Addiction is Addiction -- Or Is It?
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Addiction is Addiction -- Or Is It?
Addiction is Addiction
Is it?
I've seen this "slogan" twice on SR today. Once as a "slur" against me to undermine my credibility, and another time in reference to pot being equivalent to alcohol when considering "sober days".
I am posting this on the Newcomer's Forum, because I think it is a topic worth considering, no matter where you are in your recovery, and no matter what it is that you are in recovery from.
I once looked at all addiction as "those people". I now realize that addiction comes in many forms, is encountered in many ways, and lingers or is resolved for many reasons.
I would encourage everyone to examine their own viewpoints about this, and think about it when you are weighing the importance of the words of another poster, or of someone in your life. Whether you are the addicted person, or whether you are trying to dealing with someone else who is, how does it shape the way you feel about yourself or the other person.
Is your addiction better or worse than someone else's?
Do you de-value the "addict" on the basis of their addiction? If so, why?
I realize this is a topic with no answer. But I'll have to admit that it blindsided me a little bit on a number of levels when examining my own perceptions.
FT
Is it?
I've seen this "slogan" twice on SR today. Once as a "slur" against me to undermine my credibility, and another time in reference to pot being equivalent to alcohol when considering "sober days".
I am posting this on the Newcomer's Forum, because I think it is a topic worth considering, no matter where you are in your recovery, and no matter what it is that you are in recovery from.
I once looked at all addiction as "those people". I now realize that addiction comes in many forms, is encountered in many ways, and lingers or is resolved for many reasons.
I would encourage everyone to examine their own viewpoints about this, and think about it when you are weighing the importance of the words of another poster, or of someone in your life. Whether you are the addicted person, or whether you are trying to dealing with someone else who is, how does it shape the way you feel about yourself or the other person.
Is your addiction better or worse than someone else's?
Do you de-value the "addict" on the basis of their addiction? If so, why?
I realize this is a topic with no answer. But I'll have to admit that it blindsided me a little bit on a number of levels when examining my own perceptions.
FT
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To me, addiction is a dependence on a drug against one's own better judgement. That is, the addicted person wants to stop drinking or using on some level, knowing they probably should, but find it difficult to do so. I sometimes use the example of my affinity for espresso to illustrate a dependence that I would not consider an addiction. I am certainly dependent on caffeine, since I regularly ingest copious amounts of it, and suffer withdrawal if I stop. However, while I am dependent on it, I don't consider myself addicted to caffeine, since I have no interest whatsoever in giving it up, at least for now.
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You're right, it doesn't have an answer, or it doesn't have ONE answer.
I like what Ann said yesterday about not judging other people's recoveries because it's not helpful to her.
It's an issue that can get pretty sticky pretty quickly. For example, here in Colorado marijuana is considered a medicine by the state and your doctor can write you a prescription for it. So we can call marijuana a medicine. But there's lots of other medicines that people can get addicted to, like opiates or amphetamines. I don't have an obsession with pot but I would have a problem with opiates and maybe even amphetamines. Others would react differently.
Then you get into the other kinds of addictions people talk about - food and sex come to mind. I personally don't know what it's like to be a food or sex addict, but just because I can't imagine it doesn't mean it's not real for the people experiencing it. Or what about workaholics? I know the term is thrown around a lot, but there are people out there who say they are or have been addicted to work. Same thing applies - just because I haven't been through it doesn't mean it doesn't exist.
I think there's any number of things people can get addicted to. Anything that provides a rush and allows for an escape - I can easily see how that might become a pattern of obsession, you know?
What would you call it when someone with OCD counts or washes their hands over and over (to use a stereotype)? That looks like addiction to me, and if they choose to call themselves addicts I'd understand it.
So I guess I would personally agree that addiction is addiction. I'm not going to judge the particulars of what brought a person to believe they are an addict. What matters to me is what you do after you say you're an addict. That's where we are all more the same than different, it's where we are the most helpful in supporting people, and it's the point when real work gets done and people can recover from whatever their DOC is.
