phantompharoah

 The Sorcerers Apprentice 

There is a very high price to pay for any addiction. Not only in the financial sense but more importantly on the physical, emotional, and social well being of the addict and those around them. Overcoming addiction takes determination,support,and a very long time. Breaking any bad habit requires a change in mental attitude and thought process. Everyone has the ability to bring this about; but it is always a slow and difficult thing to do.

What is an Addict

All addictive behaviour tendencies will have as their root cause a lack of self esteem or personal worth. People who have a well developed sense of self will seldom get trapped in any form of addiction, they will also find it very difficult to understand or sympathise with people who are trapped. A strong sense of self is very different to a large ego and operates at a much deeper emotional level. People with large egos are not immune to the attraction of addictions.

Most addictions are well known and documented.

Drugs/Alcohol

Gambling

Eating disorders

Sex

Work

These would be the most common addictions but any activity which becomes an obsession, and starts to dominate how a person lives their life to the detriment of their general well being, is a form of addiction.

Because a flawed self image is usually behind most addictions this is what has to be changed if a genuine and lasting cure is to be successful. Searching for the elusive inner peace and happiness is a pretty universal human activity. An addict will always be looking for this from an external source. No matter what their circumstances may be it is never satisfactory. They are unable to be really content with who they are. 

  All addictions are a form of escapism. They are a way of hiding from some deep seated inner pain or insecurity. Often it is a way of putting up a barrier to prevent anyone getting too close emotionally. Every one seeks to be loved or receive emotional comfort. If a person thinks they are unlovable they will struggle with real personal contact. To fill in this emotional hole they will use something which they feel they can control but doesn’t require an emotional response from them. As is obvious this one sided exchange will not produce any sort of emotional growth or real satisfaction. The total reverse is the actual consequence.  

The withdrawal process

Withdrawing from any addiction is a two step process.

Stage 1 Physical withdrawal

Usually the easiest part this is where you have to stop performing the activity to which you are addicted.

In the case of non chemical addictions this will mean altering behaviour patterns. Replacing destructive behaviours with positive activities is the most effective way of doing this. Support and assistance from friends or family will be highly beneficial in doing this. How long it takes will vary form person to person but it usually takes at least 3 months of regular activity for something to become an integral part of your lifestyle.

With chemical addictions it is more than just stopping an activity. Here the body will have to alter its chemical operating system. The duration of this will depend on length of addiction and what the addictive substance was. It will always feel like a very long time but is usually only a few weeks. The experience is always unpleasant and with some drugs can also be very dangerous. In these cases it should never be attempted without proper medical management if possible.  

Stage 2 Psychological withdrawal

This is the really tough one and can literally take years. Many addicts replace one addiction with another. A heroin addict may kick smack but become an alcoholic or workaholic. Many become involved in co-dependent relationships.

Without eradicating the cause of addiction an addict is like a pool ball bouncing around the table looking for a pocket to fall in to.

Total cure of addictive behaviour has to come from within the addict. No amount of external pressure such as logical reasoning or removal from temptation/supply will do it. The concept of a “dry drunk” as a reformed alcoholic is very real. Falling off the wagon is always a definite possibility.

 There are no shortcuts to this process; except never to start in the first place. Once on the road; it is a long and tortuous journey finding the exit ramp!!!

 Curing addictions 

 Most addicts will deny they even have a problem. Admission of addiction is the first and most important step an addict has to take. This fact is well recognised in most programs dealing with addictions.

There are many well established programs specifically designed to help people overcome particular forms of addiction. Support and encouragement within these frameworks can be very helpful in keeping up motivation and guidance. The degree of success will still depend largely on personal will power and the desire to change.

Total breaking of addictive behaviour requires the restoration or in some cases the actual creation of the persons sense of personal self worth and identity. For this to happen it is necessary to discover and eradicate what are very deep seated emotional issues. Counseling or psychoanalysis are useful in achieving some degree of success in this area.

When choosing a program or support system it is critical to be able to relate to the philosophy behind what is offered. All of them will require a prolonged and dedicated effort to give them any chance of success.

Meditation is what I have personally found to be of enormous benefit in the removal of many emotional obstacles behind my addictive habits. The concept behind Meditation is to improve the whole person at all levels so is not aimed specifically at curing addictions. This is simply an end product of the overall eradication of negative emotions. Consequently some addictive behaviour patterns can still continue for a long time depending on the strength of the emotional issues. Even if this is the case, as it is with me,the overall improvement in how I perceive both myself, and life in general, is enormous. 

Personal experience 

 Please Sister Morphine

Won’t you make up my bed

Marianne Faithful

  Heroin addiction dictated how I lived for about 6 years. As supply was erratic it wasn’t a constant addiction; with the longest stretch being about 6 months. Repeated bouts of cold turkey were just how it was.

Hepatitis from unsterile needles was an unpleasant side effect I had from the lifestyle.

Heavy marijuana use was part of this lifestyle. Although in hindsight I recognise its detrimental effects I do not consider it ever to have been addictive for me.

I know that drugs filled an emotional void for me. They allowed me to ignore my insecurities,avoid trying to work out who I was, or where I wanted to go. A total lack of direction combined with a very low sense of purpose and  self esteem I had developed meant nothing really seemed worth doing; self destruction  was the easiest option. All the drugs did was to increase this mindset; and prevented me from taking any steps to change the situation.

The decision to physically quit opiates was not a conscious one on my part in that it really happened only because the supply and quality was very poor. At this time the physical withdrawals were insignificant, my worst experience with this lasted for about 3 weeks.

   The actual psychological process of quitting was a very drawn out process and continues to this day. For at least another 3 years whenever I felt emotionally stressed I would seek refuge with whatever codeine based products I could legally obtain. Pathetic but true.

Fortunately I have never liked alcohol so I became a workaholic really. My screwed up psyche had finally rebelled and I devoted my time totally to painting in an attempt to sort things out in my head. This did help with the mental withdrawal process;  I soon discovered that I simply couldn’t paint stoned so even marijuana use stopped.

Although I had stopped all drug use except nicotine by the time I got involved with Meditation the underlying emotional issues; along with highly developed negative attitudes to life were still very much there.

I have now been meditating regularly for nearly 20 yrs and the improvement in my mental attitude has been enormous. My experience has shown me very clearly that this process will totally eradicate negative emotions over time. The strength and number of these will determine when it happens and how long it will take.

In my case I know that the amount of negative emotional garbage I had developed was huge and there is still a very significant volume to be removed. Many of the emotions which led to my addictions have gone but there are still plenty of insecurities left to go. I have been a heavy smoker for 40 years and still haven’t quit. This I know to be the last addictive issue I have left.

As I mentioned earlier the purpose of Meditation is not to cure addictions. It deals with the underlying causes of all emotional issues. When these are eradicated any tendency towards addiction they may have generated goes with them. 

Get help 

If you have an addiction get help; and start the recovery as soon as possible. Life is a whole lot more fun and interesting without them. 

Feel free to comment or ask any questions. I can be contacted at the email below

 

 phantompharoah(at)gmail(dot)com