How can stress play a role in a person's transition from social drug use to addicted drug use?
◦ Drug addicts experience a lot of stress from seeking, needing, and buying drugs, so it becomes more of a job than a social activity; once the fun no longer exists the potential for addiction increases.
◦ Social forces pressure a person to take drugs; the stress of these pressures leads to full-blown addiction.
◦ Taking drugs is a stressful activity, especially in a social context; eventually the person wants to just take the drugs alone, which leads to addiction.
◦ Drug-taking that began as a stress-relief mechanism becomes stressful due to the physiological effects on the body and mind; habitual drug-taking now becomes a way to manage this newly acquired stress.