Isn’t Alcoholism, Drug Abuse Just a Frame of Mind, and the Cure Changing That Frame of Mind?

Question by : Isn’t alcoholism, drug abuse just a frame of mind, and the cure changing that frame of mind?
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Best answer:

Answer by shawnee
Yes

Answer by Anama
No, there are three components to addiction: Mental, Physical, and Behavioral.
Mental: alcohol and some drugs are usually a method to escape some form of stress and the people using them are doing what is termed “self medication”. It is used as an escape to get away from whatever initial problems/stresses that they could not deal with in the first place. Unhappily, this route of escape usually just causes more problems due to choices made while under the influence or while attempting to get more of whatever their drug of choice is.

Physical: yes, there is a physical aspect of addiction. People do end up craving whatever their addictive substance is. That is why it is called addiction. Their bodies physically crave their drug of choice be it coffee, cocaine, alcohol, caffeine. This physical need is what drives the behaviors you see as people will at some point do what they have to do in order to satisfy that physical craving.

Behavioral: we are all creatures of habit. I like to start walking my dogs at 5 pm. If I don’t get to go on that walk (yeah, I’m an endorphine junkie) I can get very tense because I am off my routine (that and the dogs are making me nuts with all their hyperness, lol!). For addicts, their routine and lives are built around their use, and it IS a habit so to speak! So, I like exercise,it’s my habit… but for an an addict who, let’s say, likes wine…Let’s say that their usual drinking time started at 5 pm. Every day at 5 pm, guess what they are thining about (for me, it’s that walk, for them, that bottle)? Get it? It is like that 9am cig break that nicotine addicts “have” to have. Have you ever been around anyone who has stopped smoking but doesn’t know what to do with that 10 min. now? There is a whole behavioral ritual thing that people find comfort in. For the addict it is the feel of the drug on the body plus the rituals involved around getting the drug in them. So, not only do they have to replace that behavior/ritual, they have to avoid things that would trigger the craving for the comfort of the drug and the ritual. Not an easy thing. How do you avoid 9 am?

So not only do they have to deal with whatever they were self-medicating to avoid in the first place, and the physical need for whatever their choice is, then you have the whole daily routine thing that in and of itself is a trigger. So, no, it isn’t “just a frame of mind” Addiction at that level is actually a total lifestyle, some function better than others at it, but all in all, the person’s whole life is usually wrapped up in that substance abuse. So, it is more like a TOTAL life change… getting the person’s body to stop needing the substance physically, and a total lifestyle change to avoid the behavioral/association triggers, and then the very hard mental health work to deal with what was driving the behavior in the first place… It’s a tough, hard thing to do and I really admire people who take on their addiction and are able to be sober. It is a lifetime struggle for them and it should not be minimalized as a “choice” (seriously, who would willingly CHOOSE that?) or a moral weakness.

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