Addiction can be of many types: you can be addicted to a bad habit; you can be addicted to a toxic person or a relationship.....
HEALTHWISE
By Aleezeh Fatimah Hashmi
When we talk about ‘addiction’, a picture that usually comes to our mind is of an alcoholic, or a druggie. People generally believe that those who take drugs or are addicted to something negative, lack moral values and will power. In reality, addiction is a complex disease and it takes a lot more than just good will to let it go. Addiction is mostly associated to drugs, but it can be anything: junk food, sweets, gaming, cell phone, Internet, Facebook, TV, etc.
Addiction can be of many types: you can be addicted to a bad habit; you can be addicted to a toxic person or a relationship; you can be addicted to anything which gives you immense pleasure and alters the state of your mind. Anything which causes harm to you and you can’t stop sucking pleasure out of it, is titled as ‘Drug’ and your wish to ingest it in any part of your body is known as ‘Addiction’.
Addicts aren’t uncommon; we often see people around us hopelessly addicted to something. Here is a simple example: a month ago when I was preparing for my first professional’s semester exams, I knew that my focus should be on my studies. But, I kept on wasting my time on Netflix, watching random series. A lot of you can relate to this because this is a common type of addiction. You know whatever you are doing is going to screw you up in the end but you aren’t able to stay away from it.
Similarly, a relationship can be your addiction, too. There are countless people out there who find pleasure in hanging on to the people who are toxic to them. Deep down, they know they are destroying themselves, but destroying themselves gives them joy. This is another form of addiction.
Basically, one addiction attracts an addict towards something which is comparatively bigger. People get into drugs because they need something bigger than their pain. To let go of one addiction, you need another addiction that is bigger than the previous one. Strong emotions like rage, jealousy, fear and hopelessness make some people feel helpless. To quell these uncomfortable feelings, abusers turn to drugs or alcohol.
At first, turning to substances to soothe unpleasant feelings is a choice. No one wakes up in the morning and decides they’re going to become a substance abuser or engage in a life-threatening compulsion. However, at some point, the behaviour or drug of choice becomes a necessary ritual and takes over as the primary method of relieving strong feelings.
Psychological symptoms of addiction can be understood and treated, but not by dealing with them as lack of motivation or faulty thinking. Just getting clean and sober may not address the actual psychology of addiction. Breaking the physiological need for the drug does not break the person’s desire to “escape” from everyday life. Breaking psychological addiction requires a commitment to understanding the root causes of one’s personal addictive behaviour and getting free from the destructive cycle. One of the hardest aspects of breaking psychological addiction is confronting unpleasant emotions, situations and people instead of avoiding them. This may mean taking positive, productive and proactive steps to manage a situation rather than swallowing the uncomfortable emotions it evokes and ending up in a binge.
Addiction to drugs and alcohol should be treated as a psychological issue in order to end it completely. Understanding the psychology behind addictions allows us to help those with addictions overcome their problems and begin to live again.
