"Her Air is a Drug"

When I come across something like this, I wonder if sharing it is the right thing to do.  I think its a good explanation of how addiction works, and gives another reason to see addiction as a disease, but....It can also be discouraging.

It makes me even more passionate about STOPPING kids from using before they fall into this pit of endless struggle to walk away from what their body wants more than anything.  I've heard more than one heroin addict say that the high they get is better than sex.  (which makes me  want to try it, but of course I know better).  But the point is, its something they crave, something they feel so such a strong craving for that it destroys their life, but they keep going.

"If you never find your drug of choice, a dirty band-aid to the gaping wound of neurochemical imbalance, then perhaps you’ll never find addiction.

For most of us, it isn’t worth the experiment to know. For others, it starts out innocently, by becoming too reliant on pain pills prescribed by a doctor after an accident. Would you be “better” with a neurochemical enhancement?

I’ve been to rehab facilities and have seen good people lose their livelihoods, children and everything they hold dear. And thus, I ask: how could you say it’s not chemistry? How could you say it’s choice? Choice to feel robbed of free will? Choice to be dependent?

For addicts, it’s never over. A structure in the reptilian or old brain, the amygdala, causes the addict to crave a drug when she recognizes people, places, situations or patterns with which she’s previously used. It’s instinct, without conscious thought.

Consider this: if you’re drowning, you’ll push up for air. So will an addict, only her air is a drug."  from Addiction and Recovery

Peace, Hope and Love, Barbara