IForgett said:
^ Thanks for that post. Its interesting. It just goes to show how certain things can be used to portray drugs in a negative manner. No one realizes that these studies are only sampling a certain portion of society, usually a minor demographic (not necessarily a certain race, but using a group of people in rehab, as the above study did) and leaving out a whole huge number of people who go against what these studies are saying.
that is a very important corollary point to what i was arguing.
also, a few things to add to what i was saying....(i was a little out of it when i wrote that because i have four long papers due next week and then exams after that, so i've def been behind on sleep).....
one point is that many of you may read that and think, hey, most addicts i know have had lots of medical intervention before they stop, so the argument that most people stop on their own doesn't sound reasonable based on my personal experience. well, it's true that many addicts seek some sort of medical help, be it rehab or methadone or whatever, but if you think about the majority of them, when push comes to shove, most relapse after rehab and just use maintenance therapy because they're not ready to quit
....when they do decide to quit, many actually don't seek medical help because they've realized the futility of rehab and the replacing-one-drug-with-another aspect of maintenance drugs. ultimately, many figure out how to do it on their own without much, if any, medical supervision....perhaps psychotherapy, i suppose, to get to the root of the problem, but, again, that's not intensive medical treatment. it's not as if they go into impatient mental hospitals. NA or similar programs are another way people quit.
*that's not to say that intensive rehab is not necessary for the minority of addicts that have that special predisposition i referred to in my original post*
....which brings me to my next point....perhaps predisposition is not a word that covers all of the special issues a person can have that make dappling with hard drugs playing with fire in terms of delving into un-conquerable addiction. stressful circumstance (eg, a traumatic event or chronic trauma/stress) and an environemtn where drug use is accepted and even encouraged, esp as a child, as well as mental health problems and genetic predispositons can all be special issues that increase the development of chronic addiction.
stressful circumstances can change, which may make quitting possible, but many stressful circumstances, such as longterm, inescapable abuse abuse can last for years and years....obviously genetic predispotions, pro-substance abuse environments esp childhood ones aren't as easily 'solvable,' and mental health problems and subsequent relief in self-medication make addiction more difficult to overcome.
also, i think that any addiction, whether deeply ingrained or personally overcomable, has some cause, including all of the special issues i listed above. however, i think there are other contributing factors such as degree of issue, outside social support, and other motivations for quitting that one can truly care about (or maybe it's better said as external opportunities....i know people say one can only quit for his/hersef but maybe having/threat of losing amazing opportunities can make one want to quit for oneself).
additionally, i think people sometimes grow out of addiction. they jjust move one. sure, they have to deal with shitty WD, but they are just ready, and they tend not to be people with major special issues.
Sorry its taken me a while to write back to you but I've been really busy because of the holidays right now.