I like what Ann said yesterday about not judging other people's recoveries because it's not helpful to her.
It's an issue that can get pretty sticky pretty quickly. For example, here in Colorado marijuana is considered a medicine by the state and your doctor can write you a prescription for it. So we can call marijuana a medicine. But there's lots of other medicines that people can get addicted to, like opiates or amphetamines. I don't have an obsession with pot but I would have a problem with opiates and maybe even amphetamines. Others would react differently.
Then you get into the other kinds of addictions people talk about - food and sex come to mind. I personally don't know what it's like to be a food or sex addict, but just because I can't imagine it doesn't mean it's not real for the people experiencing it. Or what about workaholics? I know the term is thrown around a lot, but there are people out there who say they are or have been addicted to work. Same thing applies - just because I haven't been through it doesn't mean it doesn't exist.
I think there's any number of things people can get addicted to. Anything that provides a rush and allows for an escape - I can easily see how that might become a pattern of obsession, you know?
What would you call it when someone with OCD counts or washes their hands over and over (to use a stereotype)? That looks like addiction to me, and if they choose to call themselves addicts I'd understand it.
So I guess I would personally agree that addiction is addiction. I'm not going to judge the particulars of what brought a person to believe they are an addict. What matters to me is what you do after you say you're an addict. That's where we are all more the same than different, it's where we are the most helpful in supporting people, and it's the point when real work gets done and people can recover from whatever their DOC is.
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Interestingly, certain addictions are considered more "socially acceptable" than other addictions.
Is the businessman who drinks to oblivion every night and then beats his wife in an alcoholic rage more "upstanding" than the street heroin addict who injects heroin into his veins several times a day?
They are both addicts. Is the "addiction" of the former any less damaging than the latter?
I guess I just don't get the "addiction is addiction" rhetoric.
FT
Is the businessman who drinks to oblivion every night and then beats his wife in an alcoholic rage more "upstanding" than the street heroin addict who injects heroin into his veins several times a day?
They are both addicts. Is the "addiction" of the former any less damaging than the latter?
I guess I just don't get the "addiction is addiction" rhetoric.
FT
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Originally Posted by failedtaper 
Is the "addiction" of the former any less damaging than the latter?
But obviously I can't speak for everyone (as much as I'd like to
). I'm really interested in hearing what others have to say as well. Good thread, FT!
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As for a definition of addiction regarding drugs I use the Mayo Clinic's one.
I think in terms of drug addiction symptoms. Some people have more symptoms than others. Then when I look at some of the common symptoms of addiction, I understand that even if one has just a few, its still very bad. It becomes a matter of heavily symptomatic or not. There's no better or worse when its all bad.
I see the addict as someone suffering from an illness. So I don't make a value judgment regarding a persons that has an illness. I think in term's of one being compliment to treatment or resistant to treatment and all points in between the two.
Is your addiction better or worse than someone else's?
Do you de-value the "addict" on the basis of their addiction? If so, why?
Today's Muse
Join Date: May 2007
Location: West end
Posts: 1,081
Addiction is Addiction -- Or Is It?
A drug is a drug. Drugs and alcohol go hand in hand. You hear that statement a lot, but I would always tilt my head to one side when I hear this. I never was into drugs. I was into alcohol. I never craved drugs or would conspire to get them. I would with alcohol. In my mind drugs were illegal and alcohol wasn't. I never liked the way drugs would make me feel. It was all about the alcohol. A drug is a drug never rang true to me, but would for many. The way I look at it is, if it is harming you or interfering with the quality of your life, it is a problem. If it is illegal or interfering with your finances, it is a problem. Being illegal isn't inclusive to harm or becoming a problem. Shopping, caffeine, cigarettes, energy drinks, food, you name it. If it becomes a compulsive behavior and is interfering in life, it is a problem.
