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What do you think drives us to get addicted to the specific drugs we choose?

I'm smoking a joint and drinking a cup of coffee and started feeling pretty introspective. For me, I suppose opiates/opioids won me over because my sober state has always been restless or anxious. It has been so bothersome that I've struggled with insomnia. My first experience with opiates was when I was prescribed tussionex (hydrocodone cough syrup). I was 16 at the time, but in that moment I felt at ease for once. It was as if all the puzzle pieces were finally in place and I didn't have to worry for the sake of worrying anymore. I didn't develop a "problem" with painkillers til about 2 years after my 1st experience. I would think someone addicted to stimulants like coke or meth prefer uppers due to a lack of energy or motivation. With things like say, alcohol or Xanax, maybe they prefer those because they just wanna wind down then call it a day and sleep. I'm curious, what made you choose your drug of choice?
 
i had a thing for downers cos i suffered insomnia since beng a small kid. so obviously anything that helped me sleep i got a thing for.

but then i totally bucked this trend by getting addicted to crack badly, out of the blue (though while suffering debilitating post viral fatigue) after smoking regularly for 5 years. 16 years of functional downer addiction turned into completely uncontrollable addiction basically overnight and within 6 months i'd lost my job, was prostituting myself, had no light in my house, and was a half dead skeleton.

having been addicted to weed, benzos, alcohol, heroin, crack, i don't think there's anything special about those drugs. i'm just a born wreckhead.
 
Addiction is always a coping mechanism. That coping mechanism could be connected to anything.
Coping mechanisms are usually rigid patterns of behaviour that remain consistent over time. They exist in response to situations in life that often require a decision (most of the time a hard one) that we often choose to ignore, deny, repress and escape from. Our decision to not act in our best interests results in a snowballing effect that eventually culminates in a complex set of behaviours that form the coping mechanism itself. This can then become elaborate and very complicated and takes on a life of its own. Ultimately though, there was a beginning when the seed was planted and the particular avoidant behaviour triggered by situations/circumstances in life that was present.

It could be trauma. Trauma is a HUGE component in addiction. We addict because we experience trauma and instead of dealing with the trauma (because it's fucking hard) we seek to develop strategies to avoid the integrating and healing of the trauma.

An individuals life history is very important too. How a person has learned to see the world, themselves and others in it, the relationships they have had (or needed but never had), the environments they were brought up and raised in, the care givers they had, the experiences they have had (adverse or otherwise), role models, the trajectory they have been on (and currently on), mental, emotional, physical and spiritual health, even things like socioeconomic status can have a huge impact on the sort of 'life education' an individual receives, as can education level. You can't look at addiction without the timeline of an individual present.
 
Trying to cover some sort of pain snorting a line of crank your worries disappear you are happy . I remember my first line of crank was my 15 birthday was cutting class at friends house i had to spread fertilizer when i got home my friends followed me to our orchard i was on our john deere standing up felt so good . Its when you mix uppers then do downers those fucking downers are mostly physically addictive
 
My Docs are Heroin and more recently, Oxys. Why? Calming - euphoric- warming effects and because, as the Poet says, "
"when the smack begins to flow
I really don't care anymore
About all the Jim-Jim's in this town
And all the politicians makin' crazy sounds
And everybody puttin' everybody else down
And all the dead bodies piled up in mounds''''

I guess it has a lot to do with the kind of person you are- the thing you are looking for (knowingly or unknowingly ) in a substance - maybe also the way an individual´s brain is wired etc. For instance I can and do use cocaine and booze occasionally but there´s no way on earth I could get addicted to either of these, I can enjoy them once in a while but they are really not my thing. Other people try them once and they are hooked forever. It´s pretty interesting , why A and B can try a drug x, A says "well, nice" while B gets addicted ....
 
to feel more loving, that crap made me so sweet, tolerant and sheer stupidity, and as someone mentioned, boredom, couped up there for a while and boredom, was fun to be on the pc high, cooking, cleaning, talking on the phone which i dont really like for long periods, but high, oh heck yeah, so i suppose , entertainment
 
Alcoholism runs in my family and I'm certain there's a genetic component. My very first real drink (12, alone, my step-dad's gin) was literally life-changing. I thought this tastes horrible but I've never ever felt so damn good!

