The Factors of Drug Addiction
Addiction is a subject that gets a lot of attention nationally and internationally. Many studies are funded, written and submitted; television shows feature addicted people being sent to rehab and offer insider looks at rehab services in progress. Real and fictional figures share their struggles with addiction, while news reports cover the death of prominent people when drugs or alcohol seem to be involved.
Governments, international agencies and charitable organizations all talk about the problem and ask for funding. Hundreds of millions of dollars are spent addressing the problem or picking up the pieces of lives shattered by addiction. But there is a serious problem in the midst of all this discussion and spending.
Addiction is not going away, nor is it getting better. Despite all the investment, treatment does not seem to be reducing the problem quickly.
In the US, the number of those addicted to or dependent on alcohol and other drugs has remained at around 22 million since 2002. Americans addicted to illicit drugs alone (which includes abuse of prescription drugs) total around seven million.
Internationally, between 15 and 29 million people are dependent on illicit drugs, not including alcohol.
In the US, there are more than 10,000 drug and alcohol rehab centers. Are people leaving these centers able to stay clean and sober? Rarely. Only 44 percent of people admitted to treatment are there for the first time, meaning all the others have been through treatment multiple times.
To address the problem of addiction thoroughly and bring about lasting recovery, one must understand what causes it. Treating addiction without understanding the factors that make it so persistent makes failure far more likely.
As a public service, Narconon is making the factors of addiction available to families who are determined to win the battle against this relentless enemy.
Definition: Addiction is a condition characterized by repeated, compulsive seeking and use of drugs, alcohol or other similar substances despite adverse social, mental and physical consequences. It is usually accompanied by psychological and physical dependence on the abused substances and the appearance of withdrawal symptoms when the addictive substances are rapidly decreased or withdrawn.
There are specific factors that keep an addicted person trapped. The good news is that these factors can be addressed and overcome, resulting in stable sobriety.
The three factors are cravings, depression and guilt.
For recovery to last, these three factors must be effectively resolved. The individual must also learn how to avoid situations that would trigger them anew.
Drawbacks of the Pharmaceutical Solution
It is critically important for a family seeking recovery—or for an addicted person seeking their own recovery—to realize that these factors can never be medicated away. In other words, there is no pharmaceutical solution to cravings, depression and guilt. There are, in fact, effective, tested and proven means of alleviating all three factors without drugs.
This is how true recovery and lasting sobriety are achieved.
Pharmaceutical science has long offered a solution to opiate cravings. Synthetic opiates referred to as “opioids” can be given to a person addicted to heroin, morphine, codeine or prescription drugs such as OxyContin, Vicodin and Lortab or other similar drugs.
Treatment opioids are mixed in a formula that is not supposed to create the same euphoria as the original drug that was abused; however, every single drug used for this purpose quickly becomes a drug of abuse and addiction. In addition, any person whose cravings are just being covered up with more drugs is chained to the use of that drug. Such individuals do not experience what it is like to live completely drug-free, nor do they learn how to maintain sobriety through their own volition.
- Ref: Bupenorphine Abuse
Pharmaceuticals to prevent withdrawal and cravings for other types of drugs, such as stimulants (cocaine, methamphetamine) or cannabis (marijuana, hashish), do not yet exist, but efforts are being made to develop them.
When it comes to depression, well-known medications such as Prozac and Paxil are commonly prescribed. But these drugs do not actually resolve depression; they merely mask it. When the medication is discontinued, the individual is often no better off than before. In addition, many antidepressants carry warnings from the Food and Drug Administration regarding an increased risk of suicide, and many are known to interfere with sexual desire and performance. Alleviating depression through healthier, lasting means offers a clear advantage.
Guilt might seem manageable with medication, at least as long as someone takes benzodiazepines. This class includes Valium and Xanax, both of which are addictive drugs that are frequently abused. Here too, the guilt is not gone; it is simply suppressed by medication.
When cravings, guilt and depression are only masked by medications, or when they are not thoroughly addressed and alleviated through other means, a person trying to stay clean and sober after addiction treatment can have a very difficult time. Every day becomes a fight to resist the cravings and carry on in life despite the guilt and depression that haunt every step.
To help families and individuals seeking to leave addiction behind, this series of articles examines the causes of cravings, guilt and depression and how they are alleviated in the Narconon drug and alcohol rehabilitation program. For more than sixty years, Narconon recovery centers have been helping people find lasting recovery. In centers around the world, seventy percent of graduates achieve lifelong sobriety.
Call a Narconon treatment center today.
Series of articles explaining drug addiction
- Part 2: Drug Cravings, the First Factor of Addiction
- Part 3: How to Overcome Drug Cravings
- Part 4: Depression, the Second Factor of Drug Addiction
- Part 5: Handling Depression Without Drugs
- Part 6: Guilt, the Third Factor of Drug Addiction
- Part 7: How to Relieve Guilt