Journal name: TIME
Journal date, vol., & issue no. : July 23, 2007, vol. 170, No. 3
Title of the article: The Science of Addiction
Author (s): Michael D. Lemonick & Alice Park
"Addictions are repetitive behaviors in the face of negative consequences, the desire to continue something you know is bad for you." "Humans in my view will always want to experiment with things to make them feel good." That's what a professor of psychiatry and a pioneer in the use of imaging to understand addiction have said before. Any habit or deeply enjoyable task may later become an addiction.
Some of the ways people get addicted are by stress, through conditioned reflex etc. Stress increases one's desire to depend on something and alters the way our brains think, especially in one's ability to contemplate consequences of actions. Conditioned reflex, such as learning to associate one thing to another, like wanting to consume alcohol at the sound of clinking glasses or the sight of drinking buddies. Also, in the mind of one who is beoming an addict, gamma-amino butyric-acids appear defective causing our brain to never appreciates that it is satisfied.
One way to cure addiction, or at least as scientists believe so, is to take vigabatrin. Vigabatrin is an anti-epilepsy medicine. It enhances gamma-amino-butyric acid in brains effectively and prevents their breakdowns. In addition, it suppresses overactivated neurons from causing muscles to go into spasm. With that, taking vigabatrin is said to help addicts control their drug cravings.
Conclusion
Even though in this article, the authors introduce some possible ways of overcoming addiction, the chance of succeeding isn't always 100%. One person's success may not be yours. So in conclusion, we should not feel like becoming addicted to something is okay because later on we can quit it.
Recommendation
This article is recommended because it provides some basic information on what addiction is and how people become addicted and also some other interesting facts. It also includes clear examples so as not to mislead or confuse any of its readers.
