Addiction - Additional Info

This episode opens some windows on the world of addiction, whether this addiction is with gambling, drug taking or other behaviours. There is dialogue with some who describe its nature, others who have battled to escape its grasp, and a counsellor who helps in the ongoing struggle with it.

A - Addiction
According to one dictionary definition, to be addicted is to give oneself over to something as a habit or pursuit, or to devote oneself habitually to something.

• I love my addiction. I’ve got to have it.
• Compulsion is always associated with addictive behaviour.
• Being a compulsive gambler we are very manipulative. We are con-artists.

1.    What is addiction? Do you think that the descriptions of addiction by the various personalities in the video reveal the essence of what addiction is?
2.    Is there a difference between passion for something, and addiction to it?
3.    How do you think addiction takes charge of people despite their good resolutions?
  
B - The Addiction Scene
There is a view that certain living conditions or circumstances seem to encourage addiction.

• First time I came here (Vegas) was in 1971 and it was a fantasy land, an amusement park for grown-ups as far as I was concerned.
• You look around, you watch TV, you look at advertising, you look around you at that extreme force, that extreme free. Extreme everything.
• You always have to pass the machines to get to where you’re going to eat, or the rest room.

1.    Is the environment of Las Vegas and other similar cities so superficial, so unreal and so fast, that they are especially conducive to addiction?
2.    There are many drug addicts in country towns. Do you think it matters where you live?

C - How the Addiction Process Works
Somehow addicts of drugs, gambling or other behaviours are compelled by a desire or need too strong to resist. The accounts convey a strong sense of helplessness to resist addiction.

• I guess “out of control” is the actions that precede the addiction.
• At first gambling is very social and relaxing and fun.
• My drug use started at a fairly young age for me. Started off real simple smoking a little pot, drinking on the side. As I got older it progressed into harder drugs, psychedelic, cocaine, pills.
• When I was gambling I didn’t think. I just acted.

1.    How do you think it happens that some people first use drugs for pleasure, then lose control of their emotions and behaviour to lose the pleasure?
2.    Why do you think some people become addicted to things while others manage to control their compulsion? Is there a basic reason?

D - Addiction as a Path to Meet Needs
One explanation for addiction is that it is the result of peoples’ attempts to meet their deepest needs.

• Mum, just tell me that you love me.
• He needed his family, his family support..
• Addiction also has to do with the want or need to control people.
• I don’t know about food but when it comes to alcohol and drugs it’s a way of becoming not me. I don’t want to be me, therefore I can check out.

1.    Do you think that addiction sometimes develops because people are searching for acceptance or love or some other basic need that has been denied them?
2.    Paul claimed that for many addicts, drugs meet their need to escape from their past or present problems. Do you agree that addiction is largely an attempt to cope with things that are difficult or painful?
3.    We all need fun and pleasure, and drugs can provide intense pleasure. What other things could compete with drugs or gambling as a pleasure source?

E - Addiction as Search for Meaning
Addicts speak of peace, serenity, optimism and appreciation of nature as things they could not see when addicted. These relate to life meaning.

• Taking drugs is an escape. It becomes their god.
• I was sitting here thinking as I looked over the mountains, that probably while I was gambling I don’t recall ever coming out here — only when I stopped.
• The most important thing to me is my peace of mind and the little serenity that I have. For example, when I wake up in the morning I look forward to each day.

1.    Do materialism, the media and fast urban pace rob life of its quality for many people? How do you think they can live with purpose in modern society?
2.    Some take drugs to get emotionally and physically high. Would you agree that addiction can be a kind of search for spirituality?
3.    Do you think that there are positive things that could replace addiction as a search for meaning and spirituality?

F - The Down Side
There is clearly an ugly side to addiction, one that involves an increasing demand for the habit or drug that stops at nothing to satisfy the craving.

• It just turns into a vicious circle where they live for the next fix that will numb their pain.
• Because you’re high, you’re emotionally unavailable to yourself.
• There was almost nothing I wouldn’t do to get money to gamble.

1.    Almost all accounts of addiction trace progression from pleasure to pain. Do you think that this is always the way it goes?
2.    Would you say that addiction brings pain and death because it is a false form of pleasure, a kind of evil?

G - How We Beat Our Addictions
It seems that addicts need good personal support, a daily programme and perseverance to beat their addiction.

• It’s not one of those things you can just give up on your own. It’s definitely a “support issue” kind of disease where you have to work at a particular program.
• I reached in my pocket for my last twenty, going to put it in the machine and I said “I can’t do this any more, it’s over.”
• Instead of running away from our past, why not accept it and use it as a stepping stone to make a difference.

1.    How do you think some people can decide “it’s over” and quit addiction, while others are helpless to the point of death?
2.    How do you think people can address issues that made them addictive?
3.    How may value priorities and strategies for making better choices help people overcome addiction?

H - Overview
1.    There are many causes, pleasures and behaviours besides drugs and gambling that you could be potentially addicted to. What do you think makes any of these addictive?
2.    How can you see education and religion competing with the frenzied worlds of entertainment, pleasure and crime in combating addiction?