what is an addiction

[lunaslobo]

Over in the mens issue forum, there has been a discussion about men and porn. The subject of addictions had been breached(probably by me) and there was a discussion on weather porn can be an addiction. below is a paper I wrote for school a couple years ago. I thought I had posted it before but can not find it so I am doing it again.

[lunaslobo]

Before I begin to discuss the addictive personality, I would like to define the word addiction. According to Dr. Archibald D Hart, and the Webster dictionary the definition is a very general one. It is applying or devoting oneself habitually. This can also be used to describe good things that people do. The Latin root of the word is addicene or to give assent. To assign, or surrender. In ancient times this was used to describe some one in bondage or slavery. This then is a good definition of the modern addict, a slave to an object act or event. We now have a basis to understand that the addiction can enslave us and create a personality all on to its won. Each person has within him or herself the capacity to become an addict. We all seek pleasure and avoid pain and unpleasant life events. It is when this pursuit of pleasure becomes all consuming that the addiction truly starts.

Addiction must be viewed as a process that has a definite, but often unclear, beginning, and an end point. This especially true for the development of the addictive personality. According to Craig Nakken’s book, The Addictive Personality, the addictive personality will go through three distinct stages.

Stage one: Internal Change

Like many other illnesses, many changes take place long before the person knows that there is a problem. In stage one a person’s personality can be preeminently altered.

Any additive relationship begins when a person continually seeks the illusion of relief to avoid unpleasant situations. This can be termed nurturing through avoidance. It is an unnatural way of fulfilling ones emotional needs. At some point the addictive behavior begins to replace natural relationships and the relief this relationships offer. Eventually addicts seek serenity through an object or event. This then is the beginning of the addictive cycle. With most people, pain and discomfort are a cue to connect with others or even themselves. To the addictive person this is the cue to act out. As in the chart, the person feels the pain in A, then in B he or she will feel the need to act out. In C the person is acting out and feeling the high produced by the activity. In D the person begins to feel shame guilt and remorse from the acting out. This brings us right back to the feelings of pain and the need to act out. This cycle is perpetuated over and over.



The woman I interviewed, whom I will call Carrie, states that she grew up in a very dysfunctional family and had a desire to escape at a young age. As a teen she found that while she was drinking she did not have to deal with the problems around her. As she began to drink more and more she began to seek out only those that could help her achieve her high and help her escape. This then set up a pattern of mistrust and lies to help her get what she wanted. Many times after binge drinking Carrie would feel great remorse and shame. This then set up the cycle that I described earlier.

The most important aspect of stage one is the creation of the addict personality. In other words the split between the self and the addict. The self represents the human and normal side. The addict however is consumed and transformed by the addiction. It is not uncommon for the person to have an argument in ones own head about the behavior. The self knows the actions are wrong but the soothing voice of the addict worth its false promise of peace will often win out. Robert Louis Stevens book DR Jekyll and Mr. Hyde describes this loss of self in a single passage. "Where as in the beginning the difficulty had been to throw off the body of Jekyll, it had been of late, gradually and decidedly transformed itself to the other side… I was slowly losing hold of my original and better self and becoming slowly incorporated with my second and worse self."



This passage brings us to stage two: Lifestyle change.

As the addictive personality learns to gain more control over ones life, the behavior becomes more visible. Behaviors such as over spending binge drinking, and multiple sex partners occur only after the addictive personality is firmly in place. It is with these behaviors that others begin to see the addict side of the personality. In stage one the person behaved largely in a socially acceptable terms. In stage two the addiction begins to regulate all aspects of the persons life. It is at this stage that the person begins to arrange the rest of his or hers life around the acting out behavior. The desire for the high seems to transend all other decisions and commitments.

As Carrie began to drink more and more she began to put herself in to situations that were harmful to her. No longer did she seek out relationships that were healthy, only those that could help her achieve her high. During one such episode she experienced a black out drunk and woke up somewhere in Kentucky. To most "normal" people the first desire would be to get back home. Carrie states that her first reaction was to find a way to get high or drunk. This led her to use harder drugs and move in with a married man, something that in 1950’s was unheard of. This landed her in jail for six months.

