# Addiction Addiction is when a person has [purposed](purpose.md) themselves to pursue any [habit](habits.md) to the point of excess, and its clearest indicator shows through someone [trusting](understanding-certainty.md) that substance to fulfill a [purpose](purpose.md) that it can't adequately fulfill. Addicts' actions are often [vilified](morality-taboo.md) in the case of drugs or alcohol, but there are [many, *many* more](addiction-substances.md), and most people don't realize addiction's ubiquity. - Absolutely *any* [habit](habits.md) that gives us [meaning](meaning.md) in the wrong time or place can become an addiction. ## Acceptability Most people have one form or another of substance overuse, though some are more [fashionable](trends.md) or [legal](legal-safety.md) than others. [Addiction goes by many names](addiction-substances.md). Anything that isn't a [virtue](morality.md) or [loving others](people-love.md) can become an addiction. - Pseudo-virtue principles like minimalism, efficiency, or restraint will become addictions when pushed too far. - Even virtue itself becomes an addiction, since it becomes an addiction to [honoring rules](people-rules.md). Ironically, many addictions can create *good* consequences. These addictions are often notoriously difficult to detect because someone can hide their addiction through *decades* of [profound success](success-1_why.md). We only tend to notice addicts when they're *more* addicted than us. Below a certain threshold, it's all [culturally acceptable](people-culture.md). Cultures will frequently share similar addictions, so most people end up believing themselves to be generally free of addiction to a substance while they cling desperately to something they never thought of as an addiction alongside their peers. APPLICATION: Most people are addicts, especially as they gain [power](power.md) to [do what they want](purpose.md). We are often [afraid](mind-feelings-fear.md) to [confront](people-boundaries.md) them, sometimes because it's [culturally](people-culture.md) accepted, but must stay aware of their substances when dealing with them. If someone has an addiction that's also counter-cultural, they're likely to be labeled as part of a [cult](culture-cults.md). ## Transitioning Every person risks an addiction, at any time, when they have unrestrained [desires](purpose.md). Addicts never start off as addicts. As children, the decisions that begin their descent into obsession are typical children's behaviors: - Children who want to fit in with others will sacrifice their virtues in the process. - A child will work to improve their [image](image.md) by stretching their [stories](stories.md), which is the basis for a future con artist or compulsive liar. - A child with anger issues can easily become an abusive father. Addicts start by letting [feelings](reality.md) overstep [reality](reality.md), then slowly end up [falling in love](people-love.md) with something that can make them happy. The earlier an addict accepts they have a problem, the less they will lose from it. However, most of them have to have some level of [severe hardship](hardship.md) before they come to terms with their problem. However, we tend not to notice an advancing addiction because it takes over slowly: 1. The substance consistently gives us the [results](results.md) we want. 2. We [trust](understanding-certainty.md) the experience enough that we stop searching for anything else. 3. As [diminishing return](results.md) begins, we increase our efforts to maintain that original experience. Very often, we're fighting [past trauma](hardship-ptsd.md) and working to feel "normal", and the substance helps us with that feeling. 4. At some point, we must make a sacrifice to keep using the substance. This is the demarcation between an extreme interest and an addiction. Whatever [form of power](power-types.md) it takes, we've now [sworn](people-decisions.md) our allegiance to that thing. 5. We start small with our sacrifices and give up things we deem unnecessary by comparison. As the diminishing return scales, we progressively give up more to maintain the habit. 6. While we continue with the [habits](habits.md) of the substance, there's a lead time between our [decision](people-decisions.md) and the [consequences](results.md) of that decision. We may need a few rent payments or a lost job before our lifestyle adapts to our decisions. 7. At this point, *everyone* close to the addict will have [noticed](image.md) a [change](people-changes.md). Often, the addict's [old group(s)](groups-member.md) will [respond adversely](morality-taboo.md), and the addict will have to find new [friends](people-4_friends.md) who share the substance. A "functioning addict" can stay in this phase because they have [competing purposes](conflicts-inner.md) driven by a [fear](mind-feelings-fear.md) of [losing their reputation](image.md). In this sense, they're a public disgrace from a worse place. 8. To run from all the [pain](hardship-ptsd.md) of the bad decisions, addicts push themselves harder into the substance. They were running *from* life before, but now they're running *to* the object that will "fix" their pain. 9. Eventually, an addict will have to [invest](power.md) so much into the substance that they'll devote *everything* to it. 10. If the person doesn't realize they have a *huge* problem and are willing to receive help for it, they'll end up [destroying](morality-evil.md) their lives and everyone else around them. Unfortunately, that thing eventually consumes them. They'll lose the ability to make [well-reasoned](logic.md) [decisions](people-decisions.md) that may diminish the value of the substance, then will start dwelling exclusively on that substance for solving their [problems](purpose.md). The entire experience devolves into the continued reckless pursuit of a [feeling](mind-feelings.md) which only the substance can provide. The substance may move around, but the mentality stays the same. ## Symptoms of an addict While [the good life](goodlife.md) requires desiring to grow, addicts often focus on intensifying pleasure instead of finding [meaning](meaning.md) in the growth itself. Addicts' obsession tends to disregard the natural state of [habits](habits.md): - Habits are made of a trigger, method, and reward. - An addict will [desire](purpose.md) their reward so much that they'll perform every method possible just to attain a *[chance](trust.md)* or *[hope](imagination.md)* of that reward. - Every single thing we use more than once gives a diminishing return, which is the [economic](economics.md) fact that using one more of something will be slightly less effective than the previous one. Every addict of every substance has a few shared characteristics: - They treat their substance with