What is the Cycle of Addiction
- Drug and alcohol addiction is one of the most painful things to deal with. Whether it's you who is addicted or you're partner or both, the addict goes through phases as part of a long, painful cycle. Sometimes the initial use of drugs and alcohol is to self-medicate the feelings they experience from a traumatic event in their lives. Other times addiction starts with a simple injury or surgery leading to medication use, subsequently abuse, and then addiction. Addiction to pain medications can lead to other addictions such as heroin or morphine. It becomes faster and cheaper to buy street drugs than go to a doctor for a prescription. The cycle continues until the person decides it's time to break it. By knowing the cycle of addiction, you can better prepare for what to expect with your partner or for yourself. You may look at this and decide you no longer want to be a part of it and that you're ready to move on from the relationship, if it's your partner that's addicted. I experienced both so this list comes with my personal experience with drug addiction. Here's what you want to look out for.
- Trigger. A person, place, thing, or situation that causes a strong emotional reaction in someone. When I was getting clean from pain medication, the sound of pills shaking in bottles would make my stomach turn. I would get extremely anxious and angry. It took a long time before that sound wouldn't catch my attention.
- Craving. A powerful desire for something. Once triggered, a person might start to experience cravings. Hearing that pill bottle when I first got clean made me want to pop it open and pour it into my mouth. The craving was even more intense especially because I knew I couldn't have them.
- Ritual. Ceremony consists of a series of actions performed according to a prescribed order. The ritual is getting the money, going to buy the drugs, finding a private place where no one can bother you, maybe in your bedroom or the bathroom, and ultimately getting high. It's the steps before the high that gives the adrenaline rush.
- Relapse. Return to (a less active or a worse state). The ultimate result from the progression of a trigger to ritual is getting high.
- Guilt. A feeling of having done wrong or failed an obligation. After the rush of the ritual and coming down from the high, reality sets in of the damage done. The person realizes all the actions they took to get high, all the people they hurt along the way, and maybe all they just lost by giving in to that craving. Sadness, depression, disappointment, and hopelessness make the pain worse. It is at this phase that people either get clean or continue doing drugs to push down the guilt. Sometimes the guilt is the trigger that leads down the path of further destruction.
The cycle of addiction can be broken. There are many tools to get and stay clean. It's a matter of getting through the triggers and cravings without performing any part of the ritual. The ritual leads to relapse and all the addict is left with is guilt. You can find a treatment facility and other resources here on the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) website.