Understanding Addiction: A Short Guide to Recovery

By Michael Hardiman

An innate desire to live life with the least amount of pain and the greatest amount of pleasure leaves each person vulnerable to addiction. For many, the reality of their lives is painful. Difficulties in relationships, insecurities, poverty, social isolation, personal unhappiness, and the pressures of modern living-all foster a mental tendency to deny or escape the awareness of pain and discomfort. This book is a very valuable resource for all those ill-informed about the nature of addiction, the extraordinary ease with which individuals become imprisoned by it, and its complex passage of distortion and destruction in the lives of both those who become addicted and of their families.

Its publication is important because it makes simple and accessible what is generally considered to be a very complex is­ sue. The author, Michael Hardiman, addresses the subject of addiction with great sensitivity, clarity, and thoroughness. He also reaches into the heart of the matter to bear witness to the struggle and suffering of those addicted.

The importance of recognizing the unique nature of, and meaning expressed in, each person's addiction, is very well elaborated. So too are the physical and psychological aspects of addiction, as well as the nature of the spiritual quest, and the yearnings and longing for connection and bliss that drive individuals towards the "rewards" of alcohol and drugs.

Hardiman explores and examines some of the options for recovery, from self-help programs to the more specialized treatments, with a wide range of recovery options. This book is a clear statement that the care of those addicted should not be the preserve of a few specialists. It offers information and guidance on a wide range of recovery options.

This book should prove a reliable and readable resource for the layperson as well as professionals.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Michael Hardiman
• Release date: Oct 27, 2023
• ISBN: 9798215000878

Michael Hardiman

Psychologist, Author and Educator Michael Hardiman has worked in the fields of private counselling, coaching, teaching and personal development training for over 30 years. He holds post-graduate degrees in both psychology and philosophy. He conducts training seminars and workshops nationwide to family centres, third level institutions and to adult education services. He is the author of six books. Michael lives and works in the West of Ireland.

Book preview

FOREWORD

An innate desire to live life with the least amount of pain and the greatest amount of pleasure leaves each person vulnerable to addiction. For many, the reality of their lives is painful. Difficulties in relationships, insecurities, poverty, social isolation, personal unhappiness, and the pressures of modern living all foster a mental tendency to deny or escape the awareness of pain and discomfort. This book is a very valuable resource for all those ill-informed about the nature of addiction, the extraordinary ease with which individuals become imprisoned by it, and its complex passage of distortion and destruction in the lives of both those who become addicted and of their families.

Its publication is important because it makes simple and accessible what is generally considered to be a very complex is­ sue. The author, Michael Hardiman, addresses the subject of addiction with great sensitivity, clarity, and thoroughness. He also reaches into the heart of the matter to bear witness to the struggle and suffering of those addicted.

The importance of recognizing the unique nature of, and meaning expressed in, each person's addiction, is very well elaborated. So too are the physical and psychological aspects of addiction, as well as the nature of the spiritual quest, and the yearnings and longing for connection and bliss that drive individuals towards the rewards of alcohol and drugs.

Hardiman explores and examines some of the options for recovery, from self help programs to the more specialized treatments, with a wide range of recovery options. This book is a clear statement that the care of those addicted should not be the preserve of a few specialists. It offers information and guidance on a wide range of recovery options.

This book should prove a reliable and readable resource for the layperson as well as professionals.

MAURA RUSSELL

Director, The Rutland Centre

Templeogue, Dublin 6

Chapter 1.

What is Addiction

Introduction

It is understandable that some people despise addicts as weak­willed folks who can't look after themselves and at the same time dismiss those who try to help addicts as naive idealists. Is this simple view accurate? Is it merely a matter of some people failing to control certain activities and causing great harm as a result, or is there some more complex process at work? It is time to ask the question, What is addiction?

The term comes from the Latin ad dicere, which means to give oneself up, or to give oneself over to another power. Addiction occurs when person surrenders to or is captured by  a substance or activity, which gradually takes control of their life and eventually destroys them if they do not recover. The fact that addiction is an enslavement to some substance or activity is generally accepted by those who are caregivers for addicts. What is still debated is the manner in which persons become enslaved. Why do some people become addicts and others do not? Why do some recover, while others eventually die as a direct or indirect result of their addiction? Why do some addicts spend their lives struggling between abstaining and relapsing?

