If you are an addict, chances are good that you never intended to become one. Rarely, if ever, does a person wake up in the morning and say to themselves, "Hey, it's a great day to get addicted to drugs. I think I'll start now."
You probably started drinking or using mood altering substances during adolescence, possibly your early teens. And you probably remember your first drink or first contact with drugs as a really great experience. Future addicts and alcoholics seem to have this reaction in common. We now know that there are genetic and bio-chemical differences in alcoholics and addicts that cause them to have this reaction. "Normies", or non-addicts, simply don't have the same genetic make-up as addicts. These differences help explain why so many addicts recall that their first use of drugs made them feel "normal" for the very first time.
Not excited, not drowsy, not "high." But normal, for the first time.
Because young people have not developed multiple coping methods, they are prone to abuse substances which seem to help them. Teens and adolescents, especially those with problems, are extremely vulnerable. When they discover that the use of alcohol or drugs seems to solve their problems, even temporarily, they will repeat that behavior again and again. Mood altering substances can help shy people become outgoing, make a person suffering from mania seem calm, "appear" to eliminate depression or make anxiety "go away".
For these reasons, and many others, addiction, behavioral and emotional professionals believe we should concentrate our efforts on preventing "First Use" among young people because it is much easier to teach coping skills, problem solving and critical thinking than it is to battle addiction and alcoholism. Helping teens learn to solve their problems without drugs needs to be started early, and reinforced constantly throughout their teenage years.
So how and why does an addict become an addict?
The why is the hardest to answer, because we all react to problems and emotions in different ways; they affect each of us uniquely. The exact same amount of pain may make one person grit his or her teeth, while the next may scream in agony. The second person is not weak; they just reacted to feelings differently. Also, in a society where there are not strong taboos against drugs and alcohol it is easier to start drinking and/or using. The substances are more available in some places as well, and a really strong reason is peer pressure. Helping teens cope with peer pressure and the problems that teenagers have may be the very best action we can take.
As for the "how", it is usually a progression from one drug to the next. It may begin with coffee and cigarettes, then progress to marijuana or amphetamines. Each one has a stronger effect, and at some point it comes down to an imaginary fork in the road.
Science has yet to discover what makes some of us turn left, while around us everyone else is turning right.
Source: http://www.ArticlePros.com/author.php?Jon Heller
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