|
Are drug addicts "unable" to stop taking drugs? (pg. 4)
|
View this Thread in Original format
| sssmokeape |
| quote: | Originally posted by MrJiveBoJingles
It seems to be a popular idea that addictive drugs like heroin and alcohol can at some point rob people of agency; that such drugs can render people "unable" to stop taking them. Addicts may speak of "not being able" to stop. I think that this way of speaking is mistaken; that the people usually termed "addicts" are making a choice to take what they do, not merely being dragged around by the drug, and that to speak of drug addiction in the same way that we speak of, say, epilepsy, is badly mistaken. An unmedicated epileptic simply cannot stop himself from having seizures; but an "addict" can stop himself from taking drugs. The reason that addicts don't stop taking drugs is that their lives don't provide them sufficient incentives to do so.
|
Dude, you obviously have never dealt with real addicts face to face. Drugs and alcoholism. I'm an alcoholic I want to believe under control, but still drinking. I also believe myself to be a recovered drug addict. I also know about a dozen out of control. And they're not kids either.
stays with you for life.
:whip:
[[[smoke]]] |
|
|
| CONNERMAN2000 |
| quote: | Originally posted by Sushipunk
Not necessarily. The difficulty in quitting nicotine lies more with the habit of smoking. You (hopefully) don't do 20 lines of coke a day, right? But cigarettes? You have one when you have a coffee in the morning. You have one while you wait for a train, or a bus, or anything. You have one after a meal, or after sex. You have one in your work breaks. You have one because you're bored.
That's where the issue is. The habit of having a smoke at numerous times of the day. Breaking the physical addiction is hard, but the mental addiction still hits you at any number of triggers through out your day. You're constantly reminded of how much you want it.
Not so with illicit drugs, as the time and place is specific to those drugs. Not the same with cigarettes. |
Good point. I dont think I know anyone who, after a trip to McDonald's, demands railing the nearest powdered substance. This is probably why the mental addiction is stronger than the physical when it comes to cigs. |
|
|
| phoenixBEBE |
| quote: | Originally posted by Sushipunk
Not necessarily. The difficulty in quitting nicotine lies more with the habit of smoking. You (hopefully) don't do 20 lines of coke a day, right? But cigarettes? You have one when you have a coffee in the morning. You have one while you wait for a train, or a bus, or anything. You have one after a meal, or after sex. You have one in your work breaks. You have one because you're bored.
That's where the issue is. The habit of having a smoke at numerous times of the day. Breaking the physical addiction is hard, but the mental addiction still hits you at any number of triggers through out your day. You're constantly reminded of how much you want it.
Not so with illicit drugs, as the time and place is specific to those drugs. Not the same with cigarettes. |
this is so true. well besides the hypothalamus/area of the brain that develops receptors for nicotine once someone starts smoking so that induces 'cravings' and 'addiction', its just the simple fact that it becomes a daily habit of life and ppl get USED to routine (esp. when there are no IMMEDIATE dire effects on your body). One week can become a month, a month become a year...a year become years and then a life. Its way too easy to go into denial over it and maybe even to forget how much it can negatively affect ones body and health over time. |
|
|
| Ang ' ela_ie |
| Ill pay someone 10 dollars on Paypal to tell me how to get my boyfriend to stop smoking cigarettes (assuming it works, of course ;) ). |
|
|
| iammesol |
| I can go beat him up for you! |
|
|
| Ang ' ela_ie |
| quote: | Originally posted by iammesol
I can go beat him up for you! |
:stongue:
Funny on many levels. Thanks, though! ;) |
|
|
| Cro_Addict |
this thread, unlike most... actually contains somewhat half-thought-out discussion.
I am very impressed. |
|
|
| mezzir |
| quote: | Originally posted by Ang ' ela_ie
Ill pay someone 10 dollars on Paypal to tell me how to get my boyfriend to stop smoking cigarettes (assuming it works, of course ;) ). |
well first i'd have to say:
1. he's gotta do it for himself or else it won't last
however
2. withold sex |
|
|
| montie |
| quote: | Originally posted by MrJiveBoJingles
It seems to be a popular idea that addictive drugs like heroin and alcohol can at some point rob people of agency; that such drugs can render people "unable" to stop taking them. Addicts may speak of "not being able" to stop. I think that this way of speaking is mistaken; that the people usually termed "addicts" are making a choice to take what they do, not merely being dragged around by the drug, and that to speak of drug addiction in the same way that we speak of, say, epilepsy, is badly mistaken. An unmedicated epileptic simply cannot stop himself from having seizures; but an "addict" can stop himself from taking drugs. The reason that addicts don't stop taking drugs is that their lives don't provide them sufficient incentives to do so.
Mao famously ended opiate addiction in China by threatening to kill the addicts if they continued their habit. Those people, many of them addicted to morphine, opium, or heroin, apparently had the ability to stop their drug use, because they did, and quickly. History shows that there are few addicts who will not stop taking their drug of choice if the consequences of using are dire enough. Before Mao, the Chinese addicts did not lack an *ability* to stop using drugs; they lacked a sufficiently strong *desire.* Mao's threats provided that for them.
The problem is that it is sometimes hard or even impossible (because of valid concerns about human rights) to bring about the kind of consequences that would convince an addict to quit. Perhaps we might define an "addict" as a person who will stop using drugs only under pain of certain extreme consequences. |
Its a matter of self control your brain structure (which results from your genes and the environment). Some people have a stronger ability to control their actions than others. Also certain drugs affect people differently and thus people have varying levels of control over their drug use.
Addiction plays on the same reward pathways in the brain that control actions such as eating. All of us are addicted to food (except for anorexic or bulimic people :p) and thus the desire to eat is very strong. Our brain rewards us by release certain neurotransmitters when we eat that makes us feel good and satisfies the negative feelings we have when we are not eating.
Everyone's brain is different. People who become addicted to whatever substance tend to have brains which are more prone to developing strong reward pathways for that particular drug.
Try starving yourself to death. To your brain that is essentially what you are doing when you try to quit a substance you are very strongly addicted to. |
|
|
| montie |
| quote: | Originally posted by mezzir
2. withold sex |
That would get me to quit smoking. |
|
|
| Ang ' ela_ie |
| quote: | Originally posted by mezzir
well first i'd have to say:
1. he's gotta do it for himself or else it won't last
however
2. withold sex |
Well, that's a problem for me |
|
|
| Beat Blog |
I'm not sure about addiction, but dependence is sure real.
My cousin was/is a heroin junkie and when he didn't get his fix he would have convulsions, pass out, go into a coma and have all other kinds of dangerous physical symptoms.
However, to get to that point he had to use a lot of drugs to become dependent in the first place. Was he unable to stop during this period? I'm not sure. |
|
|
|
|
