Stanton Peele reasons that addiction is not a disease in the most comprehensible sense of the word: a disease has a biological cause and often a cure, while an addiction has neither. Peele explains that “Addiction is not, however, something people are born with. Nor is it a biological imperative, one that means the addicted individual is not

The psychological motives for addicts comprise of the need to cope with a sense of defenselessness and the need to feel happy and satisfied. Stanton Peele states that addicts “see in the substance the ability to accomplish what they need or want but can’t do it on their own. The double edge to this sword is that the person is easily convinced that he or she cannot function without the substance or addiction, that he or she requires to survive” (Elements of Argument 133). A drug addict feels helpless and thinks that life has become too hard to conduct. Certain life situations cause a person to look for a way to escape reality and solve predicaments, which leads to addictive behaviors. Joe, for example, is a seventeen-year-old boy who lives with his mother and six sisters in a two-bedroom apartment. His father, a drug seller, deserted the family ten years ago with another woman. Since that day, Joe took the responsibility to take care of his sisters while his mother strives to keep the family alive. Joe lives in a corrupted neighborhood where violence and drugs are normal in everyday life. School has no emphasis on Joe and he is coerced to take on a life filled with crime, drugs, and hardship. Falling deeper and deeper into depression, Joe begins to feel hopeless and thought fill his mind making him believe that life has no purpose and is useless. His responsibilities overwhelm him and he can no longer take control of his life. Joe b

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