Now, do I consider pot to being equivalent to alcohol when considering "sober days". Yes, I do. I never had an issue with pot, but would not consider myself "sober" if I smoked it as a form of recreation.
A drug is a drug. Drugs and alcohol go hand in hand. You hear that statement a lot, but I would always tilt my head to one side when I hear this. I never was into drugs. I was into alcohol. I never craved drugs or would conspire to get them. I would with alcohol. In my mind drugs were illegal and alcohol wasn't. I never liked the way drugs would make me feel. It was all about the alcohol. A drug is a drug never rang true to me, but would for many. The way I look at it is, if it is harming you or interfering with the quality of your life, it is a problem. If it is illegal or interfering with your finances, it is a problem. Being illegal isn't inclusive to harm or becoming a problem. Shopping, caffeine, cigarettes, energy drinks, food, you name it. If it becomes a compulsive behavior and is interfering in life, it is a problem.
Now, do I consider pot to being equivalent to alcohol when considering "sober days". Yes, I do. I never had an issue with pot, but would not consider myself "sober" if I smoked it as a form of recreation.
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This is all very interesting to me.
I quit alcohol over 20 years ago. I was never a binge drinker, and I don't recall ever getting "drunk" except when I was a teenager or young adult in my 20's. And yet, the alcohol became a problem for me because I became tied to it as a relaxation tool, and it eventually controlled my daily activities -- everything was planned around the alcohol. I remember being shocked at how difficult it was to quit. I used a method much like AVRT, although I had no name for it at the time.
So, having been a non-drinker for many years, I suffered with severe osteo-arthritis, made worse by torn ligaments in both knees, resulting in double total knee replacements. The excruciating pain involved pre-operatively led me to pain medication -- oxycodone -- and before, during, and after the surgeries I became dependent on them. Addiction followed, about which I was in denial for months before I finally admitted it to myself. I again quit using an AVRT method. This was a little over a year ago.
My personal self-identification as a non-drinker did not cease with my oxycodone addiction. I recognize now that some may consider what happened to me with oxycodone to be a "relapse". But it didn't feel like one to me. It felt new. It felt different. And quitting the opiates was much different from quitting the alcohol. I won't go into the differences here, but they were very different.
The social viewpoint of my cross-addictions is telling of how our society views addiction. Many would never have identified me as an alcoholic, even during my "worst" and highest use. Few would have looked down on me for it, even if they knew.
Opiates, on the other hand, are a far different matter. This was something I considered "bad", even "shameful". Falling into opiate addiction shocked me. It's been over a year now, and I still feel "burned". I mean, I feel I was naive about the potential for opiate addiction. I can legitimize it in some ways, I can compare it to the street heroin addict who uses a syringe to inject the heroin, maybe re-using needles. That is bad, really bad. The self-destructiveness and the potential for total personality loss is very easy to identify in that scenario. But is it so different from what I was doing?
Are there levels to addiction? Is this a continuum? Kinda bad========>REAL bad?
I struggle with these definitions. On personal reflection, I do see levels of personality loss associated with addiction. I had the privilege of working with schizophrenic street addicts last summer, and the levels became more visible there, but were they real?
I don't know. I believe we are all capable of falling into deep despair, even beyond reach, under the "right" circumstances. It was frightening to see myself somewhere in each and every face I encountered there. Are any of us truly any different?
FT
I quit alcohol over 20 years ago. I was never a binge drinker, and I don't recall ever getting "drunk" except when I was a teenager or young adult in my 20's. And yet, the alcohol became a problem for me because I became tied to it as a relaxation tool, and it eventually controlled my daily activities -- everything was planned around the alcohol. I remember being shocked at how difficult it was to quit. I used a method much like AVRT, although I had no name for it at the time.
So, having been a non-drinker for many years, I suffered with severe osteo-arthritis, made worse by torn ligaments in both knees, resulting in double total knee replacements. The excruciating pain involved pre-operatively led me to pain medication -- oxycodone -- and before, during, and after the surgeries I became dependent on them. Addiction followed, about which I was in denial for months before I finally admitted it to myself. I again quit using an AVRT method. This was a little over a year ago.
