Multiple Addictions

Many people think the term “multiple addiction” doesn’t apply to them. For them, multiple addiction means something that exists for the “deeply disturbed” or the “lost” patients of a chronic hospital wing or mental hospital. “Cross- addicted” or “dual addicted” is often misunderstood to be the “other people” who are suffering from an acute form of addiction that is probably incurable in most cases. “That isn’t me” is the common reaction to the term. “I’m not like that.”

In fact, multiple addiction can apply to almost anyone. Almost everyone has at least a mild addiction to something and in most cases there are probably two or three things you would like to quit but simply couldn’t muster up the energy or attention to do so. We’re all pretty much hooked on one thing or another to the extent that we would probably have a pretty tough time quitting even if we put our minds to it. The fact is, most addictions occur in different forms for different people so that you don’t have to be a “hospital patient” in order to see yourself as someone who possibly suffers from multiple addictions. Multiple addictions are more often the rule rather than the exception.

On the lower end of the scale, many people refer to their “love of chocolate” as an addiction or their “excessive television watching” as being a problem. There are many behaviors, such as co-dependency and anger issues that could be readily defined as addictive tendencies in most people. Multiple addictions are actually more common that most people realize and, just like the most serious addictions to heroin or crack cocaine, it is always the recognition of the problem that is the first step to recovery.