Substance Abuse and the Brain: Nature vs. Nature
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An addict can not control starting the behaviors that would lead to using whatever substance they might be interested in?
Is it dopamine deficiency or dopamine abundance that is thought to cause problems with addiction?
How are the levels of dopamine are controlled in the brain?
Nature vs. Nurture - The Great Debate
How can we explain then the presence of mental illness even in healthy environments?
What do you think is the most common influence for mental disease then, nature or nurture?
What aspect of schizophrenia is environmental?
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Solution Summary
The following posting discusses the impact of substance abuse on the brain as well as the nature and nurture debate.
Solution Preview
Generally, all of these questions can be addressed by the diathesis-stress theory, which basically states that the onset of certain diseases result from a combination of one's biological disposition (genetic background ) and stressful events that bring about the onset of a disorder. To broaden this idea, we can consider stressful events to be in the category of environmental events that can precipitate a disorder if the biological vulnerability is present. For a general discussion of this theory see:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diathesis%E2%80%93stress_model
To address the specific questions:
An addict can not control starting the behaviors that would lead to using whatever substance they might be interested in?
If there is a biological and environmental ...
Purchase this Solution
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