates with the use of that certain drug. Things like the location(s) it is usually used at, moods, or small doses of that drug. The social dimension also affects drug use and abuse. This focuses on exposure to the drug and parental influences. Exposure to the drug can come in different ways like friends, family, and the media. Parental influences can include things like if one or both parents are drug abusers and how the parent(s) monitor the child. If the parent(s) are stricter in monitoring, the child is less likely to do drugs or develop relations with people who do. Lastly, the cultural dimension of drug use and abuse focuses on how different cultures can affect the use of drugs. For instance, in Korea it is expected to drink heavily on certain occasions (Barlow & Durand,

Paul’s drinking seemed to be due to mostly social and cultural factors (drinking with friends to have a good time every Friday and Saturday night) with very little biological factors as his parents only engaged in light social drinking. Paul would be more likely to stop his drinking habit due to the negative reinforcement of being arrested and put on probation. Alex, on the other hand, displayed psychological, social, cultural, and biological factors that would influence his drinking habits. Alex’s reasoning to start and continue drinking every day was to cope with his anxiety and to manage his mood, which is a negative reinforcer. This would be the psychological dimension coming into play. Alex also desires to have better relations with his friends, which would be a social and cultural factor because he wants to be closer to his friends and it is more culturally acceptable to drink with friends. It was also explained that his parents are heavy daily drinkers which plays into both social and biological factors. It is social because if the parents are abusers, chances are, they did not properly supervise Alex as a child and he could partake in any activity he desired. This is also biological because of if the parents were both heavy drinkers, Alex could have inherited the addiction through genetics. It is through all of these different factors that I conclude that Alex