Addiction Begins with Pain kansas Friday, September 14, 2007 Addiction begins with pain, sometimes physical, other times mental or emotional.Almost all use or abuse of alcohol or drugs is related to escapism- a need to deaden feelings of hurt, sorrow, loss or pain. An addict may become an addict by first having a physical injury of some sort. The doctor prescribes pain medication, and before long the addict is hooked. Aside from the pain-killing effects of the drug on the physical body, the addict also recieves an emotional/mental relief, which contributes to the addiction. A person who uses illegal, or street drugs, most often is searching for an escape. Many psychiatrists and therapists now refer to illegal drug use, or alcohol abuse as "self-medicating". People are searching for a way to feel better, to forget something, or to just escape the difficulties of their lives. The use of drugs may be only a temporary fix, but to an addict, any relief is better than none at all. In order to really help an addicted person there must be some way to address the underlying source of the self-medicating. Like a medical doctor, the therapist must attempt to find out "what hurts" and why it hurts, before the addiction can be addressed. Likewise the patient must be willing to face the pain of the injury, and experience their sense of loss, grief or sadness, rather than trying again and again to supress it or escape from it. Recovery from addiction is not about self-control or will power. When an addict begins to use substances they never believe that they can become "addicts." It is the old "It couldn't happen to me" trick, that gets them to start using the drug. Promises of how the drugs "will make you feel good" or "make you feel better" and even "make you feel no pain" are an easy lure for people who feel bad, or are dealing with an intense emotional pain. If the drug actually does help "take a... |