Addiction, withdrawal, and aggressiveness in adolescence

• Author: G. Ungureanu
• Position: Scientific researcher at the Institute of Philosophy and Psychology 'C.R-Motru' within the Romanian Academy
• Pages: 43-50

AGORA International Journal of Juridical Sciences, http://univagora.ro/jour/index.php/aijjs/index

ISSN 1843-570X, E-ISSN 2067-7677

No. 2 (2015), pp. 43-50

43

ADDICTION, WITHDRAWAL, AND AGGRESSIVENESS IN ADOLESCENCE

G. Ungureanu

Gabriel Ungureanu

Scientific researcher at the Institute of Philosophy and Psychology “C.R-Motru” within the

Romanian Academy.

* Correspondence: Gabriel Ungureanu, Institute of Philosophy and Psychology C.R-Motru,

13 Septembrie Route, No. 13, Bucharest, Romania

E-mail:gabriel.ungureanu.acad@gmail.com

Abstract

In a tolerant and evasive environment, when the psychological conflict between

aspirations and possibilities occurs, naïve, uneducated, and disoriented adolescents often

wind up in deviant entourages, surrounded by dubious individuals who promise them the end

of “suffering” and the gain of a state of gratification and satisfaction with the help of drug

use. Subsequent to these well-intentioned contacts, “white death” drug dealers become

violent, demanding very high prices for the “fixes” of this habit. It is the beginning of the end

Key words: addiction; withdrawal; aggressiveness; adolescence; drugs.

.

Introduction

The striking gaps of present day society, overhyped without taking corrective

measures, the economic elitism of a minority, and the public minimization of young people’s

self-achievement through work and education have artificially enlarged the category of the

socially underprivileged; the romantic optimism typical of the age of adolescence in the time

of past generations is nowadays darkened by depression and disengagement. The statistics for

high school success rate are always decreasing up to 16-20% (in the autumn of 2014). The

situation is familiar, it is assessed, and linked to the economic state of affairs of the country,

but also to the lack of interest or the shocking ignorance of those who are directly concerned:

the families of these teenagers. This serious situation impels the youngest members of the

society to take refuge in the spirit of groups in which alcohol and drugs are being used.

1. Drug addiction

As it is pointed out in the Larousse Dictionary of Psychology, addiction is defined as

“a situation of dependence perceived subjectively as alienating, the whole existence of the

individual being centered on the repetition of an experience detrimentally to emotional or

social investments. The concept of addiction encompasses those of “toxicomany” and

“dependence”, yet it goes beyond the frame of psychoactive substances dependence to expand

to the drug-free toxicomanies or behavioral addictions” (Larousse, 2006, p.25). With respect

to the concept of drug one might say it comes from the Persian term droa which translates by

“aromatic”. According to other sources, it comes from the Hebrew term rakab which means

“perfume”. The closest to the truth seems to be the Dutch term droog which refers to the

vegetal substances sold by pharmacists (Bengescu, 2009). In relation to the phenomenon of

withdrawal (the lack of the substance used in addiction), the psychosomatic symptomatology

highlights the following types of reactions: 1) psychic: insomnia, anxiety, depression,

agitation or excitation; 2) digestive: nausea, regurgitation, stomach aches, anorexia; 3) pain-

related: muscle aches, bone pain, visceral pain; 4) neurovegetative: rhinorrhea, ague, sweat

(Larousse, 2006, p.1109).