Reference no: EM133225517

Reflect on Epistemology of Addiction and Recovery Outline. Share how you've learned about addiction and recovery through the course. Identify two areas of continued growth in this area and how you plan to address ongoing competency.

Outline below:

A. I know about addiction through my personal experience with alcoholism, my faith lessons, and the knowledge I gained in both academic and personal settings. 

1. Alcoholism affected me personally and my family, which is why I learned about addiction from faith and academic sources. I believe God uses any means of help, including science (e.g., neuroscience).
2. I understand addiction is a disease-like condition caused by the brain's neurochemical imbalance, consistent with each case (Szalavitz, 2016).
3. This is the reason why I think that science should be utilized in treating this issue to create an intervention more efficiently than we have seen before.

B. This course taught me more about addiction, recovery, and spirituality. 

1. I have learned how to understand them from a scientific perspective.
2. For example, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), addiction is a neurochemical disorder. This understanding has helped me think about addiction differently than I used to.
3. I now know that for a person addicted to drugs or alcohol to become accountable for his actions (in recovery), he needs treatment and training because he is not biologically wired correctly.

C. Faith traditions and spirituality have shaped my view and understanding of addiction.

1. Faith and spirituality have impacted how I view addiction by influencing the principles and values I live by.
2. For this reason, my faith provides me with a higher meaning, a sense of completion, and peace amidst life's chaos.

II. My stance on addiction and recovery has changed due to my spiritual understanding of life.

1. I have learned to find meaning in life through faith and spirituality, even though I have struggled with alcoholism.

References 

Szalavitz, M. (2016). Unbroken brain: A revolutionary new way of understanding addiction. St. Martin's Press.