Addicts don’t start out thinking that they are going to become full blown abusers. It is usually a simple matter of partying a few too many times and the brain chemistry gets hooked. Some people don’t have an addictive personality, but have a wide chasm of emotional pain that is not being addressed and finds that drugs can take away that pain. Both scenarios demonstrate that drugs have a powerful effect on the human brain, much to our own chagrin.
Not all addictions start out the same way. Someone who partakes in drugs infrequently is not going to experience much in the way of any changes, if any at all. There simply is not enough use to change the brain chemistry. Addiction is insidious. It tends to happen with the user not being aware that anything is going on. Usually a craving for a substance is as easily dismissed as a craving for a favorite fast food. By the time the user realizes they are hooked, it is too late to turn back the clock. The brain chemistry and metabolism has changed to a point that it is convinced the body that it cannot live unless a hit is obtained. This is part and parcel of why it is so hard to kick a habit.
Another way addictions form is from a desire to escape ones own existence. Certainly addicts come from all walks of life. Just look at Charlie Sheen. But those who have had a poor home life in their younger years tend to gravitate towards drugs to relieve the pain of daily life. There are those who never had a solid upbringing, received nothing but abuse from the figures of authority, and feel as if the world has let them down. Drug use takes them away from their internal pain. Someone who has felt the need to self-medicate themselves live sad lives indeed.
Condemning someone for drug use and abuse is not seeing the whole picture. There are those who use as a cry for help, and they should not be ignored.