tremendous gravity and seriousness, often more than it was *ever* [intended](purpose.md) by the substance's creators. - Addicts will congregate together in [groups](groups-member.md) that endorse each other and share in the experience of consuming the substance. - They'll frequently form [myths and lore](stories.md) around their substance that justify parts of their lifestyle. Some will be [theories](logic.md) that dismiss [human error](humanity.md), while others will validate the ethical qualities of the substance. [Group leaders](groups-small.md) will propagate those myths as fact. The clearest indication that an addict is simply waiting for another dose of their substance (as opposed to becoming sober) is that they will practice self-discipline for a time, but won't work to build [habits](habits.md) that permanently improve themselves. An addict is revealed when they are exposed again to their substance after a sustained period without it. - The addict will relapse and throw out what they've worked on, while the sober-minded will resist the substance. - The addict will try to exert control toward that substance, then become very [angry](mind-feelings-anger.md) when they don't get the substance they wanted. The hope of something is usually far less than its likelihood, so an addict will naturally push out almost everything else that isn't a means to or part of their substance. They'll continue investing more and more into fulfilling the subsance until they start destroying other [components of living well](goodlife.md): - [Social status](power-influence.md) and [relationships with others](people-4_friends.md) - Laws of reality like [diminishing return](results.md) or [others' evil intentions](morality-evil.md) - Any [realistic chance](trust.md) they'd actually *get* their substance in the long-term Even when someone hates a substance (like most late-stage addicts do), its power comes from how it creates [certainty](certainty.md), and any combination of few "certain" sensations drive *all* substance abuse: - Have a quick [thrill](mind-feelings-happiness-perma.md). - The need for [new experiences](unknown.md). - Give an escape from [reality](reality.md). - Provide the feeling of [productivity](success-4_routine.md). - Connect with some sort of higher [purpose](purpose.md). - Feel a sense of [human connection](people-4_friends.md). - After enough time abusing a substance, the substance also fulfills the need for [familiarity](habits.md). The substance's absence doesn't resolve the issue, either. Addicts can often engage in [habits](habits.md) of abstinence, which can develop a [cycle](trends.md) of abuse, excess, burnout, abstinence, relapse, and back to abuse. Since abstinence often enhances an experience, this can become a long-term lifestyle. People frequently use [technology](technology.md) to enhance their addiction and create new ones. It's almost a [foregone reality](understanding-certainty.md) that any [free market](economics.md) will create more addicting things: - Many new food products are [delicious](cooking.md) from [unhealthy additions](body-4_health.md). - Many gamers are modern book addicts who no longer need a vivid [imagination](imagination.md). - New mind-altering drugs create novel, intense [experiences](image.md), legally or non-. For the sake of [marketing](marketing.md), many addictive products are very accessible, and the addicts often become *very* loyal to particular brands. This creates a codependent synergy between the institution and individual. This can include governments that legalize the product as well. There is a simple way to detect whether someone has a substance abuse problem: 1. Ask the people closest to them if that person has a problem with that substance. 2. Omit the negating testimonies of everyone who has their own over-involvement with that substance (or something similar). 3. If that omits all of that person's known associates, carefully consider if that substance is connected to the matter. ## An addict's recovery Addicts are self-destructive. They must [restrain](morality.md) themselves, but are afraid of [imagined](imagination.md) pain that might come from holding back their [baser desires](mind-feelings.md). In that sense, they have the [reasoning](logic.md) skills of small children. Since [reality](reality.md) doesn't respond well to mismanagement, they are some of the most [traumatized](hardship-ptsd.md) people on the planet, and are guaranteed to bring more suffering upon themselves over time. An addict who sold their [soul](humanity.md) to a substance will not find [wellness](goodlife.md) until they learn restraint. The closest thing to "balance" they'll understand is to cycle through obsessions before [diminishing return](results.md) can set in, and most out-of-control addicts can become high-functioning by quickly jumping from one substance to another. An addict's [purpose](purpose.md) is the driving force, *not* the substance. If you remove a substance from an addict, but they don't change their purpose from it, they'll stay dry for as long as it takes until the next hit, or they'll migrate to another substance. *Every* addiction recovery group uses some derivative of the [12-step program made by Bill Wilson and Dr. Robert Holbrook Smith in 1939](addiction-steps.md). In practice, recovering from an addiction is treating yourself like an extremely strong-willed small child, with the "adult" regulating yourself with a set of standards independent of yourself. The only hope for any addict is for them to face their pain directly. This requires taking a sober, blunt look at themselves. This is *not* easy, and the reason they're [enslaved](slavery.md) by that substance in the first place is because they would rather postpone that pain a little longer than confront it. In a sense, it's a type of cowardice that keeps them bound by the substance. APPLICATION: As people devolve into substance abuse, they care about you progressively less. If you [love](people-love.md) them, release them to their desires to hasten their decline and, therefore, hasten any chance of recovery. However, our [habitual nature](habits.md) makes dependence and difficulty in changing their situation more severe proportionally to how long we maintain an addict's mindset, irrespective of which substance we choose. At some point, the addiction takes [our soul](humanity-christian.md) when we [decide](people-decisions.md) to sacrifice everything for another dose of the substance. Ironically, recovery groups can also become a [culture](people-culture.md) of addiction. Our [identity](identity.md) should persist beyond "being a recovering addict", and the implicit [shame](mind-feelings-shame.md) that comes with the label can prevent someone from finding [meaning](meaning.md) elsewhere.