In this lecture about addiction to drugs, sex, and alcohol I learn a
number of different things about how addiction works and how scientist
study the pattern to find what causes it and prevents it. Most of the
myths that Dr. Garza proved to be false was exactly what I always
assumed to be true.
One of the major myths that I thought to be true was that drugs, sex,
and alcohol affect everyone in the same way. As in high school there is
a very divers group of kids who are known to be addicted to different
things. Like for example the group of kids who do drugs, I know many
people who go threw that phase and come out like nothing happened, while
other get stuck with no way out weaken by the addiction. For example
cigarette smokers, my older sister is practically a chain smoker, she
has tried everything one can think of to quit but it never worked. Where
as my boyfriend, Jesse, was a social smoker ever since he joined the
military three years ago; I refused to go out with him because he drank
and smoked and he quit on the spot. As one may see how I quickly came to
the conclusion that my sister wasn't trying hard enough, and probably
just waiting for the medicine do all the work. On a more personal
observation, people who drink I always thought were liars. I transferred
from a very strict private school in Dallas, to a very small, barely a
3A, country school in the middle of nowhere, straight in to high school.
I became friends with the more outgoing crowd the partiers and I went to
a party of there's. Even though it tasted disgusting, I drank just as
much as the girls I went with and I wasn't making out with every guy I
saw, stripping on table tops, or throwing up on everything, and I
defiantly remembered everything the next day. So when the girls came to
me saying they couldn't control them self because they were drunk, I
didn't believed them, and I found new friends with better morals. I'm
still not completely sure 'how much' drinking really effects someone
actions. I now believe as Dr. Garza proved with the different test done
to monitor the brain activity that things like drugs and alcohol effect
people different. He also proved this concept again with the different
kinds of rats Dr. Garza test on; which reveal it took different amounts
of myth to keep the rats in that satisfied high. This explains why I
never got drunk and girls that drank just as much as I was way passed
what I would call drunk. It also explains why my sister has such a
problem with trying to quit smoking and Jesse quit without haven a
second thought about it.
Another major thing that I learn more about is how scientist studies
diseases as in addiction to different things. I guess I never put much
thought in how they do their research and get their data. I heard of mad
scientists who do test on humans before, which are how they say all the
different blood types evolved. Although I don't believe that Dr. Garza
is a mad scientist, I guess if people are willing to participate to find
a cure for their disease, its okay. I mean people do the same thing all
the time when they risk their life getting an organ transplant, even
though there is a chance their body could reject it, to find a way to
get through their disease. It was also interesting as well as shocking
to hear that methamphetamine addicts chose money over myth, even as low
as seven to sixteen dollars, even though there concealed in a hospital
for weeks with no other way to get what they were supposedly addicted
to. Another fascinating fact Dr. Garza stated was how the genetic makeup
of a person effects how prone to addiction a person could be. This
statement makes me wonder if I can control in a sense the genetic makeup
of my children. For an example if I marry someone who tried and found
some kind of displeasure in drugs and alcohol and never tried it again
just as I have, will that make our children dislike it and never want to
do it as well? Dr. Garza gave a fascinating lecture that left many minds
continuously thinking about the different concepts and how they connect
in a bigger picture. I truly appreciate this chance to listen in on what
scientists today are studying; I don't believe that students get enough
great opportunities such as these. There for I want to thank you for
letting us sit in.
