Crime and tragedies without any control, tormenting souls and disintegrating families as the personalities mutate, darkness that sucks like a leech; it is a story we have all come across. We all float down here. The diligent students start skipping school; letting their grades slip, a trustworthy and honest friend might get caught doing something immoral and sometimes the immaculate beauty queen stops caring about her appearance. These out-of-ordinary behavioral changes can be directly linked to the changes within the brain.
Many people confuse bad habits with addiction but these two are totally different. We build our habits, but addictions are forged. Both demand different commitments from us. Habits find their way around, and we mostly forget about them. Whereas, when an addiction finds it way around, it starts to control our life.
We all are vulnerable to addiction. Addiction is a master of an evil kind that controls one’s body and mind. Addiction has been described as a global humanitarian crisis. It has been the subject of numerous media depictions and is potentially one of the most stigmatized conditions. What happens neurologically when we become addicted to something? Scientists first began to seriously study addictive behaviour back in the 1930s. Before that, it was widely assumed that people with addictions were in some way morally flawed or lacked the willpower and mental strength to overcome their problems. All addicts are puppets to the devil. Addicts think it is due to their lack of willpower, their pain, their DNA or a multitude of other reasons. The real truth is that they are possessed.
An addict drops his hope and his spirit, his soul cries out but we just cannot hear. It is important to realise that addicts will only seek help when they are ready. Giving them ultimatums would not help. Judging them would not help. Encouraging and counseling them would help. Offering them verbal help cannot do wonders. Accepting them would help us as a society to grow and prosper. We all should turn their shame from a barrier into a bridge. Sweeping the addiction issue under the rug can be damaging to everyone. As long as the addict is alive, we should keep our hope alive
We live in a world that is designed to stimulate our emotions. Every advertisement, every food product and social media post is geared to give us a short rush of pleasure which is followed by an emptiness and a craving for more. Big companies are able to leverage our cravings and make trillions of dollars off of keeping us addicted. If you do not have a plan for yourself, you will be at the mercy of companies who will play on your impulses to control you like a puppet. You will sacrifice your free will, searching for happiness in a maze that is designed to keep you lost.
Addiction is a global epidemic; whether it is drugs, alcohol, gambling, sex, food or even shopping. Addiction can destroy careers, families and even individuals. Each one, each example of addiction, from the innocuous TV or Instagram addiction to sniffing cocaine or gambling, is an attempt to free oneself from the present moment. People are lost in so many unreal and untrue fantasies, fanciful ideas, hallucinations, imaginations, beliefs, theories, philosophies, ideologies and traditions. In addition to this, they are also struck in a lot of fixations, stereotypical behaviour, prejudices, generalizations, patternizations, categorizations, ego and much more. With all these things, people build boundaries around themselves, their life becomes challenging. In such a bedlam, instead of realizing the clear life, they mess up with everything. In this process, there is a high chance that they look for and approach something that they think is a solution for all this bedlam. Slowly, such a solution overtakes their life and becomes an addiction.
Addiction is a hard thing. People think that it is a choice whereas it is more of a disease. It is a fight for the addicted person. To walk a mile in an addict’s shoes would go a long way. The stigma against people with addictions can sometimes do more damage than the addiction itself. Addiction stigma is a complex phenomenon based on a relationship between an attribute and a stereotype that assigns undesirable labels, qualities, and behaviour to addicts. Addicts are socially devalued, which leads to inequality and discrimination. The humiliating blacklisting and ostracism experienced by those who are disparaged for their addictions, compel them to continue and perhaps inflame their addictive and obsessive behaviour.
No legislation can help addicts. It is not something to be done in papers. It is only the realization among the population about the destructive potential of addiction that can crush the addictions. Different non-governmental organisations (NGOs) are coming up with alarming proportions of the addicts, most of whom are young. The process and road to recovery is complex. Addiction makes addicts put their needs before everyone and everything else. Their sense of empathy somehow goes missing which creates problems in their personal and professional lives. Recovery from an addiction means starting a new life; a life with greater challenges and intense emotional situations.
An addict drops his hope and his spirit, his soul cries out but we just cannot hear. It is important to realise that addicts will only seek help when they are ready. Giving them ultimatums would not help. Judging them would not help. Encouraging and counseling them would help. Offering them verbal help cannot do wonders. Accepting them would help us as a society to grow and prosper. We all should turn their shame from a barrier into a bridge. Sweeping the addiction issue under the rug can be damaging to everyone. As long as the addict is alive, we should keep our hope alive.