My personal self-identification as a non-drinker did not cease with my oxycodone addiction. I recognize now that some may consider what happened to me with oxycodone to be a "relapse". But it didn't feel like one to me. It felt new. It felt different. And quitting the opiates was much different from quitting the alcohol. I won't go into the differences here, but they were very different.
The social viewpoint of my cross-addictions is telling of how our society views addiction. Many would never have identified me as an alcoholic, even during my "worst" and highest use. Few would have looked down on me for it, even if they knew.
Opiates, on the other hand, are a far different matter. This was something I considered "bad", even "shameful". Falling into opiate addiction shocked me. It's been over a year now, and I still feel "burned". I mean, I feel I was naive about the potential for opiate addiction. I can legitimize it in some ways, I can compare it to the street heroin addict who uses a syringe to inject the heroin, maybe re-using needles. That is bad, really bad. The self-destructiveness and the potential for total personality loss is very easy to identify in that scenario. But is it so different from what I was doing?
Are there levels to addiction? Is this a continuum? Kinda bad========>REAL bad?
I struggle with these definitions. On personal reflection, I do see levels of personality loss associated with addiction. I had the privilege of working with schizophrenic street addicts last summer, and the levels became more visible there, but were they real?
I don't know. I believe we are all capable of falling into deep despair, even beyond reach, under the "right" circumstances. It was frightening to see myself somewhere in each and every face I encountered there. Are any of us truly any different?
FT
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I find this thread intriguing, especially because I am interested in the concepts of linguistic relativity and determinism.
Does thought determine language, does language determine thought, is our experience limited to our ability to express it with language?
When I think "addict" my mind conjures images of street "junkie" or at least those young attractive "addicts" on the tv shows "intervention.". Thus, my idea of "addict" is shaped by my world experience of the concept, i.e. television.
Addiction is much easier for me to define, and I subscribe to terminally unique's definition: to have an addiction is must be something (an activity or substance) that you want to cease doing or using but find it difficult or impossible to do so.
Does pot count? Only if you are addicted to it and want to quit. Same with caffeine, nicotine, artificial sweeteners, exercise, hand-washing, etc etc
Is one addiction better or worse than another? That is ego, and serves no purpose being debated. The need to do so comes from our human need to categorize, rate, and define everything.
Again, I come back to the thought that our language for a particular thing limits our ability to discuss it. Putting everyone into the category "addict" doesn't account for each person's infinite uniqueness.
Does thought determine language, does language determine thought, is our experience limited to our ability to express it with language?
When I think "addict" my mind conjures images of street "junkie" or at least those young attractive "addicts" on the tv shows "intervention.". Thus, my idea of "addict" is shaped by my world experience of the concept, i.e. television.
Addiction is much easier for me to define, and I subscribe to terminally unique's definition: to have an addiction is must be something (an activity or substance) that you want to cease doing or using but find it difficult or impossible to do so.
Does pot count? Only if you are addicted to it and want to quit. Same with caffeine, nicotine, artificial sweeteners, exercise, hand-washing, etc etc
Is one addiction better or worse than another? That is ego, and serves no purpose being debated. The need to do so comes from our human need to categorize, rate, and define everything.
Again, I come back to the thought that our language for a particular thing limits our ability to discuss it. Putting everyone into the category "addict" doesn't account for each person's infinite uniqueness.
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Originally Posted by Zencat
I see the addict as someone suffering from an illness. So I don't make a value judgment regarding a persons that has an illness.
Needless to say, she found another meeting.
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I think that personally, I'm having a hard time saying one addiction is worse than another because of my own background. I used to think like that too, I am ashamed to admit. I had contempt for other addicts even as the realization that I had a problem drinking alcohol was dawning on me. I took a greyhound bus across a couple of states once and was appalled seeing a woman drunker and higher than anyone I had ever seen. She sobered up along the ride, but I was very disturbed and honestly totally disgusted by her behavior.
