The
World Health Organisation define addiction as
‘the repeated use of a psychoactive substance
or substances, to the extent that the user
(referred to as an addict) is periodically or
chronically intoxicated, shows a compulsion to
take the preferred substance (or substances),
has great difficulty in voluntarily ceasing or
modifying substance use, and exhibits
determination to obtain psychoactive substances
by almost any means. Typically, tolerance is
prominent and a withdrawal syndrome frequently
occurs when substance use is interrupted. The
life of the addict may be dominated by substance
use to the virtual exclusion of all other
activities and responsibilities. The term
addiction also conveys the sense that such
substance use has a detrimental effect on
society, as well as on the individual; when
applied to the use of alcohol, it is equivalent
to alcoholism. Addiction is a term of
long-standing and variable usage. It is regarded
by many as a discrete disease entity, a
debilitating disorder rooted in the
pharmacological effects of the drug, which is
remorselessly progressive. From the 1920s to the
1960s attempts were made to differentiate
between addiction ; and "habituation",
a less severe form of psychological adaptation.
In the 1960s the World Health Organization
recommended that both terms be abandoned in
favour of dependence, which can exist in various
degrees of severity.
Treatments
Available
Cognitive
Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
is
an umbrella-term for psychotherapeutic approach
that that deals with cognitions,
interpretations, beliefs and responses, with the
aim of influencing problematic emotions and
behaviors.
CBT
is widely accepted as an evidence-based,
cost-effective treatment for many disorders and
psychological problems. It is often used with
groups as well as individuals, and the
techniques are also commonly adapted for
self-help manuals. One of the objectives of CBT
typically is to identify and monitor thoughts,
assumptions, beliefs and behaviors that are
related and accompanied to negative emotions and
to identify those which are dysfunctional,
inaccurate, or simply unhelpful. This is done in
an effort to replace them with more realistic
and useful ones.
A
twelve-step
program
is a set of guiding principles outlining a
course of action for the recovery from
addiction, or other behavioural problems. A
twelve-step program usually and symbolically
represent human structure in three dimensions.
These are physical, mental, and spiritual. The
original Twelve Steps as published by
Alcoholics
Anonymous
are.
1. We
admit we were powerless over alcohol—that our
lives had become unmanageable.
2. Came to believe that a Power greater
than ourselves could restore us to sanity.
3. Made a decision to turn your will and
life over to the care of God as you
understood Him.
4. Made a searching and fearless moral
inventory of ourselves.
5. Admitted to God, to ourselves, and to
another human being the exact nature of our
wrongs.
6. Were entirely ready to have God remove
all these defects of character.
7. Humbly asked Him to remove our
shortcomings.
8. Make a list of all persons we had
harmed, and became willing to make amends to
them all.
9. Make direct amends to such people
wherever possible, except when to do so would
injure them or others.
10. Continue to take personal inventory and
when we were wrong promptly admitted it.
11. Seek through prayer and meditation to
improve our conscious contact with God as
you understood Him, praying only for
knowledge of His Will for you and the power to
carry that out.
12. Having had a spiritual awakening as the
result of these steps, you try to carry this
message to alcoholics, and to practice these
principles in all your affairs.
