How Drug Addiction Begins

Cocaine Addiction

The pattern of addiction begins with an individual who, like most people in our society, is good intentioned and traveling through life to get somewhere. That somewhere varies from individual to individual; however that somewhere generally encompasses the individual’s hopes, dreams, and goals for the future.

Problems Occur in Life

This person encounters a problem or discomfort that they do not know how to resolve successfully. This could include problems such as difficulty “fitting in” as a child or teenager, anxiety due to peer pressure or work expectations, personal rejection loss or death, identity problems, or divorce. It can also include physical discomfort such as an injury or chronic pain.

The Person Turns to Drugs Thinking This Will Help The Problem

OxyContin Addiction

The person experiencing the discomfort has a real problem. He feels his present situation is not endurable and yet sees no good solution to the problem. Everyone has experienced this in his or her life to a greater or lesser degree. The difference between an addict and the non-addict is that the addict chooses drugs or alcohol as a solution to the unwanted problem or discomfort, usually without even being aware that he made the choice. The addict is usually completely unaware that he just started a pattern that would lead further and further away from where he planned to go in Life.

The Drug Addiction Begins

This person tries the drugs or alcohol and the substance appears to solve his problems. He feels better. He now seems better able to deal with life. However the drugs did not change the universe and the problems still exist. The addict wakes up in the same world but a bit weaker, a bit redder in the eyes, feeling a bit worse, with an even lower resistance to the problems, and usually has made more problems. He then uses the drug again to solve the even greater problems he has created. The person looks on drugs or alcohol as a cure for unwanted feelings.

Drugs Seem to Solve the Problems

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 problem-solution through drugs is one of the main reasons 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 results from excessive or continued use of physiologically habit-forming drugs in an attempt to resolve the underlying symptoms of discomfort or unhappiness.

Drug Addiction in Full Swing

The need for the drugs or alcohol becomes obsessive. The problems the addict has now created are way beyond his ability to handle and the reality of the situation is too much to face unless he has drugs. The addicted person is trapped. Whatever problem he was initially trying to solve by using drugs or alcohol fades from memory, while all the new problems mount. At this point all he can think about is getting and using drugs. He loses the ability to control his usage and disregards the horrible consequences of his actions. The addict will become withdrawn and difficult to reason with. He may behave strangely and seem depressed. He will sacrifice his personal integrity, his relationships with friends and family, his job, his savings, and anything else he may have in an attempt to get more drugs. The drugs are now the most important things in his life.

Drug Addiction- Past the Point of “No-Return” ?

Many Are Addicted to Marijuana

In addition to the mental stress created by his drug usage, the addict’s body has also adapted to the presence of the drugs. He will experience an overwhelming obsession with getting and using his drugs and will do anything to avoid the pain of withdrawing from them. This is when the addict begins to experience drug cravings, which have a biophysical basis. He now seeks drugs both for the reward of the “pleasure” they give him, and also to avoid the mental and physical horrors of withdrawal. At this point the addict is stuck in his addiction. The drugs he abuses have changed him both physically and mentally. He has crossed an invisible and intangible line. He is now a drug addict or alcoholic.

Saying no may have worked in the beginning, however once the addiction has taken hold it is nearly impossible to stop on ones own volition or will power, regardless of the consequences of drug use. The addict will need assistance, help, and treatment. The reasons being:

1. Mental and physical cravings caused by drug residues which remain in the body continue to alter the brains delicate neuro-balance for several years after the last drug use. This leads to relapse.

When drugs enter the body they travel rapidly to the brain and substituted for some of the brain’s reward systems neurotransmitters i.e.: dopamine, endorphins, serotonin, Gaba, and the brain likes it. The body immediately identified the drugs as toxic. The body has to eliminate these toxins. Drugs and alcohol are broken down in the liver in a process called metabolization, the by-products of which are called metabolites (the substances the body converts the drugs or alcohol into). Although removed rapidly from the bloodstream metabolites become trapped in the fatty tissues. There are various types of tissues that are high in fat content. The problem that needs to be addressed is that these drug residues remain trapped in these tissues for years. Tissues in our bodies that are high in fats are turned over very slowly. The body will metabolize and burn fat any time a person undergoes an experience that causes the heart rate to speed up. Stress can do this, as can strenuous exercise, anger, or intense emotion. We all experience these things on a fairly regular basis. When an addict experiences these situations and their heart rate speeds, up the body begins to mobilize and burn fat. The fat contains toxins or metabolites from past alcohol and drug use. As the fat cells burn they release the metabolites back into the person’s bloodstream. The metabolites travel through the bloodstream to the brain. The metabolite is a by-product of the drug, and is capable of substituting for the brains natural chemicals. The metabolite acts as a physical and mental reminder of the drug or alcohol consumption. In short, when the stored drug metabolites are released into the bloodstream they reactivate the same brain centers as if the person actually took the drug. The former addict now experiences a drug restimulation (or “flashbacks”) and drug craving. This is common in the months after an addict quits and can continue for several years.

2. Due to the Biochemical Personality the addict has developed through the drug use, he now possess almost none of his natural abilities to handle life’s problems with any degree of success. He can not face the reality of the situation he has created. The original problem he was initially trying to solve by using drugs or alcohol is now unidentifiable in the wake of the newly created problems.

If not successfully treated these manifestations will haunt a person for years even if they have sobered up. Left untreated this will trigger a relapse. The addict can “just say no” a thousand times, but it only takes him saying “yes” one time to start the pattern of addiction again.

The Atlanta Recovery Center uses Narconon® technology, first established in 1966, by William Benitez, an inmate in the Arizona state penitentiary, it is a non-traditional approach to handling drug addiction, which in itself is quite unique. It is a proven get off and stay off drugs program. The key to the successes of the Narconon® program is the Drug Rehabilitation Technology and the New Life Detoxification program, which is a cleansing of the body on a cellular level, in essence a purification process. This methodology has been used successfully by hundreds of thousands of people around the world to rid themselves of the need for drugs and regain control of their lives.