Stress 1

• Stress

  -stress can be predisposed to certain individuals to addiction as they may turn to substances to manage and cope.
• Self-medication model

  -was proposed by Gelkopf et al and suggests people deliberately deal with everyday stressors with maladaptive behaviours like alcohol or nicotine abuse due to stressors in the workplace or at home.
• Research support

  -Psychologists suggest that experiences of severe stress in our early years has damaging effects on brain during the sensitive period of development. This creates vulnerability to addiction by the time adolescence is reached.

  -Experiencing stress can also lead to relapse into addictive behaviours. The types of stressors are linked to addictive behaviours are workplace, childhood trauma and PTSD.

  -However, current research suggests it may be the individuals perceived ability to cope with stress that is the risk factor. e.g. having social support from friends and family could enable individual to cope better with stress.