Addiction Recovery

When I started drinking, I was drinking with everyone else in high school. What took me by surprise was down the road everyone else tapered off, but by that time I was drinking every other day or so. For a long time it never occurred to me that this kind of drinking was abnormal.

Every other day turned into every day, and of course when you drink every day, you end up drinking alone. And drinking alone is a sad and lonely way to go. I desperately wanted to stop drinking, but was unable to because every time I’d try to stop, my body would go into a state of detox. No sleep, shaking, feeling completely out of it, flu like symptoms, and just plain miserable in general. I understand under more advanced conditions the detox will involve hallucinations too.

Another by-product of drinking so much is I gained a lot of weight and had a terribly unattractive bloated kind of look to my face - I was definitely a victim of alcohol addiction, and since I was addicted, I picked up a drink even when I sincerely didn’t want to. At the worst, I would pick up a drink first thing in the morning to fend off the sickness, and that one morning drink would turn into another drunk, so I would have the same situation to contend with the next morning. A vicious cycle.

Needless to say anyone in that condition is unemployable, not really capable of maintaining relationships, and can barely function in daily life. Not a recipe for any kind of happiness or contentment in life. After countless attempts to stop drinking, I was able to finally stop. Many people are not so fortunate. Knowing you have a drinking problem and wanting to stop is not enough. You have to take that next step to pull out of an addiction to something as powerful as alcohol. I was unable to stop drinking through conventional methods like A.A. and rehab. I was only able to get sob Read the rest of this entry »

Addictive Personality is a term used to define the personality of an individual who may be prone to addiction. It can be an aspect of a person’s personality or character. No single addictive personality for the addict or alcoholic exists. There is no cookie-cutter template to find out if an individual is prone to addiction or not.

A person can become addicted because specific factors in their life contribute to the addictive process. As with most emotional disorders and diseases, personality has an influence on the development of an addiction. Those who exhibit aggression, lack of self-control, and a socially difficult outlook in childhood are at risk to develop addictions later. It is possible for an individual to shift from one addiction to another or sustain multiple addictions at different times.

Individuals who experience anxiety and depression are likely to develop addictions as a way of managing their emotions. Addicts tend to be people who are very sensitive to stress, have difficulty delaying gratification, and find it difficult to tolerate frustrating events or situations for even short periods of time. Perfectionism, low self-esteem, and anger management issues may also drive many addictions.

Although there are many different factors that can contribute to drug abuse, some researchers believe that certain people have an “addictive personality” that makes them more vulnerable to addiction than other people. Anyone can develop a problem with drugs or alcohol, but someone who has an addictive personality is more than likely to be described as:

Aggressive

Impulsive

Sensitive

Emotional

Anxious

Lonely

The addictive personality is sometimes described as an anti-social personality but not always. A person with anti-social personality traits may live life in search of continuous grat Read the rest of this entry »

Drugs knock the sense out of anyone ones the addiction gets cultivated. In a certain stage of the addiction comes a blow that says it’s too late. Fortunately for some, the blow comes in early enough for the addict to realize that he wants to stop.

Sadly, one of the biggest illegal drug clientele is teenagers. After being introduced to drugs, they continue with the habit thinking that they can still manage to quit. It would take 5 pops a day before a user finally admits that he is an addict. For sensible teens, they say with full conviction that drugs will never be an option; but for teens like Justin, he felt that it was the only thing that he can turn to.

Justin has only turned 21 but he has gone in and out of juvi often enough to know most of the people inside, and the reason why they are there. His parents were both addicts but he never took drugs in spite of being offered several times. He lived with his uncle who was also in the narcotics business so, it was quite easy for him to get his hands on drugs if he wanted to -but he never did. When his uncle finally got busted, he was left in a Catholic residential where he lived for a few months. Justin who was an agnostic left the institute together with a close friend. They did small gigs hauling around Es, stimulants and marijuana. At a gig, his friend got busted, that’s when he realized that there is no one else there for him. He looked around and discovered that there was nothing left but drugs.

Other teenagers are given options, more options than they can handle but they still choose the “coolest” one -the option wrapped in rolling paper and small bags adorned with pictures of cartoon characters and Buddha.

“I just had to give up; I’m done with trying to find reasons for not taking drugs.” Unlike most kids, Justin never had anyone to lay options for him. He said it Read the rest of this entry »