Components of Addiction

There appear to be four main components to any addiction, namely: compulsion, dependence, regularity, and destructiveness. Each of these becomes more and more extreme, as addiction expands and develops in the life of the addict.

Compulsion: A compulsion is a very strong, sometimes overwhelming, desire to do something. In some cases, this turns out to be true: the addicted individual feels an intense desire to use a drug, or act out the addictive behaviour.

Dependence is the need to do something, as distinct from a desire to do it. Central to this notion is relying on someone or something. Dependence, as it relates to addiction, is the knowledge or belief that some negative or undesirable result will follow if the person does not take drugs, or act out an addictive behaviour.

Regularity means that the addictive behaviour is a consistent feature of the person's life. There can be a great deal of variation among people in terms of the number of addictive events. One alcoholic may go on a binge every six months, whereas another may drink every day. The number of addictive events may change as the addiction grows in strength, so what may have begun as a weekly, or fortnightly, event may become a daily occurrence.

Destructiveness is fairly self-explanatory. There are varied degrees of destructiveness, from ongoing gradual deterioration to catastrophic injury, and a wide range of possibilities in between.

Combining these elements, we can reach a definition of addiction as a condition whereby an individual regularly takes a substance, or acts in a particular way, in response to a strong and sometimes overwhelming desire to do so; and that in the absence of so doing, he will experience negative feelings or actual illness. By taking the substance or carrying out the behaviour to alleviate these feelings, the addict causes harm to himself or to others.

Using this definition, addicts are involved in doing something that is harmful to themselves or others in response to a strong desire and a fear of what will happen if they don't. This approach implies that addicts are not simply irresponsible people, but that they are responding to very strong driving forces behind their addictive behaviours.

Furthermore, it implies that addiction is not an all or nothing phenomenon. It is impossible to draw a line between addiction and non-addiction. In general, becoming addicted is a gradual process, measured by the intensity of the compulsion, the depth of dependence, and the degree of destructiveness. Thus, one person can be mildly addicted to something, whereas another can be very strongly addicted to the same thing. The intensity of addiction is often related to the nature of the substance or activity, and the length of time the individual has been involved with it.

It is clear that everybody is a potential addict, and maybe most of us are in some way involved in addictive behaviour. Some addictions are much more destructive than others, and some people progress far down the road of the more dangerous addictions. It is these people who destroy their own lives and damage others whom we tend to identify as true addicts.

To help treat and heal these lives, and minimize the damage, it is important to understand the four main parts of addiction:

the nature of the substance/activity that produce addiction;

the psychological states of the addicted person;

the variety of addictive substances or behaviours;

the process by which recovery occurs.

Nature of the Addicting Substance/Behaviour

Certain substances are powerfully addictive, and we need look no further than the exposure to the substance itself to explain why a person becomes addicted. These substances affect the body chemistry, usually the central nervous system, leading to a mood change. How addictive they are depends on several things the speed at which they affect the body chemistry, the way the body adapts to their presence, the experience they produce, and the speed at which they leave the body. Substances that act quickly and are quick to leave the body are the most addictive. Nicotine, for example, is so highly addictive that we need not look elsewhere for the cause of cigarette smoking. Most people try cigarette smoking as teenagers. After a few initial upsets coughing, dizziness, nausea the body adapts and the individual becomes quickly hooked to the stimulant drug, nicotine. The drug enters the bloodstream via the lungs and goes quickly to the brain. It takes about thirty minutes to start clearing from the system, which leads to withdrawal pangs and a desire to smoke again. This is why many people smoke an average of twenty cigarettes a day.

Other addictions are not so easily understood. Human beings desire pleasure and avoid pain. Many activities make us feel good. Eating, sex, rest, and exercise are all basic physical activities that provide pleasures. Achievement, praise, and affection are psychological equivalents. Conversely, painful experiences often accompany dangerous events or behaviours. Getting too close to an open fire causes a mild burning sensation, which helps us to avoid a serious burn. Going too long without food causes hunger pangs. Not enough love produces a feeling of loneliness. These painful experiences help us to avoid danger and to seek what we need to be healthy. Every human being is, therefore, to some extent, pursuing pleasure and avoiding pain. Addiction is a good example of what happens when this process becomes distorted or unbalanced Addicts in general begin by using some substance or behaviour in an inappropriate way to produce pleasure or avoid pain, thus affecting their emotional state.

Variety of Experiences Sought in Addiction

The kinds of experience sought after are many and varied, but they have one thing in common: a desire to repeat