Information sheet: Addictions
Addictions
Addiction to illegal drugs has become a global epidemic.
The World Health Organisation has estimated that the worldwide scale of supply of illegal drugs more than equals that of gas and electricity.
Drugs offer an artificial satisfaction for a natural desire for joy and peace that is not met by our stress-ridden culture. A soft drug like cannabis seems to melt away stresses and bring much-needed intervals of ease. Recreational youth drugs like ecstasy and speed deliver intense experiences of bonding and excitement; but these can be doors through which the more stressed among us may later pass to discover the accelerated highs of cocaine and heroin. Cocaine is an upper- and middle-class drug the effect of which differs from the cheaper, unrefined crack-cocaine supplied to the less well-off. The dangerous "all-satisfying" effect of heroin has been summed up in one addict's appraisal: "It's so wonderful that you shouldn't even try it once". Psychedelic drugs like LSD, peyote, mescaline and psylocybin mushrooms sometimes open us up to semblances of the spiritual experiences so neglected by Western religious traditions – but a bad trip can introduce us to a form of hell.
The contagion of drug abuse results from the failure of modern life conditions to satisfy our bodily, emotional, mental and spiritual needs.
Illegal drugs are not the whole problem.
We can become as easily addicted to and damaged by psychoactive medications prescribed by GPs as to substances peddled by street and club dealers. The mechanistic bias of modern medicine has split the body from the mind and has viewed emotional stress as nothing but a result of chemical imbalances which, it is declared, can only be restored by chemical readjustments.
Tranquillisers temporarily relieve anxiety, while antidepressants temporarily relieve depression, but only by competing with and shutting down the body's natural biochemical processes. Our biochemical secretions stabilise us with marvellous efficiency: endorphins (natural painkillers) calm us when we are distressed and adrenalin revitalises us when we are depressed. The attempt to come off regular medication may cause our biochemical resources to flounder temporarily, until such time as our natural resources are re-established, and we can too easily revert to drug dependency.
All psychoactive drugs disrupt our natural bodymind processes and produce degrees of dependency and addiction. There is no biochemical distinction between "legal" and "illegal".
Many drugs are "social" in character.
Alcohol combines relaxation with stimulation and many of us enjoy a "social drink". However, if we find ourselves edgy and miserable in company without it, we are becoming dependent.
Dependency has to do with satisfying our emotional and mental needs for relaxation and ease of self-expression. This differs from addiction, in which the physical craving has become an overriding and irresistible force. We are "alcoholic" when our body has become so habituated to alcohol that we are in acute pain without it. We are physically compelled to drink regardless of the damage to our liver, pancreas and stomach, and the deterioration of our mental functions.
Tobacco is another socially sanctioned addiction. Nicotine increases blood-flow to the brain so we feel focussed, but it is physically addictive and can be as hard to kick as heroin. Research has shown that an adolescent can be addicted after only four cigarettes. The older and wiser among us may have given up but the young are increasingly adopting the habit. In past generations we used cigarettes as tokens of comradeship and style; perhaps now as young smokers we use them to thumb our noses at authority – a futile mannerism, as the tax authority rakes in enormous revenues from tobacco consumption without real concern for the price paid in ruined health and premature deaths.
Tea, coffee, refined sugar, sweets, salty savouries, and many foodstuffs are addictively consumed by millions. We can be addicted to anything that reliably relieves stress.
Addiction is not limited to substance use.
Television addiction is rarely recognised as a problem; yet the viewing of one in five of us in the UK far exceeds the average working week, and twice as many are glued to a set for about five hours each night. According to a recent NOP Solutions survey, the national average is 25 hours per week. Television can provide a focal point for families, but this does not necessarily ensure communication and bonding. Couch-potato inactivity can result in health problems such as heart disease, high blood pressure and obesity. Interactive TV threatens to draw more of us into longer periods of sedentary vigilance.
Withdrawal from TV addiction can be painful: two studies of TV dependency had to be abandoned when the participating families could not endure the anxiety and depression that resulted from deprivation.
Computer addiction can draw us into complex and sometimes deeply frustrating mental operations. The internet can draw us into information binges, and the "word friendships" of the chatroom can draw us into disembodied, illusory relationships. Interactive games and virtual reality take us out of ourselves but they can isolate us one from another in strange and alienating substitute versions of the real world. If coming back to human embodiment feels like coming down, we are surely addicted. Recent research has revealed that the electromagnetic fields emitted by hardware give an addictive buzz to habitual users.
Possession addiction occurs when we get high on buying and owning things. We feel we need regular commodity boosts to keep buoyant and so we indulge in "retail therapy". Each item gets replaced by the latest state-of-the-art version as the hit of the old model wears off, threatening a comedown.
Work addiction is often called "workaholism," but has nothing in common with alcoholism. It has more in common with being addicted to amphetamines (speed); we thrive on the adrenalin rush when we are being busily responsible, but in fact we are building up emotional stress and developing future illnesses. For some of us, work can be a "responsible" way of avoiding being quietly aware of our bodily, emotional and mental states and responding usefully to them.
Effects of addiction can include:
Demoralisation as our self-respect plummets and we live through cycles of demand-and-supply over which we have no control.
Stigma as we get labelled as crime- or health-risks when poverty and social disadvantage make us desperate. (A socially advantaged user operates sustainable habits and attracts no attention.)
Mood swings as our experiences separate into highs and lows, the mundane and the trippy, the bland and the cool. We come to believe that excitement can only be drug-induced and we never experience a natural high.
Habituation as continued use of a drug reduces its effects. We no longer get high and continue the habit just to keep withdrawal pains at bay. We increase our intake, overdosing an already overloaded system.
Natural highs occur naturally.
Natural morphias such as oxytocin and endorphins are pleasurably stimulated when we experience sexual arousal or share food in warm company.
Unnatural highs occur when the body absorbs chemicals that mimic its own secretions. Specific nerve receptors lock onto specific biochemicals to transmit to cells. Artificial substances flood and desensitise the receptors and cause harm to the delicate bodymind structures.
Addictions can be attempts to compensate for unmet needs.
While a present substitute cannot fully meet a forgotten or unavailable past need, our unconscious yearning nevertheless drives us to repeat the rewarding experience that is available.
Unexpressed past frustrations will have led to us holding our breath and tensing our muscles to try to reduce the impact of deep disappointments and threats to survival. We may have established patterns of reduced breathing and muscle tensing, creating a long-term devitalisation that has left us crying out for some transforming stimulation. An addiction can sometimes mirror precisely the need that was originally thwarted, as, for instance, when chronic addiction reduces us to a helpless dependency that mirrors a very early need for unconditional love and nurture.
Counselling and therapy can help us to move beyond addiction.
Confidentiality – and, if need be, anonymity – is assured. A non-judgmental listener provides an opportunity for us to get our dependencies off our chest. A skilled worker helps us explore the origins of our addictions and can share real information about the psycho-physiological processes involved. Our natural self-healing powers are gently encouraged and past stresses can be effectively released. This release can dislodge addictive habits and allow us to recover the bodymind vibrancy through which we enjoy the natural highs of life.
Addiction can only be replaced by real happiness. We all have the inner resources that enable us to move beyond addiction and discover genuinely fulfilling experiences.