Addiction Rescue (eBook)

Chapter 1 -
Introduction to Addiction (Substance Use Disorder)

“In Essence, you make your choices, and then your choices make you.”

- Darren Hardy

Today it’s almost impossible to be unscathed by some kind of substance use disorder. Let’s face it, there are workaholics, alcoholics, work out fanatics, gambling junkies, food bingers, social media compulsives, cigarette smokers, sex addicts, porn addicts, masturbation addicts, prescription pill abusers, illegal drugs users, love or relationship dependents, internet addicts, shopaholics, and video game obsessives. And there are so many other things that enslave us to their habits. They come at us from every direction, every angle, in every way, and they will never stop. If you’re not afflicted by addiction, you’re less than six degrees of separation from someone who is. You’re either afflicted or affected; it’s just a part of our society.

If you’re questioning the numbers, let me share a few.

The Facts

Rehabs.com, a resource for addiction centers, states over sixteen million people have an alcohol addiction and that alcohol addiction accounts for approximately eighty-eight thousand deaths a year.

Origins Behavioral Health Care sites that 47.7 million people used mind-altering substances in 2017. Of those, thirty-six million used cocaine/crack or methamphetamine, thirty-six million used marijuana, and 18.9 million people misused prescriptions in the past year. The prescription class of drugs includes prescribed pain relievers (such as oxycodone), tranquilizers (such as Xanax), and sedatives (such as Valium).

The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) estimates that 72,287 people died from overdoses in 2017, an increase of about ten percent from the year before. That’s 198 people a day. To get a visual of just how many people that is, think of an NFL football stadium. The average stadium holds just under seventy thousand people, so more people than a football stadium can hold die each year from overdose.

NBC Nightly News recently reported the chances of dying of an overdose are greater than dying in a car crash; one in every ninety-six overdoses versus one in every one hundred and three car crashes.

According to MediaKix out of Santa Monica, CA, internet and social media addictions continue to grow as our dependence on technology increases. Estimates show that over 210 million people suffer from internet and social media addictions worldwide.

The North American Foundation for Gambling Addiction Help reports approximately 2.6 percent of the U.S. population has some type of gambling issue. That adds up to nearly ten million people in the United States who struggle with a gambling habit.

The National Council on Sexual Addiction Compulsivity estimates that six to eight percent of Americans are sex addicts; that’s eighteen million to twenty-four million people.

We’re talking tens of millions of people. That’s an incredible amount of people when there are only 325 million people in the U.S. Take into consideration that many people and then think about the millions of people in those millions of peoples’ lives and you can start to picture how addiction has tentacles that easily reach most everyone in our society today.

Defining Addiction

I’m going to assume if you have picked up this book, you have come to or are in the process of coming to terms with the possibility that you have an addiction or know someone who does. If you are still questioning this possibility, let’s talk about what an addiction is.

The definition of the word “addict,” according to Merriam Webster, is “to devote or surrender (oneself) to something habitually or obsessively.” In line with that, the definition of “addiction” is, “the quality or state of being addicted.” That is the definition in its simplest term.

The American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM) gives a more in-depth look at the definition as follows, “Addiction is characterized by inability to consistently abstain, impairment in behavioral control, craving, diminished recognition of significant problems with one’s behaviors and interpersonal relationships, and a dysfunctional emotional response. Like other chronic diseases, addiction often involves cycles of relapse and remission. Without treatment or engagement in recovery activities, addiction is progressive and can result in disability or premature death.”

The ASAM also describes addiction as a brain reward system. The motivation to continue use is to recreate a memory in pursuit of the reward previously experienced. Those memories could be past exposure to such things as food, sex, alcohol, drugs, or other stimulations. Response to these external cues, in turn, triggers cravings or engagement in addictive behaviors. The reward structures of the brain are altered in an addict, and the motivation to use increases as the brain continues to adapt. The cravings for the memory, or reward, are relieved by substance use or other destructive actions. This dysfunction leads to characteristic biological, psychological, social, and spiritual manifestations in the addict.

As a professional in the field of addiction, I will give you my short take on it: addiction is any habitual behavior that causes stress and distress, and disrupts everyday life and relationships. It has no shut-off switch. It’s a disease of being obsessed with more and more of whatever “it” may be. It’s like being permanently hungry.

My Expertise

Let me tell you about me. I’m addicted, to everything. Oscar Wilde said it best, “I can resist anything except temptation.” And I’m tempted by absolutely anything that makes me feel good. I’ve been addicted to everything from Rice Krispie bars to Heroin, hookers to slot machines. I’ve made tens of millions and gambled it all away. I lost my only wife to divorce and my two amazing daughters for a time. I’ve lived in penthouses, million dollar homes, and federal prison. I have paid my dues in the throes of addiction and as a felon, and I’ve come out the other side to find my redemption.

I’m a terrible addict, or I suppose you can say I am a very good addict. I’m textbook. If it’s been done or said about addiction, I’ve done it or said it. I’ve been through it all, and I truly believe if I can kick the addiction beast, with the right information, anyone can. So, however close you are to addictive behaviors, whether in yourself or someone you love, there is hope, and I’m going to give it to you straight.

I’m an expert in addiction and recovery. I’ve been on one side or the other my entire life (or at least since I was nine.) I am a Nationally Certified Intervention Professional and a Nationally Certified Recovery Coach. I have spoken my message to tens of thousands of people around the country in the rooms of Alcoholics Anonymous, conventions, prisons, and schools. I’ve helped those in all walks of life and all ages, from kids in junior high school to old timers in Alcoholics Anonymous. I have sponsored hundreds in the AA program, and I am thrilled to bring my message to you.

This book addresses the addict but can help anyone who is affected by addiction. In this book, I show you the rules of addiction and what they require of an addict. I’m going to share with you what it takes to break those rules and to recover. It is not hard; it is not rocket science or brain surgery, but you will need an education and understanding to get it. It’s easy to do, but it’s easy not to do. Recovery isn’t for everyone. If it were, for those who needed it, there’d be thirty million copies of this book sold already, Recovery is only for those who want it. You must be willing to do the things today that others won’t, in order to have the life you want tomorrow. It’s up to you.

I will warn you, I will be brutally honest, and I won’t share in your sympathy, excuses, or blame game. I’m guessing you have enough people in your life who have done that for you already. If you’re reading this, it’s time to wake up and pull your head out of your ass. It’s time to stop lying to yourself and those around you; you’re just hurting them and yourself.

I will define for you the rules that addiction requires of you and the excuses you use to justify them. I will share my story from the beginnings of my addictions through the consequences they brought upon me. I am not, however, going to give you all the gory details of my life in this book; that, in and of itself, is a whole other book I intend to work on in the future. This book is for you to come to terms with and overcome the addictive behavior(s) in your life, whether the behavior is yours or someone else’s. I will give you, however, enough of my background so that you understand I’ve been through the throes of multiple addictions. I’ll also give you, for perspective, a reference point so you can see an example of how addiction plays out and the steps that need to be taken to recover from it. By sharing some of my story, I think you may identify with some of the characteristics we, as addicts, all share.

I will guide you through my 5-Action Process that shows how to get into recovery, how to turn your life around, and what will be required of you to stay there. I will address how to recover in body, mind, and...