A couple of years later I found myself doing things I never thought I would do. I was living a life that had been outside my scope of imagination a few years ago, but there I was... I think we all have the potential in us to go down father than we ever thought possible, and then farther still. Addiction will take out any ideas you had about who you are and what you're too good for, no problemo. I really do think we are all the same in that respect - we all have that potential.
LOL, I think about my elephantine ego back in those days and I wonder if it was karmic retribution or what. One of the most important things I realized when I got sober is that it just doesn't matter what you think about yourself, it matters what you do. All of us are non flying astronauts or non-practicing peace activists or doctors in waiting, or in my case, a non-painting artist... Our actions are so much more important than what we think about ourselves. I thought I was still the person I was before I was an addict - smart, pretty, talented, loved, loving, upper middle class... I thought that made me better than some "idiot" doing speedballs in a trailer. In reality I was a liar, a drunk, a high school AND college dropout, and a hooker who had been homeless and was always only one step away from that. Addiction has the potential to take everything away.
I guess I feel like if it happened to me, stuck up brat that I was, if I can go that far down, then it can happen to anyone. That's why I say I don't judge people by their addiction... if I'm going to judge an addict (and really I try not to these days) I judge them by what they do when they say it's time to sober up. That's what I would want people to judge me on.
A couple of years later I found myself doing things I never thought I would do. I was living a life that had been outside my scope of imagination a few years ago, but there I was... I think we all have the potential in us to go down father than we ever thought possible, and then farther still. Addiction will take out any ideas you had about who you are and what you're too good for, no problemo. I really do think we are all the same in that respect - we all have that potential.
LOL, I think about my elephantine ego back in those days and I wonder if it was karmic retribution or what. One of the most important things I realized when I got sober is that it just doesn't matter what you think about yourself, it matters what you do. All of us are non flying astronauts or non-practicing peace activists or doctors in waiting, or in my case, a non-painting artist... Our actions are so much more important than what we think about ourselves. I thought I was still the person I was before I was an addict - smart, pretty, talented, loved, loving, upper middle class... I thought that made me better than some "idiot" doing speedballs in a trailer. In reality I was a liar, a drunk, a high school AND college dropout, and a hooker who had been homeless and was always only one step away from that. Addiction has the potential to take everything away.
I guess I feel like if it happened to me, stuck up brat that I was, if I can go that far down, then it can happen to anyone. That's why I say I don't judge people by their addiction... if I'm going to judge an addict (and really I try not to these days) I judge them by what they do when they say it's time to sober up. That's what I would want people to judge me on.
Today's Muse
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I was physically addicted to alcohol. I subjected myself to physical withdrawal more than once. Each time I would get through it I would say "never again" only to find myself in the same situation again and again. I know that is extremely dangerous, but my compulsion wasn't able to rationalize. Having gone through that I find myself thinking about smoking. I was never a smoker, but know smokers and the struggle they go through trying to quit. I know many who have quit only to pick it back up again years later. I think to myself, I could never quit smoking if I were a smoker. I don't know why I think that, but I do. I do the same with drugs. Prescription, heroin, cocaine. I think I would never be able to stop if I were addicted. Getting through alcohol addiction was very difficult and I did it. I don't understand why I believe I wouldn't be able to give up any other addiction.
I am a compulsive addictive personality. I have a tendency to swap addictions. For instance, shopping. I have a tendency toward impulse buying. I become compulsive about something and have to have one in every color or something along those lines. However, I do not take it to the extreme as I would if I were drinking. I do not spend to the point of not being able to pay my bills. Is it necessary? No. Can I stop. Yes. It is along the same vein, but not to the extreme. However, I don't want to stop. It makes me happy, but after a while I recognize that the shopping isn't making me happy it is impulsive and I don't like that. I am making an effort to monitor my spending and save more. One thing for certain. No one is going to recognize that I have a spending problem. I do not buy lavish things or do lavish things. It is the little things that add up. It is not the same as being a heroin addict or carry the same stigma. Having 7 tank tops in the same color pales in comparison to a intravenous drug user. However, I get it. I really do. The tendencies are still connected.
