What Causes Drug Addiction and Alcoholism

The Downward Spiral

No one wants to be a drug addict or alcoholic, but this doesn\t stop people from getting addicted. The most commonly asked question is simply - how? How could my son, daughter, father, sister, or brother become a liar, a thief, someone who cannot be trusted? How could this happen? And why won\'t they stop?

The first thing you must understand about addiction is that alcohol and addictive drugs are basically painkillers. They chemically kill physical or emotional pain and alter the mind's perception of reality. They make people numb. For drugs to be attractive to a person there must first be some underlying unhappiness, sense of hopelessness, or physical pain.

Before we address the questions of cause, here is a little background information....

What is A Drug?

In medical terms, a drug is any substance that when taken into a living organism may modify one or more of its functions. Drugs can provide temporary relief from unhealthy symptoms and/or permanently supply the body with a necessary substance the body can no longer make. Some drugs produce unwanted side affects. In large enough doses, all drugs are toxic. some drugs lead to an unhealthy dependency that has both physiological and behavioral roots.

What is Addiction?

Whether a person is genetically or biochemically predisposed to addiction or alcoholismis a controversy that has been debated for years within the scientific community. One school of thought advocates the "disease concept", embracing the notion that addiction is an enherited disease, and that the individual is permanently ill at a genetic level, even for those experiencing long periods of sobriety.

How Do Drugs Affect The Mind?

The mind is our most important tool. With our mind, we solve the problems we face in life. Drugs do several things that harm one's ability to think or to be fully aware of the present surroundings. These effects continue long after the effects of the drug appear to have worn off.

Addictive drugs activate the brain's reward systems. The promise of reward is very intense causing the individual to crave the drug and to focus their their activities around taking the drug.

The ability of addictive drugs to strongly activate brain reward mechanisms and their ability to chemically alter the normal functioning of these systems can produce an addiction. Drugs also reduce a person's level of consciousness, harming the ability to think or be fully aware of present surroundings.

After extended use, the person no longer responds to the drug in the way that person initially responded. So for example, in the case of heroin or morphine, tolerance develops rapidly to the analgesic (painkilling) effects of the drug. While the development of tolerance is not addiction, many drugs that produce tolerance also have addictive potential.

The fact remains that there is scientific research to support all of these concepts. The question of whether addiction is genetic, behavioral or biochemical does not have an absolute answer. The distinguishing feature of the condition commonly referred to as addiction is the ability of the drug to dominate the individual's behavior, regardless of whether physical dependence is also produced by the drug.

There are a wide variety of treatment methods being used today, administered based on whatever school of thought the treatment provider believes in. With a 16% to 20% recovery rate based on statistical analysis of national averages, the message is clear that we have a lot more to learn if we are to bring the national recovery rate to a more desirable level.

There is another school of thought that has proven to be more accurate. It has to do with the life cycle of addiction. This data is universally applicable to addiction no matter which hypothesis is used to explain the phenomenon of drug dependency.

The Cycle of Addiction

Drug Addiction Follows A "Life Cycle"

The life cycle of addiction begins with a problem, discomfort or some form of emotional or physical pain a person is experiencing. They find this very difficult to deal with.

We start off with an individual who is basically good. This person encounters a problem or discomfort that they do not know how to resolve or cannot confront. This could include problems such as difficulty "fitting in" as a child or teenager, anxiety due to peer pressure or work expectations, identity problems or divorce as an adult.
It can also include physical discomfort, such as an injury or chronic pain. The person experiencing the discomfort has a real problem. He feels his present situation is unendurable, yet sees no good solution to the problem.

Everyone has experienced this in life to a greater or lesser degree. The difference between an addict and the non-addict is that the addict chooses drugs or alcohol as a solution to the unwanted problem or discomfort.

Drugs And Problems

This person tries drugs or alcohol. The drugs APPEAR to solve his problem. He feels better. Because he now SEEMS better able to deal with life, the drugs become valuable to him. The painkilling effects of drugs or alcohol become a solution to their discomfort. Inadvertently the drug or alcohol now becomes valuable because it helped them feel better. This release is the main reason a person uses drugs or drinks a second or third time. It is just a matter of time before he becomes fully addicted and loses the ability to control his drug use. Drug addiction, then, results from excessive or continued use of physiologically habit-forming drugs in an attempt to resolve the underlying symptoms of discomfort or unhappiness.

