Addiction and its behaviours

Drugs, whether we chose to turn a blind eye to them or not, are around us. Sometimes in more obvious places than others. It is evident that substance misuse among society is not going to magically vanish.

My previous posts have highlighted as to how drug misuse is complexly interlinked with self-esteem, or more appropriately - lack of. Accordingly, addiction is believed by some to derive from the inability to deal with painful feelings.

With these mishandling of painful feelings, arise a series of behaviours that have come closely associated with addicts. The behaviours are wide-reaching, but include:

• Obsessing over something (not necessarily a substance)
• Acting on self-will, and despite knowing their action will have negative consequences, will see it through
• Complusive 
• Lack of control over desire
• Denial
• If caught out, hide behaviour 
• Self-centred
• Lying 

These behaviours underpin the actions of an individual whose addictive personality is active. For instance, a heroin addict will obsess over the drug and will bend their morals, to an extent, to get some. In this process, they are self-will driven and hugely compulsive. This is shadowed by denial, lying and manipulation to those around them. 

If an addict is enrolled into a 6 month 12-step-program at a drug and alcohol rehabilitation, they will have both the time and space to looking into themselves. This is a terrifying action for people who have for years suppressed their feelings through the substance misuse, but is a step into dealing with their problem. Moreover, society can also help the actions and behaviours of addicts. Of course it is the individuals choice to consume, arguably, a disease driven choice. 

An article published by BBC, Decriminalise heroin and cocaine says Belfast drugs worker (2013), highlighted how there is a movement towards the legalisation of Class A drugs. By legalising drugs, the article signposts how the power of the black-market would be challenged, while also bringing people who suffer from addiction back into society.

Here comes both the pivotal role of rehabilitation centres and this article. The latter helps the former. By decriminalising drugs, then, society will be able to form a more natural relationship with addicts, as opposed to continuously undertaking a punishing approach. Through the use of rehabilitation centres, the problem of addiction will be able to be fully addressed, which will help the individual onto the rewarding path of recovery. This is crucial, given that according to National Institute on Drug Abuse in 2009 only 11.2% of people above the age of 12 who needed treatment for illicit use of drug and alcohol, received it. This is a shocking figure, given the prominence of the substance misuse within society. Therefore, if drugs were to be decriminalised, society would be taking the first step towards dealing with a serious problem that is present throughout society.