So, chances are that if you got this far and are reading this you just might have some concern about addiction, now more politically correctly called (SUD) substance use disorder. Lets call it what it is…addiction.
Addiction is a disease of more. More of whatever it is you use to medicate with, food, sex, shopping, alcohol, drugs, it’s all the same really. It’s the underlying feelings and behaviors we are concerned with here. One is never enough, I must have more, and I want it right now!
If you think you have a problem with an addictive behavior, chances are you do. People who don’t, seldom think about it. Doesn’t even cross their minds. How strange!
Look in the mirror. Do you like the person looking back at you… really like, as in comfortable in your own skin?
Does anything on this list sound familiar to you?
- injuries while under the influence
- feelings of anxiety, irritability or depression
- trouble thinking clearly
- blackouts
- problems with relationships
- spending money on substances rather than on food, rent or other essentials
- legal problems related to substance use
- loss of hope, feelings of emptiness, a hole that you just can’t fill
- black and white thinking – no shades of grey
- Everything is “someone else’s fault”
Blackouts is my favorite on the list. Here’s a tip for you, most people don’t get blackouts when they drink. Just a hint…
Addiction in my experience stunts emotional growth, warps sense of right and wrong, and takes you places you would never have thought of, real and imagined. It alienates family and friends, and can be the ruination of any chance at real intimacy with another person, and with yourself.
The first to fall is usually honesty. As Dr. House says, “everyone lies”. For addicts and alcoholics it becomes the default behavior. We lie to others, and lie to ourselves that we don’t have a problem. We tell ourselves that we are in control, when clearly the evidence shows we aren’t.
Do you hide your drug of choice, minimize to others how much you use, try and control your use and fail? How many failed attempts at quitting does it take?
There is a great commercial on TV now about a smoker who finally “quits quitting” and just does it. Sometimes it just isn’t that easy. We need help.
That’s what I’m here for. Call me and lets get started on quitting quitting and do something. Take the first step. Be brave. It can be done. Many have done it, including me.
Pick up the phone and call me. 250-885-0700
That was mostly opinion, here is a definition – Addiction is a primary, chronic, neurobiologic disease, with genetic, psychosocial, and environmental factors influencing its development and manifestations. It is characterized by behaviors that include one or more of the following: impaired control over drug use, compulsive use, continued use despite harm, and craving.
This comes from here… http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Substance_dependence
Depression
Over 60 percent of all people who die by suicide suffer from major depression. If one includes alcoholics who are depressed, this figure rises to over 75 percent.
About 15 percent of the population will suffer from clinical depression at some time during their lifetime. Thirty percent of all clinically depressed patients attempt suicide; half of them ultimately die by suicide.
Depression is among the most treatable of psychiatric illnesses. Between 80 percent and 90 percent of people with depression respond positively to treatment, and almost all patients gain some relief from their symptoms. But first, depression has to be recognized.
Alcohol and Suicide
Ninety-six percent of alcoholics who die by suicide continue their substance abuse up to the end of their lives.
Alcoholism is a factor in about 30 percent of all completed suicides.
Approximately 7 percent of those with alcohol dependence will die by suicide.
