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The Life
Cycle and
Mechanics of
Addiction
- Part I |
by Gary W.
Smith
C.C.D.C.
Executive
Director
Narconon
Arrowhead |
What is
Addiction
Really?
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Whether a
person is
genetically
or
bio-chemically
predisposed
to addiction
or
alcoholism
is a
controversy
that has
been debated
for years
within the
scientific,
medical and
chemical
dependency
communities.
One school
of thought
advocates
the “disease
concept”
which
embraces the
notion that
addiction is
an inherited
disease, and
that the
individual
is
permanently
ill at a
genetic
level, even
for those
experiencing
long periods
of sobriety.
Another
philosophy
argues that
addiction is
a dual
problem
consisting
of a
physical and
mental
dependency
on
chemicals,
compounded
by a
pre-existing
mental
disorder
(i.e.,
clinical
depression,
bipolar
disorder or
some other
mental
illness),
and that the
mental
disorder
needs to be
treated
first as the
primary
cause of the
addiction.
A third
philosophy
subscribes
to the idea
that
chemical
dependency
leads to
permanent
“chemical
imbalances”
in the
neurological
system that
must be
treated with
psychotropic
medications
after the
person has
withdrawn
from their
drug of
choice.
The fact
remains that
there is
some
scientific
research
that favors
each of
these
addiction
concepts,
but none of
them are
absolute.
Based on
national
averages,
addiction
treatment
has a 16% to
20% recovery
rate. The
message is
pretty clear
that these
theories are
just that,
theories,
and we have
a lot more
to learn if
we are to
bring the
national
recovery
rate to a
more
desirable
level.
There is a
fourth
school of
thought
which has
proven to be
more
accurate. It
has to do
with the
life cycle
of
addiction.
This data is
universally
applicable
to
addiction,
no matter
which
hypothesis
is used to
explain the
phenomenon
of chemical
dependency.
The life
cycle of
addiction
begins with
a problem,
discomfort
or some form
of emotional
or physical
pain a
person is
experiencing.
The person
finds this
very
difficult to
deal with.
Here is an
individual
who, like
most people
in our
society, is
basically
good. He has
encountered
a problem
that is
causing him
physical or
emotional
pain and
discomfort
that he does
not have an
immediate
answer for.
Examples
would
include
difficulty
“fitting in”
as a child
or teenager,
puberty,
physical
injuries
such a
broken bone,
a bad back
or some
other
chronic
physical
condition.
Whatever the
origin of
the
difficulty
is, the
discomfort
associated
with it
presents the
individual
with a real
problem. He
feels this
problem is a
major
situation
that is
persisting.
He can see
no immediate
resolution
or relief
from it.
Most of us
have
experienced
this in our
lives to a
greater or
lesser
degree.
Once the
person takes
a drug, he
feels relief
from the
discomfort,
even though
the relief
is only
temporary.
That drink
or drug is
adopted as a
solution to
the problem
and the
individual
places value
on the
substance.
This
assigned
value is the
only reason
the person
ever uses
drugs or
drinks a
second,
third or
more times.
There is a
key factor
involved in
this life
cycle
scenario
that
determines
which of us
become
addicts and
which do
not. The
answer
depends on
whether or
not, at the
time of this
traumatic
experience,
we are
subjected to
pro-drug or
pro-alcohol
influences
via some
sort of
significant
peer
pressure
that
influences
our
decision-making
process with
regard to
finding
relief from
the
discomfort.
Peer
pressure can
manifest
itself in
many
different
ways. It can
come from
friends or
family
members or
through some
avenue of
advertising
or promotion
which, when
combined
with the
degree of
relief we
receive from
the drug or
drink,
determines
the severity
of the use.
Simply put,
the bigger
the problem,
the greater
the
discomfort
the person
experiences.
The greater
the
discomfort,
the more
importance
the person
places on
relieving it
and the
greater the
value he
assigns to
that which
brought
about the
relief.
For those
that start
down the
path of
addiction,
they will
encounter
other
physical,
mental and
lifestyle
changes
along the
way that
will begin
to cause the
individual’s
quality of
life to
deteriorate.
If the drug
or alcohol
abuse
continues
unchecked,
eventually
the person
is faced
with so many
unpleasant
circumstances
in their
life that
each sober
moment is
filled with
so much
despair and
misery that
all he wants
to do is
escape these
feelings by
medicating
them away.
This is the
downward
spiral of
addiction.
At this
point for
most there
are only
three
inevitable
outcomes:
death,
prison or
sobriety.
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Click here
for
Part 2,
Part 3,
Part
4,
Part 5. |
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