Cause Of Addiction

“I have absolutely no pleasure in the stimulants in which I sometimes so madly indulge. It has not been in the pursuit of pleasure that I have periled life and reputation and reason. It has been the desperate attempt to escape from torturing memories, from a sense of insupportable loneliness and a dread of some strange impending doom.” Edgar Allan Poe

Since time began, the mystery of addiction remains. Our forbears, scientists, professionals, user’s, family, friends and society in general still struggled to grasp concepts of addiction. What causes it? Is it inherited, psychological, a social
While others make a distinction between ‘addiction’ and ‘dependency’ my decision to use the term ‘addiction abuse’ instead of ‘dependency’ is I want this to be easy for you to grasp.
It is important for you to know this information hopefully before your addiction gets out of control; or upon entering the recovery process. The misdiagnoses between a mental health disorder and addiction are very common, knowledge is power and applied knowledge could be the difference between a life founded on sobriety, ruined by active addiction, or misdiagnosed with a disorder you don’t have.
Bearing that in mind the layout of this chapter is in two sections.
• Section 1, we look to science to define what an addiction is, types and categories of addiction and the models of addiction.
• Section 2 takes in the physical and psychological symptoms, characteristics of addictions, three stages of addiction, and abstinence plus key pointers of
The cause of their problem stemmed from a major character flaw and/or moral weakness. The moral model is traditional with the approach that he/she needs to get a back bone, resist temptation by strengthening his/her will power and simply just get on with life. If only it could be that easy.
The major problem with this model is its focus on the individual’s ability to exercise his/her will power, make better choices, decisions and effort not to engage in using. Then, but not so much today, religious institutions viewed these unfortunate human beings as immoral, undisciplined, insensitive and ignorant, therefore morally weak.
The alcoholic/addict was referred to then, as still by some to be the “rotten or bad apple” of the group. Unfortunately, the stigma of addiction, then and now is why many fail to seek treatment. Thanks to the groundbreaking research studies, we realize an addiction is a medical condition, not a moral issue as first believed, which requires treatment, sooner than