Hiram
11-03-2007, 03:57 PM
The topic is addiction, whether it's drugs, food, sex, gambling, tobacco, pornography, exercise, stealing, WoWarcrack, shopping etc etc. I have come to the conclusion that addiction to any substance or action is one in the same after reflecting on the root cause of my own compulsive "need" to use or do something without regard to a potential or even likely negative outcome. IMO any compulsive type behavior can lead to a negative outcome. For me in regards to drugs/alcohol, some behaviors have had a quicker digression than others, but one is no more justified than the other. I recognize my own lack of self control with drugs and alcohol.
I recently came across this theory while reading a business related book. It had nothing to do with drug addiction, but caused me to reflect on myself in regards to my own compulsive behavior(s).
Where did my initial attraction to the drug scene come from? Initially I believe it began with the search or need for freedom of creative expression, which has been denied most of us for most of our lives. Within my circle of friends, we had very few restrictions or boundaries on how we chose to express ourselves, because we all had the same common goal, to obtain freedom of self expression through the use of LSD and other substances.
The freedom is great. All of us want it and crave it and many times search for it in an unrestricted environment. This presents us with unlimited possibilities with unique and specialized psychological challenges, many of which we are not properly equipped to deal with. There is an internal mental structure that presents a balance between freedom and the potential that exists to experience damage that can be a direct result of that freedom.
We are all born into a society (family, city, state, or country) which implies the existence of structure. Social structures consist of rules, boundaries and a set of beliefs that become a code of behavior that limits the ways in which we within the social structure can or cannot express ourselves. Most of the social structure governing our individual expression is already in place before we are born. Society's need for structure and our need for self-expression are likely to conflict. A child's curiosity is an example of a form personal expression and is common characteristic regardless of culture or social structure. Children will naturally explore their surroundings. Children express their individuality by what is in their environment that attracts or repels them.
The social structure that we're born into may or may not be sensitive to these inner-directed needs and interests. Most of us are born into a family or culture that provides little, if any, objective, nonjudgmental support to the unique ways in which we feel compelled to express ourselves.
A common example is when a toddler is denied the need to express himself when he notices for the first time in his life, a vase on the coffee table. He focuses on the vase, pulls himself up on the table and reaches for it. He hears a scream from across the room "NO! DON'T TOUCH THAT!" His reaction is to fall on his butt and cry. He has no concept of the danger or injury or how valuable something is. Our needs and desires are generated in our own mental environment and are fulfilled in the exterior environment. If these two don't correspond with each other, they are out of balance and that leads us to the need to put our mental environment back into balance. The child's natural reaction is to cry to help reconcile their unfulfilled impulses. Tears are composed of negatively charges ions. Crying is the body's natural way of trying to rid itself of negatively charged energy and bring us back to a state of balance. This follows the Law of Equilibrium.
By the time we reach our teen age years we have heard, "No you can't do that,"It can't be done," Not now, let me think about it," "You have to do it, you have no choice," or many of us have lost personal freedom through abuse, neglect, physical pain, death of loved ones, etc. Over time these events are never reconciled. Adults discourage crying (especially in boys) and do everything to try to discourage a type of behavior to correct the imbalance. Overtime these events can easily accumulate and manifest themselves in compulsive and addictive behaviors.
My reflection on my own addictions is that I was in search of freedom of personal expression through the use of psychedelics and other substances. I enjoyed the perceived freedom that chemicals gave me, so my behavior shifted from being recreational use to a compulsive type addiction. Overtime the types of chemicals changed and dependency entered, adding to the complexity of my own addictions. I would never take back any of my experience. Discuss.
I recently came across this theory while reading a business related book. It had nothing to do with drug addiction, but caused me to reflect on myself in regards to my own compulsive behavior(s).
Where did my initial attraction to the drug scene come from? Initially I believe it began with the search or need for freedom of creative expression, which has been denied most of us for most of our lives. Within my circle of friends, we had very few restrictions or boundaries on how we chose to express ourselves, because we all had the same common goal, to obtain freedom of self expression through the use of LSD and other substances.
The freedom is great. All of us want it and crave it and many times search for it in an unrestricted environment. This presents us with unlimited possibilities with unique and specialized psychological challenges, many of which we are not properly equipped to deal with. There is an internal mental structure that presents a balance between freedom and the potential that exists to experience damage that can be a direct result of that freedom.
We are all born into a society (family, city, state, or country) which implies the existence of structure. Social structures consist of rules, boundaries and a set of beliefs that become a code of behavior that limits the ways in which we within the social structure can or cannot express ourselves. Most of the social structure governing our individual expression is already in place before we are born. Society's need for structure and our need for self-expression are likely to conflict. A child's curiosity is an example of a form personal expression and is common characteristic regardless of culture or social structure. Children will naturally explore their surroundings. Children express their individuality by what is in their environment that attracts or repels them.
The social structure that we're born into may or may not be sensitive to these inner-directed needs and interests. Most of us are born into a family or culture that provides little, if any, objective, nonjudgmental support to the unique ways in which we feel compelled to express ourselves.
A common example is when a toddler is denied the need to express himself when he notices for the first time in his life, a vase on the coffee table. He focuses on the vase, pulls himself up on the table and reaches for it. He hears a scream from across the room "NO! DON'T TOUCH THAT!" His reaction is to fall on his butt and cry. He has no concept of the danger or injury or how valuable something is. Our needs and desires are generated in our own mental environment and are fulfilled in the exterior environment. If these two don't correspond with each other, they are out of balance and that leads us to the need to put our mental environment back into balance. The child's natural reaction is to cry to help reconcile their unfulfilled impulses. Tears are composed of negatively charges ions. Crying is the body's natural way of trying to rid itself of negatively charged energy and bring us back to a state of balance. This follows the Law of Equilibrium.
By the time we reach our teen age years we have heard, "No you can't do that,"It can't be done," Not now, let me think about it," "You have to do it, you have no choice," or many of us have lost personal freedom through abuse, neglect, physical pain, death of loved ones, etc. Over time these events are never reconciled. Adults discourage crying (especially in boys) and do everything to try to discourage a type of behavior to correct the imbalance. Overtime these events can easily accumulate and manifest themselves in compulsive and addictive behaviors.
My reflection on my own addictions is that I was in search of freedom of personal expression through the use of psychedelics and other substances. I enjoyed the perceived freedom that chemicals gave me, so my behavior shifted from being recreational use to a compulsive type addiction. Overtime the types of chemicals changed and dependency entered, adding to the complexity of my own addictions. I would never take back any of my experience. Discuss.