What is addiction?

[CoolWater]

So after goin' through some of these posts i just had to pose a question that I have thought about before... what is addiction?
i mean, i have read stories on this board where herion users have supported a habit and a full time job and have later dropped the drug all together. is this the lifestyle of an addict?
on the other hand, i myself have gone through a time in my life with pot (a drug that we have all been told that its non-addictive) where I smoked everyday, couldn't sleep without smoking, lost peripheral friends cuz my motivation was gone, etc. Even though i couldn't admit it at the time, pot *did* affect other more important aspects of my life... my previous definition for addiction.
this is a very complicated question, i know, kinda like defining intelligence or a personality. but what do you think? when have you hit addiction?
------------------
One.

 

[luv rolling]

Basically, I think you are addicted when a chemical takes over your life, you are doing it like at least once a week or day (depending on the drug) and you cant function properly or be happy at all without it, and it takes up all your time and money.

 

[ohhhE]

sometimes addiction is when you get up one morning and you reallize you are going to work so you will have money to buy drugs so you are ABLE to work the next week. Sometimes its just that you can not have a "good time" with out drugs. Dependency is addiction.

 

[special k]

the popular definition of addiciton in my substance abuse classes at school was "repeating a behavior even when it had negative consequences"
are you a drunk if you only get drunk once a year at the family thanksgiving dinner and end up ruining everyones holiday...every year...and then dont rememebr what you did???
Yes that person is a drunk and needs to not drink...they do it even knowing it wont turn out well.
Its when we as people have bad things happen and then repeat the behavior, thats theres a problem. It signifies that we are out of control and loss of control is addiciton.

 

[jakoz]

I think addiction (at least the precursor to it) can be characterised simply by not wanting to have your normal state of mind.
This would suggest that you are not normally happy, hence the whole escapism thing. Its been said plenty (too much for many), but if a phase shift in consciousness is something that you crave (not just desire), then it might be time to consider whether you are at risk.
[This message has been edited by Jakoz (edited 08 June 2001).]

 

[TheLoveBandit]

Webster: To devote or give (oneself) habitually or compulsively to.
TLB: When you find yourself doing something over and over. It may not necessarily be bad for you (like masterbation), but you feel compelled to do it more than you need to (maybe masterbation wasn't the right comparison). You may be addicted to sleep, or food, or drugs - and all of these will consume more of your time, energy, and efforts than is necessary to live a balanced life.
I agree with the other replies, though, that any addiction generally is hiding some other problem. I can't say if it is semantics or not, but I feel addiction is not quitting because either you can't (physical needs) or don't want to (choice, which may or may not be hiding physical needs).

 

[pHalaNGes]

The following is something written by ~*~ Ashke ~*~ (who i don't think comes to bluelight anymore?) - it had such an effect on me that i had to save it, I can't find the original thread as it was a long time ago that it was written, so I hope she doesn't mind me just pasting it below - mods, if inappropriate, plz feel free to delete....
--------------------------------
Addiction is... you're broke, exhausted, you're not having fun anymore.. and you're still going to do more.
And you hate yourself for it. You see this, and you're going to anyway.
Addiction is when you're becoming a worse person because of this drug. Your friends and family are trying so hard to tell you so, and you're not listening, because the thought of life without the drug is more daunting then the thought of losing these people, and the respect these people have always had for you. You don't care.
You don't care.
You don't care that your teeth ache and your complexion is a mess and you've lost more weight. You don't see these things in the mirror.
Or if you do, you go out and party, indulge until you feel beautiful again.
Addicted is when you've broken down and actually wept because for what ever reason you can't have what you crave.
Addiction is when you've tried and tried and tried to curtail your use... for a day or two, or ten, before falling back on your own resolve.
Addiction is when you feel hollow, a shadow of your 'sparkly joyous self' without this drug. Addiction is when you've fooled yourself into thinking no one will like you unless you are under its influence.
Addiction is cheating, and lying, and stealing, and scheming, and shitting on your own code of honor and goodness, your self worth and what used to be sacred, to score.
Addiction is when fun becomes self maintenance.
Addiction can even live on after rebuilding yourself, locking yourself away until you are strong enough to heal and learn how to stand on your own again, learn to love life again without the drug.
Addiction is knowing that you are still not entirely free. It's reluctantly knowing in the pit of your stomach that more likely than not, the future holds relapse, slips, and that slipping hard enough can put you in chains again.
Addiction is being stricken with terror and sorrow and inner conflict when you are faced with that from which you've worked so hard to free yourself.
Addiction is flaring up with wild, irrational anger and resentment at any 'friend' who puts in the situation of choosing once again between the drug and all the ground you have gained since.
Addiction does not go away.
Addiction can be mastered, surpressed, but it is a weakness that will continue to haunt the back of your mind. It is an inner struggle that will rise up in you again and again, inevitably -- just as inevitably as couples must sometimes argue, and lands must sometimes go to war.
Addiction can be all or none of these things. This is just what it means to me.
~*~ Ashke ~*~