In thinking about this...is the spectrum wide or narrow? I think I have confused myself.
I am a compulsive addictive personality. I have a tendency to swap addictions. For instance, shopping. I have a tendency toward impulse buying. I become compulsive about something and have to have one in every color or something along those lines. However, I do not take it to the extreme as I would if I were drinking. I do not spend to the point of not being able to pay my bills. Is it necessary? No. Can I stop. Yes. It is along the same vein, but not to the extreme. However, I don't want to stop. It makes me happy, but after a while I recognize that the shopping isn't making me happy it is impulsive and I don't like that. I am making an effort to monitor my spending and save more. One thing for certain. No one is going to recognize that I have a spending problem. I do not buy lavish things or do lavish things. It is the little things that add up. It is not the same as being a heroin addict or carry the same stigma. Having 7 tank tops in the same color pales in comparison to a intravenous drug user. However, I get it. I really do. The tendencies are still connected.
In thinking about this...is the spectrum wide or narrow? I think I have confused myself.
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"Disability Conviction:
Originally Posted by unentschieden
I find this thread intriguing, especially because I am interested in the concepts of linguistic relativity and determinism.
Does thought determine language, does language determine thought, is our experience limited to our ability to express it with language?
When I think "addict" my mind conjures images of street "junkie" or at least those young attractive "addicts" on the tv shows "intervention.". Thus, my idea of "addict" is shaped by my world experience of the concept, i.e. television.
Addiction is much easier for me to define, and I subscribe to terminally unique's definition: to have an addiction is must be something (an activity or substance) that you want to cease doing or using but find it difficult or impossible to do so.
Does pot count? Only if you are addicted to it and want to quit. Same with caffeine, nicotine, artificial sweeteners, exercise, hand-washing, etc etc
Is one addiction better or worse than another? That is ego, and serves no purpose being debated. The need to do so comes from our human need to categorize, rate, and define everything.
Again, I come back to the thought that our language for a particular thing limits our ability to discuss it. Putting everyone into the category "addict" doesn't account for each person's infinite uniqueness.
Does thought determine language, does language determine thought, is our experience limited to our ability to express it with language?
When I think "addict" my mind conjures images of street "junkie" or at least those young attractive "addicts" on the tv shows "intervention.". Thus, my idea of "addict" is shaped by my world experience of the concept, i.e. television.
Addiction is much easier for me to define, and I subscribe to terminally unique's definition: to have an addiction is must be something (an activity or substance) that you want to cease doing or using but find it difficult or impossible to do so.
Does pot count? Only if you are addicted to it and want to quit. Same with caffeine, nicotine, artificial sweeteners, exercise, hand-washing, etc etc
Is one addiction better or worse than another? That is ego, and serves no purpose being debated. The need to do so comes from our human need to categorize, rate, and define everything.
Again, I come back to the thought that our language for a particular thing limits our ability to discuss it. Putting everyone into the category "addict" doesn't account for each person's infinite uniqueness.
I, too, am interested in the concepts of linguistic relativity and determinism.
You might enjoy the significance of the term "disability conviction".
I stumbled upon this term while reviewing cases for "malingering". The concept of faking pain in order to get pain medication is as old as dirt.
What I have found to be more frequent is that the perceived pain is in fact real enough, however the rather insulting suggestion that there exists a "disability conviction" in many cases is nonetheless true.
I think that, over time, addiction falls strongly into the category of "disability conviction". Whether it is the drug/alcohol talking matters little when someone grows to believe they really "need" their fix.
