ADDICTION

Addiction is a persistent, compulsive dependence on a behavior or substance. Some researchers speak of two types of addictions: substance addictions (for example, alcoholism, drug abuse, and smoking); and process addictions (for example, gambling, spending, shopping, eating, and sexual activity). According to data from the World Health Organization, there were 1.1 billion smokers worldwide and 10,000 tobacco-related deaths per day.

Some substances are more addictive than others, either because they produce a rapid and intense change in mood; or because they produce painful withdrawal symptoms when stopped suddenly.Some people appear to be more vulnerable to addiction because their body chemistry increases their sensitivity to drugs. Some forms of substance abuse and dependence seem to run in families.

Inexpensive or readily available tobacco, alcohol, or drugs produce marked increases in rates of addiction.Treatment requires both medical and social approaches. Substance addicts may need hospital treatment to manage withdrawal symptoms. Individual or group psychotherapy is often helpful, but only after substance use has stopped.

• Admit powerlessness over the addiction.
• Believe that a Power greater than oneself could restore sanity.
• Make a searching and fearless moral inventory of self.
• Admit to yourself and another human being the exact nature of your wrongs.
• Make a list of all persons harmed by your wrongs and become willing to make amends to them all.
• Make direct amends to such people, whenever possible except when to do so would injure them or others.
• Continue to take personal inventory and promptly admit any future wrongdoings.

The most effective form of prevention appears to be a stable family that models responsible attitudes toward mood-altering substances and behaviors. Prevention education programs are also widely used to inform the public of the harmfulness of substance abuse.