How can you get rid of addiction once and for all? There are many schools of thought on this and I happen to believe there are many ways. However, one thing that must be addressed is the underlying causes and conditions. What started the runaway train? Many times a destructive habit is brought during adolescence as “recreation.” This may be true, but whether they are aware of it or not, the desire to alter a feeling or circumstance is underlying.
In our society today when someone does something “wrong” , the sharks of criticism and judgement begin circling. Recently, the artist formerly known as Prince passed of a now confirmed drug overdose. To the spectator hearing the news, this seems preposterous. He had fame, wealth, and all the worldly things that most dream of. What kind of pain was he in? Why would he choose to go down that dark road to oblivion?
Why does the well respected heart surgeon lose his medical license for unnecessarily performing procedures to line his pockets? When the 21 year old young man from an affluent home is now living on Skid Row after thirteen drug rehabs, we need to start asking a better question then why the addiction.The more relevant inquiry should be why the pain?
From the church basements all over the world which host 12 step meeting like AA, the world at large can begin to get a clue as to what the real problem is. “ I have an alcohol or cocaine problem” can be heard time and time again. Instead of asking why does he or she does that destructive thing, addressing the root cause is paramount to solution.
I would challenge this and suggest that “ you have an alcohol or cocaine solution”. As they say, pick your poison. Whatever the maldaptive or scorned behavior one chooses, the root of it all has to do with the pain one carries. The shopping to excess or eating tubs of Ben and of Jerry’s ice cream is just a short lasting analgesic band-aid to cover the hurt.
A family is baffled at that awful Uncle James who isn’t invited to Thanksgiving Dinner anymore because of the whirlwind of destruction he has left in his wake. Rehab, jail divorce, and dereliction and yet he still robs people to get one more bag of dope. He is just weak, they whisper on the phone or in a passive aggressive Facebook post. Is he weak? Or is he trying to numb a deep pain that he isn’t even consciously aware that he has?
The first time a boy kissed Jessica in High school finally the connection and affection that she never received from her absent parents draped over her like a warm hug. As long as she didn’t say no when the boy wanted to go further. The first hit of heroin and suddenly the warmth of a blanket, cuddled with chicken soup on the couch, this is love, right?
To the body and mind, yes it is. Why would someone want to give up that feeling if they never received it from anyone or anything else? Once the combination for the particular person is dialed into the lock, a strong association begins, and breaking it can and has proved fatal for scores of people. Since we are all humans, we all carry hurts. Take a hard look at yourself and ponder what do I use as my medicine? More importantly, chase the rabbit down the hole further and ask why the pain?
Original Source- http://www.stopfryingyourbrain.com/better-question-pain/