 

[PARKER]

That is so true about addiction to what Ashke wrote. I need to really sit back and take a look at myself because I am falling fast. I am just going to hope that I can make it through this situation which i have mistakenly fell into. Peace.

 

[TAC]

an addiction is something which you can only fully realize once you dont have one anymore. it is many different things to different people. but true addiction is invisible from the inside. addiction has other causes, not the drug itself, but soemthign else which you are escaping from with the drug. the number one key feature of addiction unfortuanately is denial so watch out, this is why its invisible, because you are escaping so well at the time that it is dissociated from your self.

 

[DJSethNichols]

Addiction is like a bugbite.
It itches and annoys until you itch, but that only takes the itch away temporarily. If you leave it alone your body will eventually get rid of it. Otherwise you could itch it so much that it begins to bleed.
peash..
------------------
Redemption song, "Emancipate yourself from mental slavery, None but ourselves can free our minds." - Bob Marley
"The sunrise....The sunsets....The night falls....For the music."
"You've seen paradise slip right through your hands."
"Your eyes are hypnotized by packets of sand."
"It all is swept away with your loving hands."
"The music takes me there, takes me back to dry land." - Cascades of Color
"Never Fed, Always Satisfied."
"Once Fed, Never Satisfied."
-Seth

 

[Bry Bry]

EHHHHHHHH...
i must admit i am ADDICTED to NUBAIN...do i have a problem???NO, i DON'T...am i living everyday trying to deny that i am addicted to a drug??HELL NO..i look at ADDICTION different than others...if i am talking to intelligent people, then yes i will admit i am addicted to a drug, as i dont have a problem with having an addiction or admitting to it..
i have MANY buddies addicted to the SAME drug as I, and SOME of them have problems with it, and others don't...its all up to the individual....if you have enough CASH, and SUPPLY,and MOST IMPORTANTLY(WILLPOWER) then by all means, go ahead with use of said drug...
i think ASHKE summed up addiction to a T...
my biggest question..is ADDICTION a DISEASE??i always hear DOCTORS and SUCH saying it is..i don't think it is, and what is everyone elses input on it????

 

[window licker]

Adiction is only an adiction because society has so said that using this substance etc. is illegal or bad. If u eat chocolate everyday are u an adict?...no...because it's legally available does not cost the earth & nobody will frown upon u if u eat it. What I'm trying to say is if drugs etc. where no illegal and as readily available as chocolate.....nobody would even have discussions on whether they where adicted or not. Then the other case for adiction is the fact that ur not adicted to the actual substance..meaning there is no physical adiction. It's all got to do with the problems that u are trying to hide with the "drug" of choice. Most people have a very hard time dealing with those problems. So it's much easier to sweep them under the "rug" of drugs etc. But sooner or later the pile under that drugs get way way too big. Facing ones problems takes a great deal of strenght...but it's a helluva great journey through it!.....
& on a personal note....I can never understand adiction to anything it requires too much commitment..........

 

[special k]

window- people drink legally and still are addicts, there are sex addicts, food addicts, and even the people who are compelled to do dangerous stunts are addicts.
these addictions are just as dangerous as a drug addiction but are even more frequently looked down upon, in todays society "anyone" should be able to see why a drug addict has become hooked, but try and explain to anyone that your a sex addict and i doubt youd be tasken seriously!

