Stages of Addiction
Almost no one sets out to become addicted on purpose; it usually takes time and several stages.
After the first use - maybe to see what it's like - a person may use again, then begin to use occasionally then regularly. At the same time, the amount used may increase. For some substances, the body quickly becomes tolerant to the dose and so more will be used to get the desired effect.
How does addiction affect people's minds?Substances such as alcohol, nicotine, cocaine, heroin and valium interfere with the natural chemistry of the brain and can disturb your perceptions, attitudes and personality. Addiction effects your thinking and feeling, as well as your behaviour.
It's important to remember that addiction can cause death. This can be suddenly - as from an overdose of heroin - or slowly, for example, from cancer brought on by smoking.
How severely people are affected psychologically depends on their mental health before becoming addicted and the ongoing circumstances of their lives, such as homelessness. If the drug, say alcohol, is particularly damaging to the brain, long term psychological harm may result. When brain damage occurs it may not be repairable.
Not everyone who gets addicted has the same experience. However, there are some psychological symptoms that most people suffer. People may begin to look for treatment when these start to become severe.
Psychological effectsThe psychological effects of addiction can be divided into those that relate to feeling and those that relate to thinking.
These thoughts and feelings may bear a close relationship with addictive behaviours that can result from, and/or lead to, the thoughts and feelings.
For instance, an addicted person may avoid others. This leads to a feeling of isolation. He may also feel ashamed of feeling unable to cope, and of the addiction that's causing this. To deal with the feeling, he takes more of the drug. His relationship with the drug excludes people, so people avoid him. The result is increased isolation - a vicious circle.
It's important to realise that the psychological effects of addiction aren't only experienced by the person who drinks or takes drugs, but also by those who are close to them, like families and friends.
Feeling
Many of the feelings experienced in addiction come from a sense of being unable to control yourself or use of the drug. Some, like shame and guilt, come from behaving in ways that go against your personal values, like stealing money from your family.
Other feelings come from being in the kind of mess that's harming most, if not all, areas of your life.
Drugs are often called 'mood-altering' because they change mood in the short term. However, this can have a long-term effect as addicted people often report an increase in the feeling they were trying to escape, such as:
depression - from feeling very down and helpless to suicidal
anxiety - from feeling generally fearful to loss of trust and paranoia
low self-esteem - may become self-loathing and links to shame and guilt
no confidence - a state of mind related to anxiety and depression
anger - from touchy and irritated to explosive, often with blaming
boredom - the pattern of addiction becomes relentlessly, tediously the same
Thinking
Many of the thought patterns are defensive and work to protect the addiction. Some are responses to the stress of the lifestyle of addiction. Some are the results of the damage done by a drug's chemistry. Thoughts include:
dependency - believing others are responsible and can fix you - like the drug
denying reality - convincing oneself and maybe others that it's not as bad as it is
obsessive - exclusive focus on the substance and getting enough of it
grandiosity - thinking your concerns are more important than anything else
if only... - focusing on everything but the real thing that needs changing
self harm - ideas about ways to relieve or escape the suffering
mental ability - loss of memory and concentration
Behavioural effects
Behaviours tend to reflect the consuming relationship with the drug of choice. Addicts often postpone positive change and facing up to reality. They are usually self-defeating. In many cases behaviour is simply about avoiding withdrawal. Typical behaviours include:
avoiding - isolating yourself and not taking responsibility
controlling - including various kinds of manipulation and even violence
betrayal - anyone can be sacrificed because the drug comes first
self harm - deliberate acts to hurt yourself for relief or punishment
deceiving - self and others to keep ahead of the consequences