Some Thoughts About Addictions

People engage in addictive behaviors for a reason, they get 'something' out of it.  Drugs of abuse will cause pleasurable feelings in most people who try them, and a pleasurable response encourages a 'repeat performance'.  But there is more to addiction, much more.  For every group of individuals who find a particular substance or experience pleasurable, on a part of that group will go on to have problems from that substance or experience.  Why is that?

The person prone to addiction is getting 'something else' out of the experience besides simply the pleasure.  Often it is relief of uncomfortable feelings (physical or emotional), or it may be relief from troubling thoughts or worries.  A brief period of peace, of comfort, of no worries.  That can be so attractive to the individual that there is a desire to repeat the experience.  And so it begins.  A pattern of behavior develops that provides some comfort, pleasure, and relief in the present moment.  Please note the time frame.

Addictions feel good in the present moment but over a period of time begin to cause problems down the road.  That is the basic pattern of addiction: feel good now, experience consequences later.  A brief reflection will help you see that this is a mindset or attitude of our culture at this point in time.  Have fun now, worry about the consequences later.

Perhaps this sounds familiar:  Buy Now, Pay Later!  We see a time of unprecedented debt both in many families as well as in virtually all governments (city, county, state, federal).  Addictions are a lot like credit cards!  Get the good stuff/feeling now, worry about the cost/consequence later.  Escape the everyday boredom, indulge yourself.  Buy the new car, take that vacation, spend money you don't have.  This message is so prevalent in our culture that many of us see it as a normal way of life.  It is that attitude that underlays much of the addictive process.

The Cycle of Addiction

If the thoughts above make sense, then let's go a little further.  We can see how substances or experiences can produce pleasure and become an escape from issues outside of us (family problems, argument with the boss, etc) or inside of us (worries, fears, anger, recollections of past occurences, and other uncomfortable inner experiences).  As we do something that "works" (that is, gives us the pleasure and relief that we seek), it becomes a more frequent behavior.  This is the idea of reinforcement which is easily seen in training our pets.  Provide a positive consequence to a particular behavior: puppy treat for sitting on command.  The same idea: experience pleasure after drinking, smoking, swallowing, snorting, shooting, or otherwise putting a chemical into your body.  The pleasure reinforces the behavior.  Or the excitement some feel when shopping, which can also be a reinforcer.

Over time, this pattern gets cemented.  At some point, the addictive behavior itself begins to produce undesired consequences.  As the developing addict becomes troubled by these consequences, the addictive behavior becomes a temporary source of relief from those consequences, consequences that were caused by the addictive behavior. 

As an example: you go to happy hour with coworkers to let off steam after a tough day at work.  The alcohol and relaxed conversation works, you experience pleasure and relief from the work stress.  So you go a bit more often, and you experience this relief more often, which reinforces going back to the bar.  One evening you get home and a family complains about you being late getting home, an argument ensues.  The next day you have the same work stresses and the troubling recollections about last night's argument.  That cold beverage at the bar sure looks attractive in your mind, doesn't it?  You begin to watch the clock count down for the end of the work day so you can go see your "friends" at the bar for a few drinks to get some respite from your burdens.  At this point denial is gradually developing which blinds us to the fact that some of what we are wanting to escape from was caused by our "solution" to stress, our little visits to the bar.

At this point, the developing addict is off to the races.  You can substitute a variety of situations and experiences for the bar & the drinks.  The process is similar.

Does this sound familiar to you?  Perhaps it's time to get some help.