I've had anxiety&depression most of my life, so I often wanted to feel different from whatever I was feeling at the moment. Also, I've always been curious about everything. It's not enough to be told about a place-- I need to GO TO that place!

So severe alcoholism was an issue for decades, but I also went through addictive phases with other drugs: cocaine, benzodiazepines, methamphetamine, opioids. Nicotine was omnipresent (I was puffing cigs at 7, pack-a-day smoker by 14).

Different drugs and drug combos provided different reinforcements. Most wore out their welcome early but were hard to kick.

I've settled on relatively moderate daily kratom, beer, and weed. Every now and then I play with shrooms, coke, or meth. Oh, and heavy use of caffeine&nicotine is still essential for daily survival.
 
izo said:
There’s availability, the circumstances under which we live atm and I think there’s also our character that comes into play when choosing what substance we use.
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Availability is huge. Meth being a great example of that. I can bet if many of those rural meth users had access to other high quality drugs the overall use would be less in those areas.

Opiates seemed to really find a home in my life too. At the time I was using alcohol to get through life without anxiety but opiates were great cuz in the beginning there was no hangover. The extra energy compared to booze was nice too.

But if I had never tried pure heroin I’m not sure I would have gotten so addicted. Until my first use of “raw” I was using OC’s like tic tacs and street heroin, but that first use of pure did something. It hit on a level and in a way that I needed that comfort for the rest of my life, I didn’t just want it I NEEDED it. It grabbed my soul and didn’t want to let go. Over a decade later and I still crave the shit.

-GC
 
Robi said:
to feel more loving, that crap made me so sweet, tolerant and sheer stupidity, and as someone mentioned, boredom, couped up there for a while and boredom, was fun to be on the pc high, cooking, cleaning, talking on the phone which i dont really like for long periods, but high, oh heck yeah, so i suppose , entertainment
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Boredom is a huge factor ime
 
For years I was first a stoner then a very heavy drinker - these addictions were in response to trauma and social anxiety.

In latter years I gradually gave up abusing all other substance except for stimulants. It was getting an ADHD diagnosis and being prescribed dexamfetamine that flipped the switch - it was like it provided access to really important parts of my mind / brain that I’d never known I was missing.

That feeling of ‘completeness’ drives my drug use now - even though meth is not very effective at providing it on a sustained basis.
 
Bad Obsession said:
Boredom is a huge factor ime
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seems my biggest prob, especially during covid, weird,so much to do, but takes money often, many say a boring person gets bored, i dont know what to do any more, burnt myself out , got use to being entertained by drugs,get so tired after work, but yes boredom , but just glad to be not OD`ing, withdrawing physically, trying to be grateful
 
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Robi said:
seems my biggest prob, especially during covid, weird,so much to do, but takes money often, many say a boring person gets bored, i dont know what to do any more, burnt myself out , got use to being entertained by drugs,get so tired after work, but yes boredom , but just glad too be not be OD`ing, withdrawing physically, trying to be grateful
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If it wasn't for the lockdowns in 2020 I wouldn't have ended up addicted to oxy 😕
 
Sergeant Absent said:
"to get addicted to the specific drugs we choose?"

Alcohol, benzos, opioids/opiates, because they give me confidence and my anxiety disappears.
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And at the moment, I'm willing to trade that for a shorter life. @AbbeyLee will know the great Alan Watts once said "Better to have a short life doing the things you enjoy than a longer life spent in a miserable way"
 
Sergeant Absent said:
And at the moment, I'm willing to trade that for a shorter life. @AbbeyLee will know the great Alan Watts once said "Better to have a short life doing the things you enjoy than a longer life spent in a miserable way"
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Discovered Alan Watts last yr - a lotta the stuff I couldn't get my head round but I really liked his short tale 'The Chinese Farmer'
 
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