The Addiction Progresses

Analogous to an adolescent child in his first love affair, the use of drugs or alcohol becomes obsessive. The addicted person is trapped. Whatever problem he was initially trying to solve by using drugs or alcohol fades from memory. At this point, all he can think about is getting and using drugs. He loses the ability to control his usage and disregards the horrible consequences of his actions.

How Drugs Affect Behavior

The addict will now attempt to withhold the fact of his drug use from friends and family members. He will begin to suffer the effects of his own dishonesty and guilt. He may become withdrawn and difficult to reason with. He may behave strangely.

The more he uses drugs and alcohol, the guiltier he will feel, and the more depressed he will become. He will sacrifice his personal integrity, his relationships with friends and family, his job, his savings, and anything else he may have in an attempt to get more drugs. The drugs are now the most important things in his life. His relationships and job performance will go drastically downhill.

Alcohol And Drug Tolerance

In addition to the mental stress created by his unethical behavior, the addict's body has also adapted to the presence of the drugs. He will experience an overwhelming obsession with getting and using his drugs, and will do anything to avoid the pain of withdrawing from them. This is when the newly-created addict begins to experience drug cravings.

He now seeks drugs both for the reward of the "pleasure" they give him, and also to avoid the mental and physical horrors of withdrawal. Ironically, the addict's ability to get "high" from the alcohol or drug gradually decreases as his body adapts to the presence of foreign chemicals. He must take more and more, not just to get an effect but often just to function at all.

At this point, the addict is stuck in a vicious downward spiral. The drugs he abuses have changed him both physically and mentally. He has crossed an invisible and intangible line. He is now a drug addict or alcoholic.
Drugs And Personality Change

The "Drug Personality" includes such characteristics as:

Mood swings, unreliable emotions.

? Unable to finish projects.

? Unexpressed resentment and secret hatreds.

? Dishonesty -- lies to family, friends, employers.

? Withdraws from those who love him, isolates self

? May appear chronically depressed.

? May begin stealing from family and friends.

Biochemical Aspects of Addiction
 
L. Ron Hubbard discovered that when a person uses drugs over a period of time, the body becomes unable to completely eliminate them all. This breakthrough has led to the most successful approach to rehabilitation in existence.

Drugs are broken down in the liver. These metabolites, (the substances the body converts the drugs into) although removed rapidly from the blood stream, become trapped in the fatty tissues. There are various types of tissues that are high in fat content, the one thing in common ? and the problem that needs to be addressed ? is that these drug residues remain for years. Tissues in our bodies that are high in fats are turned over very slowly. When they are turned over, the stored drug metabolites are released into the blood stream and reactivate the same brain centers as if the person actually took the drug. The former addict now experiences a drug restimulation (or "flashback") and drug craving. This is common in the months after an addict quits and can continue to occur for years, even decades.

The Cycle of Quitting, Withdrawal, Craving And Relapse

When the addict initially tries to quit, cells in the brain that have become used to large amounts of these metabolites are now forced to deal with much decreased amounts. Even as the withdrawal symptoms subside, the brain "demands" that the addict give it more of the drug. This is called drug craving.

Craving is an extremely powerful urge and can cause a person to create all kinds of "reasons" they should begin using drugs again. He is now trapped in an endless cycle of trying to quit, craving, relapse and fear of withdrawal.
Eventually, the brain cells will again become used to having lowered drug metabolites. But, because deposits of drug metabolites release back into the bloodstream from fatty tissues for years, craving and relapse remain a cause for concern.

Left unhandled, the presence of metabolites even in microscopic amounts cause the brain to react as if the addict had again actually taken the drug and can set up craving and relapse even after years of sobriety
The Two Reasons Addicts Cannot Stop Using Drugs

Two major causes for addiction have been identified and can be addressed and treated successfully on the Narconon program.

These are:

? Mental and physical cravings caused by drug residues which remain in the body.

? The Biochemical Personality caused by drugs and the lifestyle the person adopts to get them.

Left unhandled, these manifestations will haunt a person for years even if they have sobered up. Left untreated, this will trigger a relapse.

These unresolved symptoms, whether physical or mental in origin, create an underlying low-level type of stress which cannot be completely ignored by the addict. The addict can "just say no" a thousand times, but it only takes him saying "yes" one time to start the cycle of addiction again.

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