This truly illustrates the commitment to addict side of the person. It is during this stage also that the person must make sense of the behavior. To do this the person will rely more and more on the logic of why he or she does what they do and less and less on those around them who truly love them and want to help. This further isolates the person from the world around them and causes more pain and loneliness. This then triggers more pain and the desire and need to act out even further. With the continued mental obsession and the continued acting out the commitment to the addiction increases. This is then the loss of the inner self to the addict. When the addict is in full control this sets up the final stage of the addictive personality development.

Stage three: Life breakdown.

Stage three occurs because addiction works so well at producing pain, shame, loneliness, and anger. By the time the person is in stage three the addict is firmly in control. The person does not care about what happens to others and themselves. The only thing that matters at this point is the high produced by acting out. It is at this stage a person breaks down emotionally, spiritually, and finally physically from the pain and stress produced by the addictive behavior. Also in stage three the person no longer feels the pleasure that he or she once did. Although the person may feel some distance from the pain, at this point the pain is always present. Behavior becomes so extreme at this stage that it not only scares those around the person but the addict him or herself. The addict is so committed to the acting out behavior that only something drastic or an intervention will break the cycle. This can be termed as hitting a bottom. It is during this time, often the lowest point in ones life that the person can begin the slow crawl back to sanity. Unfortunately many do not reach this stage, as death will occur first.

As Carry’s using progressed she states that she lost more and more of herself. During the course of her life she gave birth to ten children but gave five away due to her inability to take core of them. She states this was extremely painful for her and she used this as a further excuse to use and hide in her pills and bottles. She too experienced a "hitting bottom." This was through the death of her husband. She states that when he suffered his last heart attack she was to "messed up" to help" this was left to her teen-age son. She further states that it was almost a week before she really knew that he was gone. She knew that something was wrong because everyone was crying. This was the finale springboard that got her into treatment and the help that she truly needed. That was in 1979 and Carrie has been sober ever since. It is said that she has helped hundreds make their way back to sober life.

The progression of the addictive personality can be a slow one. It is to be noted that during any stage a person can hit his or her bottom and begin the climb back to "normal" life. The journey back can happen and many times does. The lady that I interviewed is my natural mother. She gave me up for adoption when I was about three years old. It was only through my own climb back to the real world did I have the opportunity to reestablish a healthy and nurturing relationship with her once more.

[lee55]

The addiction is known by every one. But this forum about the addiction information is really new. This article will create awareness among people. We are waiting see that the precious day...
================
Lee
---------------------
Addiction Recovery Alabama

[sloppitty-sue]

Wow, Luna! I am so glad this "older" post was read and commented on because I don't remember ever reading this before. Not only is it a very informative and well-written paper but the additional autobiographical aspect really is inspiring.

I think more people should have access to this paper you wrote. Ever thought of having it published? (Like in a compilation of essays? Chicken Soup for the Soul kinda thing?)


Maronne

[Maurice]

My version is a little bit different. I believe there are things that are very simply bad habits. To me an addiction is only that when you give up relationships, blow all your money on that addiction, keep doing it even though you have been told and know that it is harmful, is interfering with your work. And that addiction has become the only reason you bother to keep going on.

[SuzzanneX]

simple..

....if you are'nt sure it's an addiction.

Stop doing it.

if you can, for an INDEFINATE amt of time, with no worries
.......... it's a preference.

if you can't it's an addiction.


I LOVE porno myself.
......but I don't HAVE to see it or feel jipped.

I have a good imagination.
...I might be addicted to my perverted thoughts tho.

LOL

[Ronnie]

well we can define addiction in this way... "Being abnormally tolerant to and dependent on something that is psychologically or physically habit-forming ".. addiction is one of the worst thing that can happen to anyone...


---------------------------------------------

Ronnie Marshall

Addiction Recovery Kentucky

[Sickle]

Originally Posted by SuzzanneX

simple..

....if you are'nt sure it's an addiction.

Stop doing it.

if you can, for an INDEFINATE amt of time, with no worries
.......... it's a preference.

if you can't it's an addiction.


I LOVE porno myself.
......but I don't HAVE to see it or feel jipped.

I have a good imagination.
...I might be addicted to my perverted thoughts tho.

LOL

Nicely put, my grandmother is a recovering alcoholic and that is close to how she explained it to me as a little boy.

[John133]

Addiction is the habit of consuming more and more than you can hold. It may be in any form like eating, drinking and in sex also.
---------------------
John

Addiction Recovery Wisconsin

[Fuse]

I know this will be a touchy subject, but just how closely linked are drug use and addiction?

