So Why Did I Get Addicted?

It's an old story, substance abuse starts with the choice to try drugs and to use them. If people don't try or experiment with drugs or alcohol, then they will not get addicted. So ok, I get that about drugs. Even if you think you're unique and you will be able to handle the drug, deep down inside you have to know they're pretty much habit forming. Yeah, come on, even if you thought you were different, that YOU could handle it, the thought of you becoming an addict was floating around out there somewhere, whether you admit it or not.

But alcohol! Come on, everybody drinks, including grandma. So no, I had no deep concerns about picking up that first drink. Besides, it was fun, I liked it, it was like being a grown up.

Psychologists, addiction counselors, etc all can spew out factors that lead to drug and alcohol abuse. We have stuff like heredity, lack of self-esteem, peer pressure, family issues, etc. Open any book on the subject and there will all kinds of factors that lead to addiction and why people get hooked. The problem with all these lists of factors is none of them maybe operating within the person's life who starts using drugs or alcohol and they still become addicted.. On the other hand, there are people out there who have of some or all of the factors operating within their life and they do not become addicted.

These factors are not the cause of drug abuse. The unfortunate choice to try and then continue using drugs or alcohol is the main cause. Simply put without using any hard to pronounce and hard to spell medical terminology, if a person's body/brain chemistry likes the drug, they are on a downhill road. The addiction process overrides the ability to make choices. As a friend of mine says when he tells his alcoholism story, "there is a Chinese proverb that says, 'the man takes a drink, the drink takes a drink, the drink takes the man.'" That's exactly what happened to me. My brain chemistry loved alcohol so much it overrode my ability to make choices about not using alcohol. My body chemistry loved alcohol so much, it could not function without it. I had forfeited my right to choose and my body was grateful for it.