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>Strange thing was, after removing the substance, the behaviors persisted. This part. Seems an odd thing to say if you knew the person had addictive behavior before... perhaps I'm misreading it.
How would you know if they had an addictive personality if there wasn't a pattern of addictive behaviors?
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I thought the suggestion was an addictive personality causing the initial addiction and also subsequent ones. I find this like saying that other people might have addiction problems, but you don't have the personality so you can take it or leave it.
>One thing that I've noticed is that even when they get off of the substance, the addictive personality traits are still there -- years later. The OP can chime in, but your interpretation (which I considered) doesn't seem to fit what I just quoted.
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Most addicts are abused (or experience comparable longterm stress) as children, which causes brain damage, which leads to addiction. There is a certain genetic component also, but it mostly has to do with your childhood.
This sounds rather much like speculation to me. Do you have any sources to back up your "Most" statement. Since the disease is generational, quite often children of addicts will have a stressful upbringing, but your theory of brain damage from stress causing the addiction is quite a stretch.
For one source that hit home for me, see Addiction as an Attachment Disorder by Philip Flores
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Yes, and almost every program I've seen people go through has tried to force them to "accept jesus as their savior". That's where they fail.
The religious basis of AA (Alcoholics Anonymous), after which nearly all 12-step programs are modeled, does not require "accepting Jesus as your savior". It does require, however, accepting that a "higher power" might restore you to sanity. This is a very important distinction, because AA goes to great lengths to clarify that the "higher power" is one of your own understanding. It is not Jesus, it is not a Christian-…
If you're not religious, community can be your higher power. The point is more that will-power alone is not enough for some people.
Like lots of folks I drink a bit, and I smoke the occasional celebratory cigar. I'm fortunate to not have found myself addicted to anything though (that I'm aware of at least). However, I have family members who have deep addiction problems. Life affecting. One thing that I've noticed is that even when they get off of the substance, the addictive personality traits are still there -- years later. One of my relatives,…
This is the rule, not the exception, among addicts. Every recovery program (12-step or not) emphasizes that drugs are not a drug addict's only problem. Obviously they are a very destructive part of the problem, but every addict who stops using long enough learns that -- surprise! -- they're still a self-centered, fear-driven, manipulative, obsessive person. That stuff doesn't just go away when you stop using; if anyt…
I agree with the poster who mentioned Infinite Jest as capturing some of the subjective experience of the "insanity" of an addict.
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This sounds rather much like speculation to me. Do you have any sources to back up your "Most" statement. Since the disease is generational, quite often children of addicts will have a stressful upbringing, but your theory of brain damage from stress causing the addiction is quite a stretch.
Gabor Mate discusses this in his Angry Ghosts book. If you search through my comments for his name, there is a link to an interview where he discusses this also.
It says just about what I would have guessed too. :)
"When Alexander’s rats were given something better to do than sit in a bare cage they turned their noses up at morphine because they preferred playing with their friends and exploring their surroundings to getting high." Well, AFAIK, this doesn't happen with most humans struggling with addiction to hard drugs. Addicts will neglect everything, namely social activities, in order to get what they need.
I stopped because of existential issues. I decided that having a chemical have that much power in my life, even if I kept it somewhat at bay, wasn't worth it. That was a very personal thought and decision.
What you will find, is no two addicts are the same, and broad generalisations don't hold very well. That's something that good councilors accept and work with :)
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As far as you know. Firstly, the study is about the onset of addiction from one single experience with the drug. People that take a drug once and decide to not do it again don't attract the same social and media attention as heavy users. Similarly, if functional users of hard drugs exist, you are unlikely to hear about them. This is one of the effects of the drug prohibition: it hides a lot of data. More worryingly,…
This. People assume that all opiate users are crackheads committing armed robbery. Many are highly skilled, highly paid professionals. I must confess a certain amount of cognitive dissonance seeing middle-aged men in tailored suits scoring heroin on the street!
I remember from college my Econ 101 textbook had a sidebar on heroin use by military personnel in Vietnam - apparently (according to my memory of an unattributed source) 90% of personnel stationed in Vietnam tried heroin at least once, and then 89% of them stopped when they left. Why an economics textbook? The authors were trying to illustrate 1) the role of substitutes on consumption of a particular good - there was…
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Pretty sure you are addicted to oxygen. You are probably addicted to hackernews also. This is not meant to be a banal comment. Addiction is not necessarily a bad thing. You could be addicted to hard work, for example. You could be addicted to your family. Being so addicted to your family that you would be willing to die in order to protect them is not necessarily a bad thing.
Addiction or dependence or obsession is usually defined as a behavior that causes negative consequences for the individual that they would prefer to avoid. In that case, oxygen and protecting your family would not be regarded as addictions.