I mean, I think almost all addiction stems from underlying emotional/mental damage the human has.
Maybe not opiates/opioids when they are over-prescribed in the case of severe pain, but most of us have something fucked up going on a little deeper down.
I was more wondering about the difference in terms of people's choice in drugs/alcohol.
I talked with one of my therapists at rehab, she was an Opiate user, and I am an Alcohol user, and we were talking about Naltrexone, which is a drug that can be used to help both Alcohol and Opiate addiction. It works by blocking the same receptor, which is apparently used by both alcohol and opiates.
I just found it interesting that it was the same receptor that was blocked. And that despite being an alcoholic, I have done opiates in the past. And when I did them, I was always like, "Cool, that was fun". But I never felt a need to seek them out or ever do them again.
And she kind of felt the same way about drinking.
We all obviously have addictive traits and underlying bullshit, but what makes a person choose one drug over another?
I guess science isn't quite sure how naloxone works in alcoholics but they do know it ruins the euphoria and pleasure of drinking. It's funny Theo: talk about addiction, you ask the billion dollar question "what makes us addicts?" Whatever it is can be triggered by literally anything that activates those brain centers or receptors or chemicals of pleasure. From balloons to serial murder our brains can addict to anything. Kind of scary when you think about it.
I think for a lot of people, what they end up hooked on has more to do with who they end up around than anything. People looking to escape tend to find the first available option. Maybe that leads to new sets of people and new sets of substances, but you get the point.
I'd heard that about that common receptor, but I never did any digging into it. Interesting. I'd definitely be willing to believe that we're each more or less susceptible to addiction to different substances depending on genetics or whatnot, and I'd love to know more on that, but I think ultimately people find an escape that works for them and go with it until it's a problem anyway. Regardless of weather it was easy or hard to become physically addicted.
She also told me some very strange things about her personal opiate addiction.
Like her addiction did basically the opposite of what it does to most users.
It made her into an excellent student and more productive person.
Which makes me suspect that she had more of a mood disorder than any sort of pain.
I just think it is good to think about exactly what people are using the drugs/alcohol specifically for.
I know that I use alcohol for anxiety, and the general desire not to think too much.
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