 

[DJSethNichols]

Window...an addiction is not made up by the govt and made taboo by the govt. Yes they exploit OVERLY addicted people to portray negative affects of drug use, but the truth is that addiction is a personal destroying thing.
It is not govt produced that a person who is addicted to crack will go out and steal or kill just to get some money so that that person can pay for a fix. That is addiction and it is not something that is made up and told to us...it is something that we create and destroy ourselves with..
peash..
------------------
Redemption song, "Emancipate yourself from mental slavery, None but ourselves can free our minds." - Bob Marley
"The sunrise....The sunsets....The night falls....For the music."
"You've seen paradise slip right through your hands."
"Your eyes are hypnotized by packets of sand."
"It all is swept away with your loving hands."
"The music takes me there, takes me back to dry land." - Cascades of Color
"Never Fed, Always Satisfied."
"Once Fed, Never Satisfied."
-Seth

 

[Charmgrrl]

i am addicted to the internet.
laugh if you will, but i love it. just the way most people love tv, but i never watch tv. i play on the internet. my eyes hurt from staring at my screen, but there is always one more site to visit, one more friend to chat with. blah.if my computer crashes, i'll make a special trip to school just to check email.
anyways...
but i've rolled maybe a total of 14 times since last august(last roll was march 17th), sometimes a whole pill, more often a half (i'm small) but i think about it all the time. i constantly think about what a great time i had, and how much i want to do it again but i know i shouldn't, it kills my memory. i can't find words sometimes when i *know* they're on the tip of my tongue. minor annoyances. and i don't have a good 'dealer', only occassional hookups from friends.
i try to save it for special occassions, but i think about rolling usually at least once a day i think. i adore it, everythihg about it. the feeling of coming up, blowing up, feeling like your floating, choosing your world. but the last few times i've rolled it "lost the magic" so to speak. so now i can't find satisfaction sober and i'm afraid i chased it away even when i'm rolling from doing it too much. i stopped coming to this site so i could attempt to forget how much better life is when your flying.
is constantly thinking about something a sign of addiction, even if you're not currently feeding the addiction?
it's been the most amazing eye opening curse i have ever encountered.
(fyi, pills and weed are all i've ever done, and very little weed, not a big fan)

 

[**Deja_Claire_Voyant**]

I am very very very addicted to weed. I get high every day at least, and from where I am now, I don't know if I can even go a day without getting high. It's not like I get cravings for it or anything, I feel ok when I am sober, it's just, then I get high again! I don't know why but it happens every time! I just don't know what I am supposed to do otherwise. I should probably find out, try to not smoke weed, but then I think to myself, why? There is no reason anyone could give me that would make me not wanna smoke it. It's not something like Heroin that you can OD on and die from, not that I know of anyways..
I definately see what addiction is now...this thread has made me think about it a lot more....

 

[Timerare]

More than one type of addiction.
Physical addiction is when you
1) Are developing a tolerance.
AND
2) Experience withdrawls when you quit.
If you meet these criteria, you are physically addicted to a substance.
Psychological addiction is
1) A persistent and disrupting urge to use a substance.
AND
2) A depressed state of mind when without substance.
'I used to use meth cause it made me happy, now I use it cause it makes me sad not to.'
Secondary Addiction is...
1) I have been using a drug for so long that I identify myself as a drug user and it would be 'weird' for me to quit, I would be without an identity. I don't know what else to do on a friday night. Besides, I already fucked up my life, it is really hard to go back too. And as long as I am an addict, people forgive the smaller mistakes I make. There are secondary gains.
AND
2) I am not quite sure I remember how to be a non-drug user. How do non-drug users have sex? What do they talk about? How do I clean the house without the aid of Meth? Etc?
This is by FAR the worst. Most nicotine addicts fall into this category, as well as the other two, but this is the one that really kills them.
An idiots addiction is...
1) I keep using the drug because I like doing it.
AND
2) I don't have either of the other 3 addictions.
AND
3) Is usually how people find their way into the other 3 types of addiction. It culminates in one of those first two, and then they will eventually lead to #3.
For some reason, people fail to see that there are more and less severe addictions. You can have a 'severe' physical meth addiction, and a 'minor' physical addiction. Etc.
[This message has been edited by Timerare (edited 25 July 2001).]