Analysis of Substance Abuse Through Biological, Psychological and Sociological Perspectives

Substance abuse is a tough issue that affects the population. The effects of substance abuse are felt by the whole family, but to know how to reduce drug use we must first find out why people use drugs. The three major categories of perspective on substance abuse are Biological, Psychological and Sociological Theories.

The biological theory explains that genetic abnormalities cause human behavior. Some people may enjoy a substance or activity so much that it becomes very tempting and difficult to resist, but another person might not have the same effect. Reasonable thinking is a brain function that varies among different people. The biological theory explains that your genetic makeup makes you vulnerable to developing an addiction.

The Psychological theory focuses more on personality differences between drug users and nonusers. The psychological theory assumes that the users have a personality trait that makes someone liable to use drugs. These traits are low self-esteem, a need for stimulations and low self-confidence. People thoughts and beliefs create their behavior, so if someone thoughts and beliefs can be unrealistic or dysfunctional so will their behavior. Some researchers suggest that there is something wrong with an individual emotional or psyche that makes drugs attractive to them. The Sociological theory suggests that drug use includes peer influences and social environment. Being close to family and friends can make a difference. Young adults that are not close to family and friends are more likely to use drugs of various types. Sociologist emphasizes that peer pressure greatly influences someone’s use of a substance. When friends are using drugs, it tempts an individual to use drugs too.

The theory I find most compelling is Psychological Theory. Psychology is understanding human behavior and it promotes people’s well-being and life satisfaction. A person who wants to try or do drugs is trying to escape reality, but it's not solving the problem, but making it worst. I believe mental disorders are the cause of addiction, normal people don’t find drugs to be desirable. The least compelling theory is Biological Theory. The biological theory assumes that genetics are the reason for drug addictions. I believe we are not slaves to our biology, so our biology does not drive our behavior. I think we are capable to change our life and health in whatever way we want. I’m not saying genetics are not important it just doesn’t determine your life. We can control our choices.

The sociological theory explains substance abuse best because some drug use starts at a young age when peer influences are important. Friends during this stage of life that are smoking or using drugs, may have an impact on individuals because many of us want to fit in the crowd. Most of us learn from observing others so social environment plays a role in an individual use of drugs. The greatest influences are people who matter to us the most like family, friends, neighbors, and teachers. Sometimes we see our parents smoke pot to relax or relieve stress and drink while socializing and when we see those things as adolescents we want to try out those behaviors.

The theory that does not explain substance abuse very well is the biological theory. The biological theory because it’s hard to conduct and interpret behaviors such as drug abuse. Experiments are difficult to design to distinguish among genetics, social, psychological influences in the human population.