Too often people confuse drug use with drug abuse.

[Maurice]

Originally Posted by Ronnie

well we can define addiction in this way... "Being abnormally tolerant to and dependent on something that is psychologically or physically habit-forming ".. addiction is one of the worst thing that can happen to anyone...


---------------------------------------------

Ronnie Marshall

Addiction Recovery Kentucky

Is the "addiction is one of the worst things that can happen to anyone....." your opinion?
Or is this the opinion of The Addiction Recovery Center in KY.'s opinion?
Because I can think of a number of different things that could happen to a person than having an "addiction" problem.

[Maurice]

Originally Posted by lee55

The addiction is known by every one. But this forum about the addiction information is really new. This article will create awareness among people. We are waiting see that the precious day...
================
Lee
---------------------
Addiction Recovery Alabama

Lee, is this what you think or believe?
Or is what the Alabama Recovery Center thinks of believes?
And just what is this "precious day 'we' are waiting on"???

I could not agree more with Fuse when he stated the understated fact that far too many people are totally confused and mis informed about the huge differences between drug abuse and drug use.
Like the DEA, for example, seems to believe that drug useage IS Abuse!
Which of course is not even close to the truth and couldn't be further from the truth. If they would get truthful about and reconize this difference there would probably be less abuse. Which is what they claim to be fighting. Using terroist tactics.

[phenyl]

I think addiction to something is there when you no longer just want to do what you're addicted to (call it x), but you feel like you HAVE to do x ... because if you don't you will have to face a perceived evil force (call it y).

The evil force y can be something tangible (like withdrawal syndrome, like the CNS depressant and opiate drugs produce)...a physical addiction; or intangible (depression, hangover, despair, any negative feelings, the impossibility of integration)... a psychological addiction. The last one is interesting, and I feel it's one of the core driving forces behind the psychological component of addiction. The impossibility of integration occurs when you cannot reconcile the way you felt when you did the addictive behavior with the way you feel without doing the addictive activity. You feel that living life without x is now impossible or unbearable, life without x IS y. Somebody who successfully integrates a euphoric drug experience by putting it into context as something that causes a state of happiness that isn't allowed to happen constantly as part of the human experience without consequences, doesn't become addicted. Failure to do that by allowing entitlement to take hold instead, the impossibility of integration, causes the psychological addiction.

This shows up consciously as what suzzannex said, whether you can go without.

Once addiction is present, the addict feels fine until someone or something places a block between him or her and x. The person becomes ENRAGED when this happens, and could do things they seriously regret later.

I felt these things with opiates, and I still don't know if 100% recovery, IE not even sometimes jonesing, is possible. I believe I'll stay clean but I'm not considering that 100% recovery, IE a return to the psyche of the drug naive individual.

[ikgbixcal]

The term "addiction" is used in many contexts to describe an obsession, compulsion, or excessive physical dependence or psychological dependence, such as: drug addiction, alcoholism, compulsive overeating, problem gambling, computer addiction, etc.
In medical terminology, addiction is a state in which the body relies on a substance for normal functioning and develops physical dependence, as in drug addiction. When the drug or substance on which someone is dependent is suddenly removed, it will cause withdrawal, a characteristic set of signs and symptoms. Addiction is generally associated with increased drug tolerance. In physiological terms, addiction is not necessarily associated with substance abuse since this form of addiction can result from using medication as prescribed by a doctor.
However, common usage of the term addiction has spread to include psychological dependence. In this context, the term is used in drug addiction and substance abuse problems, but also refers to behaviours that are not generally recognised by the medical community as problems of addiction, such as compulsive overeating.
The term addiction is also sometimes applied to compulsions that are not substance-related, such as problem gambling and computer addiction. In these kinds of common usuages, the term addiction is used to describe a recurring compulsion by an individual to engage in some specific activity, despite harmful consequences to the individual's health, mental state or social life.

Contents [hide] 1 History of addiction models 2 Definition 3 Varied forms of addiction 3.1 Physical dependency 3.2 Psychological dependency 4 Addiction and drug control legislation 5 Methods of care 6 Diverse explanations 7 Neurobiological basis 8 Criticism 9 Casual addiction 10 See also 11 Notes 12 Further reading 13 External links