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Understanding the Power of Addiction Understanding the Power of Addiction Date updated: February 13, 2007 Content provided by Staywell Custom Communications If a loved one suffers from alcoholism or addiction, you may wonder why the person can't or won't stop using a substance that has such negative and dangerous consequences. Chances are, the ability to stop abusing the substance is no longer in his or her control. "Most people who develop a drug addiction or become alcoholics begin with occasional use or experimentation," says Marvin Seppala, M.D., chief medical director of Hazelden, an alcohol and drug addiction treatment center in Minnesota. With continued use, brain structure and function are altered, and they depend on the drug not simply to feel good but to feel normal. "At that point," Dr. Seppala says, "using drugs or alcohol is no longer a choice." When addicted, the drug user will do just about anything to obtain the drug, the National Institute on Drug Abuse says. The drug becomes the most important part of the person's life, overshadowing any other aspect. Not inevitable Even so, addiction isn't inevitable for everyone. Drugs differ in their addictive qualities, and people differ in their sensitivity to drugs. Just under one-third of people who try heroin become addicted to it, as will just over one-third of people who try tobacco and 12 to 15 percent of those who drink alcohol. Genetics and environment are also important. "The sons of alcoholic fathers, daughters of alcoholic mothers and anyone who has a history of sexual or physical abuse or who grows up in an environment where substance abuse is the norm is more likely to become addicted than someone without these risks," says Dr. Seppala. Research over the last decade reveals that addictive drugs and alcohol alter the function of the brain and the way cells work. As a result, normal thought processes, memory and emotions are fundamentally affected and changed permanently. "Once addicted, people will risk their own survival to use the drug, and their desire becomes stronger than any natural drives, like that for food or sex," says Dr. Seppala. "And at that point, the overpowering drive to drink or use drugs changes what was once a voluntary behavior into an involuntary one." Desire always there When the brain has experienced these changes, the desire will always be there. "Studies have shown that no matter how long people have been clean and sober following active addiction, their brain cells will always have the potential to develop a full-fledged addiction if they ingest any amount of the substance again," warns Dr. Seppala. That's why addiction is considered a chronic illness that has to be managed for the remainder of a person's life. "The key to recovery is lifelong monitoring of a person's lifestyle so he or she can avoid triggers, significant stress and any use of addictive substances," says Dr. Seppala. "Otherwise, the risk for a relapse is virtually guaranteed." It says we must avoid triggers -- HALT, for example. Hunger, Anger, Lonely, Tired are examples of those triggers, though there are many others. Avoid significant stressors. Not the *good* stress that motivates us, but, the undue stress that causes the cortisol to raise and the arteries to harden. Learning to meditate or exercise helps; changing jobs may also be an answer. And avoid the use of ANY addictive substance. No listening to that lying voice that says, "just one won't hurt." It ALWAYS hurts! :skillet I hope you found this article helpful. I did. :e058: Shalom! |
Thanks for this article, History. It's true: the brain remembers. If/when we go back to our addictive substances, the brain will automatically cry "more, more, more!" It's good to be reminded. Rock on. |
Totally. When I relapsed, the first night I was out I only had 5 beers. I left the sixth half full on the bar and walked out. I called my sponsor the next day(wtf?) and told him I only had 5 and I quit on the 6th. I told him I wasn't sure I was an alcoholic. He knew my history and was like....."yeah, good luck with that, maybe your not a drunk" so needless to say it took me about two weeks to get back to a bottle of bourbon a day with a side order of pills n dope. I never doubted I was a drunk again. My disease will always be there, getting stronger. Once you cross that line you can never go back to social partying. Fortunately, after you know what a sober life is like most folks don't want to go back. |
We alcoholics are men and women who have lost the ability to control our drinking. We know that no real alcoholic ever recovers control. All of us felt at times that we were regaining control, but such intervals usually brief were inevitably followed by still less control, which led in time to pitiful and incomprehensible demoralization. We are convinced to a man that alcoholics of our type are in the grip of a progressive illness. Over any considerable period we get worse, never better. "We are like men who have lost their legs; they never grow new ones. Neither does there appear to be any kind of treatment which will make alcoholics of our kind like other men. We have tried every imaginable remedy. In some instances there has been brief recovery, followed always by a still worse relapse. Physicians who are familiar with alcoholism agree there is no such thing as making a normal drinker out of an alcoholic. Science may one day accomplish this, but it hasn't done so yet." a li'l something from... "More About Alcoholism" the book, Alcololics Anomymous timeless aint it teach! |
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