Addiction: the state
of being enslaved to a habit or practice or to something that is psychologically
or physically habit-forming, as narcotics, to such an extent that its cessation
causes severe trauma.
Welcome back folks we hope that you’re ready to embark on
Addiction.
Being enslaved….sound familiar? Addiction isn’t the normal Friday night high
or buzz. When we are addicted to
something we are enslaved to it. We must
have it, at any cost. But before we get
into that, let’s take a look at some information that we found on About.com. The following information is excerpts from
this article and give a very good explanation on Addiction.
*Although the precise symptoms vary from one addiction to
another, in clarifying what is an addiction, there are two aspects that all
addictions have in common.
Firstly, the addictive behavior is maladaptive or
counter-productive to the individual. So instead of helping the person adapt to
situations or overcome problems, it tends to undermine these abilities.
For example, a gambler might
wish he had more money –- yet gambling is more likely to drain his financial
resources. A heavy
drinker might want to cheer herself up –- yet alcohol use contributes
to the development of her depression. A sex
addict may crave intimacy –-
yet the focus on sexual acts may prevent real closeness from developing.
Secondly, the behavior is persistent. When
someone is addicted, they will continue to engage in the addictive behavior,
despite it causing them trouble.
So an occasional weekend of self-indulgence is not
addiction, although it may cause different kinds of problems. Addiction
involves more frequent engagement in the behavior.
*Because the media, in particular, have portrayed addicts as
hopeless, unhappy people whose lives are falling apart, many people with
addictions do not believe they are addicted as long as they are enjoying
themselves, and they are holding their lives together.
Often people’s addictions become ingrained in their
lifestyle, to the point where they never or rarely feel withdrawal symptoms.
Or they may not recognize their withdrawal symptoms for what they are, putting
them down to aging, working too hard, or just to not liking mornings. People
can go for years without realizing how dependent they are on their addiction.
*Addictions are harmful both to the person with the
addiction, and to the people around them.
The biggest problem is the addicted person’s failure to
recognize the harm their addiction is doing. They may be in denial about
the negative aspects of their addiction, choosing to ignore the effects on
their health, life patterns and relationships. Or they may blame outside circumstances
or other people in their lives for their difficulties.
The harm caused by addiction is particularly difficult to
recognize when the addiction is the person’s main way of coping with the other
problems they have. Sometimes other problems are directly related to the
addiction, for example, health problems, and sometimes they are indirectly
related to the addiction, for example, relationship problems.
Some people who get addicted to substances or activities are
very aware of their addictions, and even the harms caused by the addiction, but
keep doing the addictive behavior anyway. This can be because they don’t feel
they can cope without the addiction, because they are avoiding dealing with
some other issue that the addiction distracts them from (such as being abused as
a child), or because they do not know how to enjoy life any other way.
The harm of addiction may only be recognized when the
addicted person goes through a crisis. This can happen when the addictive
substance or behavior is taken away completely, and the person goes into
withdrawal and cannot cope. Or it can occur as a consequence of
the addiction, such as a serious illness, a partner leaving, or loss of a job.
You can read the full article Here
We hope that this information has been a helpful
introduction into Addiction.
Join us again soon.
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Remember: “It is what it is and “it ain’t nothing but
a thing!”