Addiction Often Begins as Experimenting
Many people wonder, what causes addiction? The is it a genetic disease or is it a lapse in judgement argument has been disputed by scientists, doctors, and people on Facebook, for the past ten years. Addiction can be happen to anyone who experiments with drugs or alcohol, not because they made a poor choice- but because they have an “addiction gene” that when triggered with drugs and alcohol, cause cause intense cravings and euphoria. So why do people experiment if it is what causes addiction?
It was fun, you felt free and happy for the first time in a long time. But you don’t really think about the drugs or the alcohol again, you know it was expensive to go out with friends and don’t have much money laying around to do it all the time, plus you have class and your recreational flag football team. About a month passes and your friends want to do drugs and drink again, you say sure, why not? The next weekend comes, and your friends want to do drugs and drink again, you say sure, why not? Now getting drunk and high is part of your weekend routine. You convince yourself that its fine, it’s only a social thing. You are all just having fun, because its only on the weekends, maybe once during the week, that’s it! You are still able to go on in life and do the things you have to, like your relationship, work, homework and that recreational football team.
This next step in the cycle is where we see how experimenting can become what causes addiction. It happens very gradually, then suddenly, and your stuck wondering, “How did I get here?”
You start using drugs and alcohol every day, at first with friends then alone. Every dollar you make at work goes straight towards your next high. Your relationship is over, heck most of your friendships are over. Your lifestyle has completely changed, you don’t care about class or that team, or even your personal hygiene or nutrition. All you can think about, even in your dreams, is getting high and drunk.
You have no money, you got fired from your job and can’t find a new one. You are worried about how you will get money to continue using drugs and alcohol. You might try to steal from family or pawn a few things that you “didn’t like anyway.” It is no longer fun to drink or get high, you only do it because you must, or you won’t make it through the day without getting sick. This is how curiosity killed the cat, don’t let it kill you too. Experimenting with drugs and alcohol puts you at a greater risk for developing substance use disorder. If you think you or a loved one may have a problem with drinking or drugs, or if you have any questions about drug abuse, you can chat with one of our PROFESSIONALS below. know that help is always available and full recovery is possible.
