To truly
understand the struggle an
individual with a chronic drug
addiction problem faces, it is
important to understand the
mechanisms that are at work. Drug
addiction could be defined as; a
constant and unrelenting effort to
obtain drugs in order to alter the
feelings and perceptions of the
person using them. Another facet of
drug addiction is; the brain adapts
to the presence of drugs and make
adjustments accordingly. Because of
these chemical changes in the brain
due to the constant use of drugs,
when a drug abuser attempts to halt
their drug use the brain signals the
individual that the drug is needed.
This is a major cause of drug
cravings. All drug abusers
experience drug cravings for some
period of time after ceasing drug
use, that is a basic fact. This
phenomenon will diminish over time
as brain function returns to normal.
Drug addiction typically involves
habitual routines in the
environmental scope of the
individual i.e. the locations they
use drugs, the people they hang out
with, etc. In other words drug
addiction is not just drug use, it
also revolves around people and
things in their immediate
environment which help to reinforce
the addictive behavior. The
individual's proximity & routines
therein are what help to hold their
addiction in place. It is the
constant negative activities of
their day to day life that
perpetuates the problem and inhibits
the native desire to stop ruining
their life through the use of drugs.
In addition, a more
basic factor is; people are creatures of habit. Changes in a
persons life even when they are overwhelmingly positive &
beneficial, does not guarantee the individual will have no
thoughts of missing past negative activities such as, drugs,
drug acquaintances and drug activities. Believe it or not this
is the normal reactive auto response of most human beings; to do
what they are familiar with good or bad. It is not really that
they miss these things, it is just all that they have known for
some time.
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