So what is an addict?
What defines you as an addict has little to do with the amount that you drink or quantity of drug that you use. Equally, it has nothing to do with the time that you have been using or misusing drugs or alcohol. You can be said to be an addict when your habit starts to interfere with your ‘normal’ daily life; when you start to put your habit before everything else. When you crave the next drink or ‘line’ and have no control over that feeling. When you start to ring-fence your supply and put the scoring or purchasing ahead of everything else. When you stop caring about others, your work, your family and life in general. When you start to isolate and blame others for your predicament. When you continually deny that you have a problem and yet have just lost your driving licence, your job, your relationships and your finances have hit rock bottom…
…..and it is not your fault.
Addiction is closely connected to depression, but most addicts would rather describe themselves as depressed than as an alcoholic or drug addict. Most addiction specialists believe that addiction is a disease and a very serious illness that affects you both physically and mentally.
The illness is progressive and insidious – the addict is unlikely to realise how ill they have become or how abnormal their behaviour is. The addict is only trying to be normal but they feel different and use their substance in order to make themselves feel normal.
It has nothing to do with a lack of determination, strength of character or self will. |
