How to Beat Your Addictions

Vibrant Life, Sept, 2001 by Mickey Ask

"I didn't have my first drink until I was 29," the dentist said. "I had just received my acceptance letter from dental school and I thought I could finally relax and have an occasional drink."

"Same age as I was," the trauma surgeon and helicopter pilot stated. "The first time I drank was right before a mission. Unfortunately, I drank a pint of vodka, and my only recollection of the mission I flew was the moment I landed. I lost several soldiers on that mission, and I still feel guilty about it 30 years later."

"I remember from age 6 looking forward to Communion wine at my church because of the good feeling it gave me," the 30-year-old woman remarked as I obtained her history upon her admission to the alcohol treatment unit.

"From age 10 I drank purposely to get drunk," the 35-year-old nurse told me after entering treatment so she would not lose her nursing license.

addictions are unpredictable and predictable at the same time. There are risk factors that increase the chance of becoming addicted. Even being brought up in the "right" home, with the "right" parents, having the "right" education, and going to the "right" church will not necessarily protect you from becoming addicted to alcohol or any other drug.

What are the factors that increase your chances? Experts use a long made-up word to describe the factors: bio-psychosocial. What it means is that there is not one factor, but several.

"Bio" stands for biological, or the genetic factors that play a role. Rats can be bred over multiple generations to choose alcohol over water when given a free choice. If one identical twin with an alcoholic parent develops alcoholism, 60 percent of their identical twins will also develop alcoholism even if brought up by nonalcoholic adoptive parents.

Another biological factor influencing your disposition to addictions is that brain chemicals are in different proportions in different people. This causes alcohol to affect some people differently than others. For example, some people have more anxiety, which alcohol seemingly normalizes. Alcohol's calming effect in these people gives them more of an incentive to drink again. But continued use of alcohol eventually leads to a tolerance to it developing. Eventually this type of person requires more alcohol to achieve the same effect. This leads to an eventual downward spiral into addictive behavior and becoming trapped.

Sons of alcoholic fathers actually are less affected by alcohol when compared to sons of nonalcoholic fathers. Give both groups the same amount of alcohol, and the ones with alcoholic fathers feel less of a "buzz" and don't have as much imbalance.

Not one single gene, but many, contribute to addictive tendencies. But even if you have all the genes that contribute to susceptibility to becoming alcoholic, you don't necessarily become alcoholic. "Biology is not destiny" is important to remember. Knowing you have tendencies toward alcoholism because of your family history, you can choose not to drink even socially, thus avoiding the whole problem. You will still need to be aware of addictive tendencies, though, in other areas, such as gambling, sex, work, eating, and shopping.

"Psycho" refers to the psychological events that make it easier to become dependent on chemicals.

"I have always felt different from others, and when I had my first drink I felt as though that invisible wall between others and me had miraculously disappeared. I was ashamed of the light-colored patches on my skin, but after drinking it didn't seem to matter anymore."

The nurse who drank from age 10 actually had endured sexual abuse, and to her it made perfect sense to start drinking to numb the fear, anguish, and pain.

Many soldiers from Vietnam or any other war use alcohol or other drugs to numb the memories of what they experienced. "I drank in order to get to sleep. I couldn't sleep because I was terrified of what God would do to me in order to punish me for what I did during the war," one vet told me. Just one look at his face convinced me of the reality he felt. It took a year before he could smile, knowing that God could forgive him, but even longer before he could forgive himself. Not until he was able to forgive others did he finally experience forgiveness himself.

Some people are easily bored, always have to try something new, stir up some trouble, or check out trouble brewing. Punishments don't faze them, and rewards don't have much influence. This is the type of person who is most apt to experiment with alcohol or drugs and also to become addicted as a result.

"Social" refers to the social factors in your environment. You are not immune to influences around you. For example, researchers have proved that as the price for cigarettes increases fewer teenagers will begin smoking. The drugs that cause the most problems are the drugs that are the most available. Which drugs are these? The legal drugs alcohol and tobacco together cause more than 25 percent of all deaths each year in the U.S. Fewer than 20,000 deaths a year are caused by all other street drugs combined. The "drug war" is focused on the drugs that cause the fewest deaths!