What is Addiction?
Addiction. What a word.
What just came to mind when you read that? An image? A belief? A feeling? A substance? A behavior? A person?
See how fast that image appeared? Few words I know bring up as many connotations, feelings, and strong personal opinions. With so many varied takes on what addiction is and isn’t, it’s no wonder that stigmas of all kinds come with the word. So how do we sort it out?
For the sake of this blog, let’s define the parameters of addiction as the umbrella term that includes both substance use and addiction to a particular behavior or process. Behavioral addictions can include eating disorders, gambling, sex, work, relationships, shopping, screen time, and pornography, and both substance and behavioral addictions involve chemical processes occuring in the brain’s pleasure center to provide relief.
The American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM) defines addiction as,
“A primary, chronic disease of brain reward, motivation, memory, and related circuitry. Dysfunction in these circuits leads to characteristic biological, psychological, social, and spiritual manifestations. This is reflected in an individual pathologically pursuing reward and/or relief by substance use and other behaviors.”
Woah. Got all that?
Addiction is a powerful disease that impacts holistic wellness. It can start at any time, and is often set off by the combination of a ‘perfect storm’ of events, a genetic component, and high feelings of distress and a need for symptom relief. Someone struggling with addiction is impacted biologically, psychologically, socially, and spiritually which means their entire self is affected.
As this happens, addiction can feel like a runaway train as it takes over different areas of life. It is not a matter of willpower, but a matter of chemical processes that takes over one’s brain chemistry. This leads those struggling with an addiction through the physical cycle of use, reward and withdrawal and the simultaneous emotional cycle of desire, reward, and shame. These combined cycles are very powerful, and often require mental health therapy or treatment to aid in their intervention.
Since the inception of the pandemic almost two years ago, there has been a tremendous rise in the need for support and treatment for those struggling with addiction. With the high numbers of physical loss, job loss, housing loss, and identity loss that occurred as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the coping skills many people used on a daily basis simply didn’t cut it any more. More help was, and still is, needed to process the levels of grief, sadness, trauma, and loss many people found themselves sifting through. This led to many relapses for folks in recovery, and many others began to question their relationship with substances and behaviors for the first time. If you think this could be you or someone you know, check out this list below of some common characteristics of addiction and see where you may fall.
Characteristics of Addiction
Loss of control over amount used/time spent
Compulsivity to use or engage in the behavior overrides limits set for use
Failed efforts to stop, repeatedly unable to cease use/the behavior
Loss of time to using and recovering from the substance or the behavior
Preoccupation with how and when use will happen again, obsessive thinking
Inability to fulfill obligations related to work, school, family or friends due to use
Continuance of use despite consequences that are building (can be legal, relational, financial, or spiritual consequences)
Escalation of the intensity, frequency, and riskiness of the use, more is needed to receive the same relief over time
Loss of values or apathetic toward what was once valued or enjoyed in life
Withdrawal symptoms (distress, anxiety, restlessness, irritability, and/or physical discomfort) exist when use stops
Patterns/habits of use are established and actions, thoughts, and feelings are focused on creating a culture of enhancing the experience of the use
Loss of reality where the perceptions or values about life shift to a false norm, and addiction becomes the new norm
If any of these are true for you or a loved one, and you’d like some help, you have options. If you or a loved one find yourself struggling with addiction or would like to further explore your relationship to substances or behaviors, you are not alone. You are not a stigma. You are seen, and you deserve recovery. Coping how we best know how is all we can ever ask of one another until we receive the help we need to make changes we feel are necessary.
Khesed has recently launched a recovery program for anyone who is struggling with an addiction themselves or any friend or family member that is watching someone else’s struggle with addiction. Combinations of affordable therapy and pro bono therapy are available, and we’d love to work with you. Contact us here to connect with a therapist that can support you in your journey toward recovery today. We’re here.
It’s never too late to reflect and restart. This is the perfect time.
About the Author:
Alisha Bashaw (she/her), MA, LPC, LAC is a Licensed Professional Counselor and a Licensed Addiction Counselor in the state of Colorado. She also serves as Khesed’s DNA Manager. Alisha has worked extensively in the treatment of eating disorders and addiction. She is passionate about helping people authentically live the lives they desire, holding space for mystery and wonder as each person's journey unfolds, and integrating mental, physical, emotional, and spiritual health into a holistic wellness based-approach.