It's a tough pill to swallow, but, for me, quite necessary in order to take the next step of discarding the disability I worked so hard to acquire without even really recognizing it.
Alcohol, and later drugs, certainly disabled me from being able to accomplish the things I want to in my life. Shedding the conviction that one needs drugs/alcohol to function is a tough go.
FT
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Location: Midwest
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For me addiction is addiction. I have been an alcoholic, (my first addiction) then I was a meth addict, then it was opiates and also a glutton.
For me they are destructive and for me they are all self seeking and selfish.
Finally I will say that every single time I look around the room at other addict, alcoholics and their bottoms, I am puffing up myself. I am saying, "self, you were never as bad at them, so there is something good in your use." For me, that is lie.
I try to focus on similarities not differences in drinking and using.
For me they are destructive and for me they are all self seeking and selfish.
Finally I will say that every single time I look around the room at other addict, alcoholics and their bottoms, I am puffing up myself. I am saying, "self, you were never as bad at them, so there is something good in your use." For me, that is lie.
I try to focus on similarities not differences in drinking and using.
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Join Date: Dec 2011
Posts: 156
Originally Posted by failedtaper
Alcohol, and later drugs, certainly disabled me from being able to accomplish the things I want to in my life. Shedding the conviction that one needs drugs/alcohol to function is a tough go.
FT
FT
My BF's uncle is firmly in the middle of a disability conviction and "needs" to be on his myriad medications. What a dangerous mindset! If we must define a spectrum of addiction I would put "disability conviction" on the "extremely destructive" end.
I'm sure it was very difficult to put your mind in a different direction. congratulations on being able to do so!
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Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: Colorado Prairie
Posts: 1,417
How come we never flip this shoe over to the other foot? A hardcore heroine junkie kicks his problem to the curb and is considered by all standards to be clean and recovered. Can he have a beer once in a while? Can he have a couple here and there since beer was never his dilemma? Can he even get a little tipsy or flat out drunk at the office party? Alcohol was never his problem, he's not addicted to alcohol and alcohol isn't and never will be his master. Can he drink??
I say he can.
I say he can.
MIND OF DESTRUCTIVE TASTE
Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: Chicago, IL
Posts: 744
I'm always baffled at how some addictions are socially accepted while others are frowned upon. I don't find it helpful in the least to pass judgement upon a person, their DOC, their way of recovery, etc. I pride myself on being an open minded, non judgmental person. I am respectful until I am disrespected. I've been judged many a time for having been a "street junkie" shooting up heroin and crack, living in my car, in and out of jail. Somehow my addiction was more disgusting and appalling to others than when I was suffering with alcoholism. In my mind it boils down the fact that addiction IS addiction. No one's addiction is better than another, absolutely absurd just writing that sentence!! To argue over something so petty is just saddening as well as ignorant. Individuals who pass judgments usually need to take a long, hard look at themselves. Everyone's utmost concern should be themselves and THEIR recovery. Just my honest opinion. On that note, I'm headed for bed, give SR a break for the day lol. I get a bit testy when it comes to topics like this.
-Jess
-Jess
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Join Date: May 2009
Location: Arizona
Posts: 3,680
Just a few thoughts, some from my own experience, others observations.
I have multiple addictions, both substance and behavioral. The underlying psychological issues are behind my additive personality. I DO have an addictive personality, meaning I have been afraid to face life and will use anything to keep from facing reality.
I also have an addictive body chemistry. My brain sends out the good stuff in response to some stimuli that most people don't seem to get much of a rush from. So I am, in a sense, physically addicted...to my brain chemicals, and consequently the behaviors that cause my brain to pump them out.
In the case of a substance that the body (not just the mind) gets physically addicted to, there is the situation of difficult, painful and even dangerous physical withdrawals. Not all addictions have that aspect.
So...there is a level at which I feel addiction is addiction, but I believe there are distinctions too, based on the substance, behavior, and whether or not the body has become chemically dependent. Those things all factor into how likely one is to recover and what sort of factors will arise in recovery.
