Drug
Addiction
Individuals who struggle
with drug addiction did not set out to destroy themselves, everyone and everything
in their path; rather, these disastrous consequences are the effect of the vicious
cycle of drug addiction. For many, drugs seem to be a means of averting emotional
and/or physical pain by providing the user with a temporary and illusionary
escape from or way to cope with life's realities. Example, an individual tries
drugs or alcohol. The drugs APPEAR to solve his problem. He feels better. Because
he now SEEMS better able to deal with life, the drugs become valuable to him.
The person looks on drugs or alcohol as a cure for unwanted feelings. The painkilling
effects of drugs or alcohol become a solution to their discomfort. Inadvertently
the drug or alcohol now becomes valuable because it helped them feel better.
This release is the main reason a person uses drugs or drinks a second or third
time. It is just a matter of time before he becomes fully addicted and loses
the ability to control his drug use. Drug addiction, then, results from excessive
or continued use of physiologically habit-forming drugs in an attempt to resolve
the underlying symptoms of discomfort or unhappiness.
Essentially, drugs are a
pain killer. They may seem to avert emotional and physical pain by providing
the user with a temporary and illusionary escape from or way to cope with life's
realities. In fact, more problems--serious ones--are created by using and abusing
drugs.
Over time, a person's ability
to choose not to take drugs can become compromised--soon enough the person rationalizes
the need to use consistently and will do anything to get high. They are now
caught in the vicious cycle of using to alleviate pain and creating more pain
by using...They now display the physiological symptoms of drug addiction. They
become difficult to communicate with, are withdrawn, and begin to exhibit other
strange behaviors associated with drug addiction.
In addition to the mental
stress created by their unethical behavior, the addict's body has also adapted
to the presence of the drugs. They will experience an overwhelming obsession
with getting and using drugs, and will do anything to avoid the pain of withdrawing
from them. This is when the newly-created addict begins to experience drug cravings.
They now seek drugs both
for the reward of the "pleasure" they give him, and also to avoid
the mental and physical horrors of withdrawal. Ironically, the addict's ability
to get "high" from the alcohol or drug gradually decreases as his
body adapts to the presence of foreign chemicals. They must take more and more
drugs or alcohol, not just to get an effect but often just to function at all.
At this point, the addict
is stuck in the vicious dwindling spiral of drug addiction. The drugs the addict
abuses has changed them both physically and mentally. They have crossed an invisible
and intangible line. They now have a drug addiction or are an alcoholic.
The compulsion to use drugs
can take over the individual's life. Drug addiction often involves not only
compulsive drug taking but also a wide range of dysfunctional behaviors that
can interfere with normal functioning in the family, the workplace, and the
broader community. Drug addiction also can place people at increased risk for
a wide variety of other illnesses. These illnesses can be brought on by behaviors,
such as poor living and health habits, that often accompany life as a drug addict,
or because of toxic effects of the drugs themselves.
Results of the 2001 National
Household Survey on Drug Abuse and Addiction revealed that, while millions of
Americans habitually smoke pot, drink alcohol, snort cocaine and swallow prescription
drugs, too many drug users who meet the criteria for needing treatment do not
recognize that they have a drug addiction problem. The figure of those "in
denial" of their drug addiction is estimated at more than 4.6 million--a
significantly higher number of individuals in need of professional help than
had been previously thought.
Theft and drug addiction
