Addiction Handout Analysis
When we first received the handout about the addiction simulation, I thought, “hey this will be easy”. But, I was wrong. Two of the main things that I learned through this lesson are- (1) how time consuming and addiction is, and (2) how dedicated a person has to be in order to “get their fix”.
Since I do not like putting things off, I decided to start the experience immediately. So after class that morning I went on a hunt to find some “Esykube’! Luckily I always bring my own water bottle and was able to fill it up with ice from the cafeteria. The rest of that day at school was fine, I had ice in my bottle and finished my day out.
Being at home was a lot harder. We have limited freezer space so ice is not something we usually
keep around the house. Also, with the babies, it was not easy to just run to the store and grab a couple of bags of ice. So by the time my husband came home I was really thirsty and really grumpy about it. I suppose this would have been my “withdrawal” symptom. Once I got the ice and was able to have my water, tea or what not, I felt fine. I am a thirsty person, so when the ice would melt I definitely felt like I needed more immediately, even if I was not thirsty right at that moment. That surprised me also. At one point in my night class I had a girl ask me about the string that I was wearing on my arm. Even though it was nothing, I felt embarrassed about it, and told her that it came from my niece. In conclusion, I felt like it was more of an inconvenience than it was worth. I really can’t imagine having my whole life revolve around “the next fix”. I am glad that I participated in this experiment and definitely learned from it. And I am even more glad to not have ever experienced a true addiction to drugs!
Since I do not like putting things off, I decided to start the experience immediately. So after class that morning I went on a hunt to find some “Esykube’! Luckily I always bring my own water bottle and was able to fill it up with ice from the cafeteria. The rest of that day at school was fine, I had ice in my bottle and finished my day out.
Being at home was a lot harder. We have limited freezer space so ice is not something we usually
keep around the house. Also, with the babies, it was not easy to just run to the store and grab a couple of bags of ice. So by the time my husband came home I was really thirsty and really grumpy about it. I suppose this would have been my “withdrawal” symptom. Once I got the ice and was able to have my water, tea or what not, I felt fine. I am a thirsty person, so when the ice would melt I definitely felt like I needed more immediately, even if I was not thirsty right at that moment. That surprised me also. At one point in my night class I had a girl ask me about the string that I was wearing on my arm. Even though it was nothing, I felt embarrassed about it, and told her that it came from my niece. In conclusion, I felt like it was more of an inconvenience than it was worth. I really can’t imagine having my whole life revolve around “the next fix”. I am glad that I participated in this experiment and definitely learned from it. And I am even more glad to not have ever experienced a true addiction to drugs!