Why, Do People Become Addicted?

[barq2]

Zippo, that's brilliant progress. Don't worry about the time it takes - it isn't a race. The main thing is you are going in the right direction.

I agree with the various comments linking addiction to emotional pain. M Scott Peck (of "The Road Less Travelled" fame - one of the earlier and better self-help books) described his own liking of alcohol as "knocking the edge off consciousness". I think that resonates with some people who are anxious, traumatised, or are suffering.

I've been thinking a lot about what psychologists call delayed gratification recently. You can do a little test with young children, the choice is one piece of candy now, or two if they wait five minutes. Those who can delay really do end up doing better in life in so many ways. I think some of my addictive problems have been about instant gratification. "I'm stressed from work, so I'm going to have a drink now."

I also remember some years ago a therapist almost tearing his hair out due to my inability to explore emotions then and there. I'd talk about them as if they were happening to someone else. I'm sure that avoidance and unwillingness to sit with emotions has been part of the mix for me.

Does anyone have similar experiences? Or are we all different in our addictions?

barq