The Importance Of Addiction In Hamlet

Scientists have taken centuries to “discover” what poets have been grappling with ever since we learned how to read and write. In Shakespeare’s Hamlet, before Hamlet despises his uncle for greater offences, he ridicules him and his fellow Danes for their reputation abroad as drunks and speculates with his friend and fellow scholar, Horatio, about the nature of alcoholism: “So oft it chances in particular men / That for some vicious mole of nature in them, / As in their birth (wherein they are not guilty, / Since nature cannot choose his origin), / By the o’ergrowth of some complexion / (Oft breaking down the pales and forts of reason), / Or by some habit that too much o’erleavens / The form of plausive manners... / The dram of evil / Doth

It has incited ongoing debates. Among those who consider addiction a choice is Gene Heyman, author of Addiction: A Disorder of Choice. Heyman does not deny that there is a genetic component to addiction, but downplays the importance of genetics and behavior (Kurti and Dallery 4), “Heyman notes that one common error made by both laypeople and scientists is to assume that genetic involvement in a behavior implies that the behavior is involuntary” (4). Heyman defends addiction as a choice by noting the history of drug abuse, societal responses to the abuse, personal case histories of abuse, the epidemiology of addiction, “rational” and “irrational” choices, brain-behavior relationships, and approaches to treatment of drug addiction. Heyman also argues that rational choices can lead to long-term outcomes, such as addiction, and the understanding of these processes can help prevent and treat drug

Addiction breaks down key parts of the brain that helps people survive (Biology 1). It can also affect the decision-making center in the brain (3). When someone is not under the influence, he can feel anxious or stressed. At this point, an addict consumes a substance not for pleasure, but for relief. This can suggest that taking that first drink can be a choice, but then it develops into a habitual disease. To prevent this “disease” we must prevent the first drink. Society must draw the line between individual responsibility and a mental disorder. At the end of the day, addiction comes down to the choices of that