Substance Abuse

Substance Abuse

Kevin Presley

Psy/270

May 25, 2012

Richard Ferguson

Substance Abuse

This week in our readings we learned about all of the different psychological perspective view on substance abuse. Of course, each perspective a differing view on what they believe is the root cause for these addictions. Of these my own personal views most closely match those expressed by Cognitive Behavioral psychologist. It is their view that substance abuse has its roots in the high or mood altering effects of the drugs. After experience the effects of a substance it creates a cognitive response on enjoying the result. This then in turn molds its self into a learned behavior over a very short time.

The view point that I least agree with is that of Psychodynamic psychologist. It is their belief that substance abuse has its roots in childhood. They believe that if a child is not properly nurtured then they will see other avenues to fill that void. Substance abuse is one of the methods that they use due to their lack of parental fulfillment. I believe that a lot can be attributed to your up-bringing, not everything. I believe that children can be fully nurtured and still turn to substance abuse for many other reasons.

To continue on their individual perspectives each one has their own method of treatment. Of all these treatment methods the one that I agree with most is that of Biological psychologist. They use detoxification and antagonist drugs to help stop substance abuse and then prevent the return to the pattern. They seek to cure the problem at the chemical level in the brain. Even though I agree most with this method I personally believe that to truly treat and have great success you need to have a multidimensional approach. If you use the methods that work best from each perspective and apply them in concert you can greatly improve your likelihood for a cure.

The method that I least agree with is the treatment method employed by Sociocultural...