What We All Need to Know About Drug Addiction
Individuals who struggle with drug addiction do not set out to destroy themselves
and everyone and everything in their path--rather, these cataclysmic consequences
are the effect of the vicious cycle of addiction. Drug use and abuse may
seem to avert emotional and physical pain by providing the user with a temporary
and illusionary escape from or way to cope with life's realities. In fact,
more problems--serious ones--are created by using drugs. Over time, a person's
ability to choose not to take drugs can become compromised. Soon enough,
the person rationalizes the need to use consistently and will do anything
to get high...
Drug addiction is complex. It's characterized by compulsive--at times uncontrollable--drug
craving, seeking, and use that persists even in the face of extremely negative
consequences. For many people, drug addiction becomes chronic, with relapses
possible even after long periods of abstinence.
Essentially, drugs are a pain killer. They may seem to avert emotional
and physical pain by providing the user with a temporary and illusionary escape
from or way to cope with life's realities. In fact, more problems--serious
ones--are created by using and abusing drugs.
Over time, a person's ability to choose not to take drugs can become compromised--soon
enough the person rationalizes the need to use consistently and will do anything to
get high. They are now caught in the vicious cycle of using to alleviate pain
and creating more pain by using...They now display the physiological symptoms
of addiction. They become difficult to communicate with, are withdrawn, and
begin to exhibit other strange behaviorisms associated with addiction.
The compulsion to use drugs can take over the individual's life. Addiction
often involves not only compulsive drug taking but also a wide range of dysfunctional
behaviors that can interfere with normal functioning in the family, the workplace,
and the broader community. Addiction also can place people at increased risk
for a wide variety of other illnesses. These illnesses can be brought on by
behaviors, such as poor living and health habits, that often accompany life
as an addict, or because of toxic effects of the drugs themselves.
Because addiction has so many dimensions and disrupts so many aspects of an
individual's life, treatment for this illness is never simple. Drug treatment
must help the individual stop using drugs and maintain a drug-free lifestyle,
while achieving productive functioning in the family, at work, and in society.
Effective drug abuse and addiction treatment programs typically incorporate
many components, each directed to a particular aspect of the illness and its
consequences.
Three decades of scientific research and clinical practice have yielded a variety
of effective approaches to drug addiction treatment. Extensive data document
that drug addiction treatment is as effective as are treatments for most other
similarly chronic medical conditions. In spite of scientific evidence that
establishes the effectiveness of drug abuse treatment, many people believe
that treatment is ineffective. In part, this is because of unrealistic expectations.
Many people equate addiction with simply using drugs and therefore expect that
addiction should be cured quickly, and if it is not, treatment is a failure.
In reality, because addiction is a chronic disorder, the ultimate goal of long-term
abstinence often requires sustained and repeated treatment.
