Why, Do People Become Addicted?

[Linville]

Hi Sal,
Some really good thoughts you have posted.

[barq2]

well then comes the question , is it addiction if you are under doctors care or therapists as you mentioned barq

I think the lines between addiction, dependence, habitual use, abuse, etc. are all pretty blurry. But if your body and mind recoil in agony when you stop taking a substance, you are probably addicted to it. Dr's orders or otherwise. And recovery is probably most difficult for people who take meds for legit medical conditions because the withdrawal can make those original conditions a lot worse. And the exact meds someone is trying to quit can be the only thing that offers relief.

Totally agree. I'd go even further and say these are social constructs rather than materially different. The division between addiction and dependency is context. Addiction is more socially undesirable and there is a stigma attached. Dependence is addiction's more respectable middle-class sibling. :-)

For example, people would say I was diazepam dependent when under a doctor's care, but addicted once I started buying from IOPs. Same drug, same dose, same reason for taking it, but the context has changed since it is now outside an officially sanctioned medical environment.

What do others think?

[Linville]

Yeah barq-
I believe your thoughts are more of what I was exploring ....Well maybe not more but at least part of what I was thinking of ....Sal what do u think?

Same same but with such a different judgement of opinion of it.

Good thoughts IMO.

[NovemberRain]

Linville,

Thank you very much for your post on Dr. Gabor Maté!  I was absolutely riveted while reading it.  I also agree with SO much of what he says.

Abigail 

[Linville]

Your welcome Abigail.

Thank u for taking time to post....there is so much to consider in this area isn't there.

Emotions also play a big part.....are we allowed to have them...I am being oh what's the word ...tounge in cheek , kind of , because unless we think like "they" want us to they give us something to cover up emotions

Oh wait a minute I am starting to run down a rabbit trail......

[Sal Paradise]

Yeah barq-
I believe your thoughts are more of what I was exploring ....Well maybe not more but at least part of what I was thinking of ....Sal what do u think?

Same same but with such a different judgement of opinion of it.

Good thoughts IMO.

I would say the physical differences between addiction and dependence are almost negligible. But the social constructs, like barq- was saying can have a huge impact. They can end up isolating "addicted" individuals and prevent them from thriving in society (e.g. maybe an "addict" can't get a job if they test positive for meds without a script, but a "dependant" person taking the same medication for the same condition would have a script, and get the job). I think it is kind of like the Rat Park experiment from the OP. The addiction leads to isolation, and the isolation worsens the addiction in a sort of feedback loop.

[D-izzy]

I think it certainly depends on the person and their genetic make up, as others have said previously in this thread.  Me personally, I have an addictive personality. But it's more of a psycological one than a psyical one, it's like the grass is always greener on the other side with me - or I just want too feel different to how I do at that given moment, I have in the past missused many substances, as a psychological "crutch", alcohol being one of them but as soon as I had drunk enough to become inebriated I just wanted to feel sober I hated being drunk, I honestly do not like the feeling of being "drunk" and not able to think clearly, yet I kept repeating the same behaviour over again.

Yet when I first stopped taking Diaziapam I felt no withdrawals,  I had no clue that it was an addictive drug back then(I was only 16/17).  I was again precribed it by a different doctor a year or so later(around the same dose 30mg daily),  this time I was told in no uncertain circumstances, should I EVER stop taking it suddenly as it can actually be very dangerous (it has been know to kill people in extreme circumstances if one stops taking it suddenly, without tapering off; it can cause fits and seizures). Again, I naively thought nothing off it and stopped abruptly. Again, nothing happened - no withdrawls....Ten days pass...then Whamo! The pysical withdrawls kicked in sso fast I didn't know what was happening it certainly didn't occur to me that it could be withdrawl from the diazipam I thought that if it happened I would have gotten I'll with a couple of days...

Anyway,  nowadays if I go 2/3 days tops I feel the withdrawals kicking in, but I think it's more psychological than anything, like I know it's coming and I'm just waiting for it to start...

I think it 80/20 in your head...

Izzy

[Charon]

For the sake of safety, please note that the medical profession insists that u may suffer seizures and i imagine a stroke is possible, if one suddenly goes off valium.

esp if one has ever had a seizure. then, one is prone to seizures for the rest of ur lives.

so, taper down.

many of us have lived in taper down conditions for quite a few months now. its been brutal for some vendors and their clients.

so, don't take more than u need. always do ur best to taper down. pretty much the day u receive.

i have one friend whom gets seizures now when he uses a lighter. they can be triggered very easily.

so, be careful. i don't believe everything the medical profession tells me. but, i do believe one can suffer physical consequences if one goes suddenly off benzos.

i swear, its been such a brutal year, i am always in taper mode. u don't wanna go into benzo withdrawal. k? we want our family members to stay safe.

[D-izzy]

Thanks FF,  but if I'm honest I actually think my advice should have been a bit clearer.  Saying that I can "Go" 2/3 days does not mean that it is safe for anyone to do so not even me, I was referring to how long before I PSYCOLOGICALLY start to feel withdrawl symptoms. Everyone's body and metabolism is different, as is the time that different types of Bezodiazepines stay active in your body.

IF for example, I regularly used and were physically adicted to Alprazolam(Xanax), then I doubt it would be safe at all to even go just ONE day without taking some medication, certainly not 2/3 days, as Alprazolam(Xanax) has a very short half life, where diazepam has one of the longest half lifes of Bezodiazepines.(For those that do not know/aren't totally sure, the half life is how long a particular substance/medication stays active in your body, though again everyone has a different rate of metabolism so it's a guide, not a guarantee!)

When I was writting my previous post on this thread,  I had accidently pressed the "post" button way before I had finished writting the post, and knowing that I only had ten minutes to edit my post, before I could no longer make ANY changes to it, made me hurry and mess it up and make mistakes.(and that clock keeps ticking even after you have pressed the "edit" button, i.e. still ticking while you are actually editing, writting or correcting your post, right up until you press the "Save Changes" button).  

I should have thought about it and asked admin to help me correct or delete it, then I could of wrote my post correctly with time to read it back properly so I could tweak and correct anything I was not happy with.

Charon is absolutely right to have made it more clearer,  if you were to have a fit or seizure, from what my own Dr and Psychiatrist have told me; the chances are you won't even know your having one, that's how dangerous they can be, imagine if you were home alone...

The same goes for alcohol, stopping it abruptly if you are physically dependant on it, it has almost the same consequences and dangers associated to Benzodiazepine withdrawl. In fact, I think I'm wright in saying they are chemically very simiiar. 
But again, it's something you just don't do if your dependant on it.

Take my word on this, Benzodiazepine withdrawl is Hell on earth, it's a horrible experience and I never want to feel like that again!!


Again, tapering is the key here...


(Oh,  and it should have read 60/40 not 80/20, again my bad for rushing!)

[nickolyko]

Be aware that the higher a drug it is scheduled the less life threaten wds it usually have. Sch 3 or $ medicines like Benzos and Tram@dol can be life threading since seizures are part of the wds. Always seek advice especially if you stop abruptly taking Trams or benzos. Morbidity and mortality is a consequence of general health condition and people with heart or CNS problems are especially vulnerable and should seek medical advice .