Drug Addiction

As with most addictions, you do not start out addicted, addiction comes with time. There are a number of factors that combine together to end up with users becoming addicted. It is possible to identify some key factors in order of importance:

• Type of drug being used. Hard drugs (cocaine, heroin) lead to addiction a lot quicker than soft drugs (cannabis)
• Peer group pressure. The type of people you hang around with, how cool drugs are seen to be, how important they are in the group.
• You as a person. Some people have more addictive characters than others. This can be down to mental and / or physical reasons.
• Will Power. Your ability to recognise what is happening to you and to do something about it.

"You go to a party and snort cocaine. No big deal. It's once and done. Next time you go to a party, you do it again. The next party, again. Each time you need a little bit more of the drug to get the same high as the first time. So, it's a gradual, gradual thing. You are not saying, 'I want to become addicted.' You think, 'I can control it at any time.' You are not realizing that the drug is taking hold of you. The drug is telling you that you can handle the high. All of a sudden, it's mid-week. Well, maybe this one time isn't going to hurt. You snort again. Before you know it, you're addicted. The drug becomes stronger than you."

Recognising the signs:

At the beginning signs are difficult to detect. It is only as the addiction takes hold that it is possible to see 'physical' evidence of addiction setting in. If you are a user then it is likely that you can feel the change happening inside your body and mind before you see changes on the outside. As with any addiction it becomes a process of your body and mind telling you that you should have some more. Just 1 more and I'll be fine. Just 1 more and then I'll stop. Of course 1 more leads to 1 more which leads to 1 more and so on.

Addiction is both a physical and mental battle. Addiction becomes part of who you are, part of how you feel. To beat addiction it feels as though you need to cut out part of you. This can be a frightening concept because you don't know what will happen when you cut this part of you out. Are you going to change? Will you be in a worse situation? What protection do you have from everything around you? The list can be almost endless as to why you should not stop and beat the addiction. It is a truly uncomfortable proposition.

The reasons why you should stop, you already know. Often they feel pretty lame. You have heard it all before.

You will die

You will be screwed up

Your life will be a mess

You will end up in jail.

Human beings seem to have an irresistible belief that stuff happens to other people only. We are some how immortal and it will not happen to me just because I am not the same as everyone else and anyway we all know people who have been able to use drugs and not get addicted. Perhaps it is because we only use 1/8 of our brain. A computer that can only use 1/8 of its power is a pretty stupid computer!

Somewhere out there is a reality and the reality is that drugs will either kill you or mess up your life. It is a fact ! Yes, there are people who are able to use them and not get addicted in the same way that some people manage to survive terrible accidents. Take no comfort in that. Averages mask reality !

Soft drugs can be fun in moderation but more often than not they lead to something stronger. Is it really worth it?

The answer depends on you. Spend some time and look at yourself. Who are you? If you can answer that question then you can know for yourself.

 

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