Without a doubt people judge others by their addictions. Partly because some addictions would only seem likely to occur in people who participate in actions that a culture finds abhorrent, or illegal. The person is judge because it is assumed they participated in bad behavior, and sometimes people feel they got what they deserved.
Some addictions are harder to hide than others, due to the sort of wreckage they do to the body or life of the person who has them. If people don't see it, it's harder for them to judge it, if it's not in their face, they more easily ignore it.
A rich woman may giggle over her addiction to shopping, while a poorer woman, who's shopping addiction has caused wreckage in her family's life, in neither laughing nor laughed at, but judged.
It often seems to come down to how well and how long one can hide their addiction.
And of course some addictions simply are more life threatening than others.
Are they equal? Well, what's the criteria? Addiction by it's nature is life consuming, and a hellish trap for the person living with it. But those other factors can't be ignored.
Even in my own life, facing my multiple addictions, there are similarities, but I don't consider them all equal.
I have multiple addictions, both substance and behavioral. The underlying psychological issues are behind my additive personality. I DO have an addictive personality, meaning I have been afraid to face life and will use anything to keep from facing reality.
I also have an addictive body chemistry. My brain sends out the good stuff in response to some stimuli that most people don't seem to get much of a rush from. So I am, in a sense, physically addicted...to my brain chemicals, and consequently the behaviors that cause my brain to pump them out.
In the case of a substance that the body (not just the mind) gets physically addicted to, there is the situation of difficult, painful and even dangerous physical withdrawals. Not all addictions have that aspect.
So...there is a level at which I feel addiction is addiction, but I believe there are distinctions too, based on the substance, behavior, and whether or not the body has become chemically dependent. Those things all factor into how likely one is to recover and what sort of factors will arise in recovery.
Without a doubt people judge others by their addictions. Partly because some addictions would only seem likely to occur in people who participate in actions that a culture finds abhorrent, or illegal. The person is judge because it is assumed they participated in bad behavior, and sometimes people feel they got what they deserved.
Some addictions are harder to hide than others, due to the sort of wreckage they do to the body or life of the person who has them. If people don't see it, it's harder for them to judge it, if it's not in their face, they more easily ignore it.
A rich woman may giggle over her addiction to shopping, while a poorer woman, who's shopping addiction has caused wreckage in her family's life, in neither laughing nor laughed at, but judged.
It often seems to come down to how well and how long one can hide their addiction.
And of course some addictions simply are more life threatening than others.
Are they equal? Well, what's the criteria? Addiction by it's nature is life consuming, and a hellish trap for the person living with it. But those other factors can't be ignored.
Even in my own life, facing my multiple addictions, there are similarities, but I don't consider them all equal.
SoberOutlook
Join Date: Mar 2011
Posts: 3,089
I believe addiction is a mental state that's created by the obsessive compulsion to do something, whether it's booze, drugs, internet, porn, or anything that becomes a "need" when it should otherwise be just another activity, absent addiction.
Lately, I've been addicted to the internet; mostly SR and Words with Friends. I do it at the cost of productivity and my livelihood. It's distorted my sense of reality of what's necessary and important. I'm obsessed with it. It's a behavior that needs correction, just like drinking. The main diff for me is that I don't believe I'll ever be able to drink again, because of the physiological affect, but my internet addiction is a product of my propensity toward uncontrollable behavior exhibited in addiction.
Hope this makes sense, somewhat. Gotta run.
Lately, I've been addicted to the internet; mostly SR and Words with Friends. I do it at the cost of productivity and my livelihood. It's distorted my sense of reality of what's necessary and important. I'm obsessed with it. It's a behavior that needs correction, just like drinking. The main diff for me is that I don't believe I'll ever be able to drink again, because of the physiological affect, but my internet addiction is a product of my propensity toward uncontrollable behavior exhibited in addiction.
Hope this makes sense, somewhat. Gotta run.
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