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Addiction Ta Addicti Addiction TaAddictioA
"What if anything might have stopped you from using meth?' I asked
"If I could have seen my future."
Thomas* sat in my office in an uncomfortable wicker chair beneath the large south facing window. He was a young, thin, good-looking man with a slightly hardened complexion. He was here because he wanted to help out with the Crystal Meth prevention campaign our office was initiating.
We talked about how he could help: with prevention messages, songs or poetry or as an actor for the ads. I asked him how long he'd been clean and he said for about 8 months. This worried me a bit. I din't want this process to trigger him to use; but he was here and he was volunteering and he was ultimately responsible for himself anyway.
zThomas said he would like to act and would like to help out developing the messages and also had friends who played music with him with whom he could write songs. It all sounded pretty good. He talked about using with his little brother and with his dad. I wondered if there could have been anything done to prevent him from using drugs; given this permissive environment he grew up in.
So I asked him, "Before you ever started using meth or any drugs; is there anything that you think might have made you not start using?" I wasn't optimistic.
He paused briefly, his eyes searching, then he looked at me, straight on and said: "If I could have seen my future".
It was a moment that was synchronous. The message came together - the theme for our campaign - to show his future; which was now his past - to the community.
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Addiction Takes Brains
"My parents are stupid and can't quit drinking"
NVSS student 2003
That's a belief that's likely shared by a lot of people, but in that one statement lies the fundamental nature of addcition. This student feels hurt by his parents behaviour and justifiably so. He thinks his parents are "stupid" for continuing to drink when presumably many things have gone wrong in their lives.
This is the essence of addiction - to continue to use a substance or engage in behavior (like gambling) despite all the bad stuff that happens because of it.
Are those parents stupid? Many might answer "yes." On the other hand, addiction can happen to anyone because of the way our human brain is wired. Addictive drugs (like crystal meth, cocaine, heroin and other opiates, nicotine and alcohol) activate the same circuits in the brain that respond to normal pleasures like food and sex. Every human brain has these circuits which is why any human could potentially become addcited to a drug.
So if we each have that potential, then why are only some of us addicted? There are many factors to consider when asking why some people and not others become addicted to drugs. Some think it has to do with having different brain chemistry or having experienced mental illness or extreme trauma, or being socialized into a drug using lifestyle. There is truth to this because while we are all wired for it, usually one of these factors helps to facilitate addiction.
On the other hand, many people do well despite those circumstances and don't become addicted to drugs. For example, tobacco, nicotine and marijuana are called the "gateway drugs" because they seemingly open the door to other drugs like cocaine. It's true that if you ask someone who does cocaine if he has ever smoked marijuana or drunk alcohol, he'll most likely say yes. But if you asked all the people who have ever drunk alcohol if they have ever done cocaine, most will say no. There is still a lot to learn about addiction.
Since misuse of any kind of drug including alcohol puts anyone at risk for addiction, how do you know if someone is misusing alcohol or other drugs? There are usually some changes that come to light:
*noticeable changes in mood
*changes in behavior (i.e..- someone who was responsible becomes irresponsible; performance at work or school becomes worse)
*changes in interests or friends
*changes in communication (he or she doesn't talk about friends and what activities they do together)
*physical changes in appetite, in appearance, speech & co-ordination.
*mental changes like memory problems, incomplete thoughts and a change in values.
While anyone with a brain can become addicted to drugs, most people don't and that's encouraging. If a person doesn't experiment with drugs he/she can't get addicted. If a person is mentally healthy and maintains a stable work, school or family life, these are protective factors against drug addiction. The good news is that most people cope well enough and don't resort to drugs. The trick for communities is trying to understand and help the people who do.
Testing vs. Trusting
The quality of our interactions with people is enhanced if we talk if we communicate with one another in a supportive, assertive manner. However, we have developed into a mistrusting society, and therefore one which must use objective, rather than subjective evidence to prove or disprove what one is saying. It’s about numbers rather than people. I think this is where we have gone wrong and this is why drug testing is such a big thing these days.
Over the last several months, the majority of questions we have received via the website have centred on drug testing: how long does it take for coke, meth, pot etc to get out of your system.
I’m not sure who is doing all this testing, whether it’s parents or employers or parole officers or what, but there’s been such an emphasis on it that I feel I have to write about it.
It seems people can’t be trusted. That’s true for a lot of drug users I guess. So, people test the user to see if he/she is lying rather than talking about it. And judging by the kinds of questions we get, there are a lot of people who can’t be trusted, or conversely, don’t feel they can tell the truth about their drug use. Judging from the questions, it is evident that there are people who are just trying to pass the test and keep using so they are looking for quick fixes to cleanse their bodies; but also there are people who are trying to quit but are having a very difficult time doing so. As well, there is such a stigma about drug use that if someone is using a prescription drug legitimately, they still feel they can’t talk about it. Consequently, they try to go without for awhile in order to pass a test and as a result, may cause themselves more pain or discomfort.
This is the thing: drug use is here to stay. It has been going on for centuries and is not about to stop. We have to start talking about it so that we can begin to understand and trust each other. Maybe that sounds pie-in-the-sky to some people, but it certainly does come as a relief for others to be able to discuss their lifestyle habits with a non-judgemental person who will listen and try to understand and support them.
When we are children, none of us aspires to grow up to be drug users. This is why we need to talk about it: to help ourselves find out what it is that we are getting out of it and how we might be able to reach that goal some other way; we need to ask ourselves as a society what it is that causes such massive numbers of people to choose to use; we need to look at how we have set up all sorts of systems which reflect a very punitive model of reaction to behaviours that happen on a macro level. This way is not working.
Understanding, listening, support and trust are what we need to do. We need to ask people what they need to help them quit; and listen to people who use and want to quit so that they can tell us what barriers we create as a society to hinder that process (because we do).
So, for all of you who want to quit, or are thinking about quitting, or are wondering what a loved one is going through who is trying to quit or right in an active stage of using still, please seek out those sensitive people who care about you. It will help. You might not necessarily find them in your family, but it’s a good place to start. Otherwise check the yellow pages under counselling.
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