by John Carcerano
Usually in your youth there are signs if you are at high risk for addiction. Not just alcohol or drug addiction, but addiction in general. As a child I was heavily overweight for about 6 years. As I look back now, this was a sign that I indeed had an addictive personality. If this could have been spotted by someone for me at an early age chances are that I could have avoided trying any drugs or alcohol and my life would have been much different today. But that is asking a lot to expect parents to be educated enough in addictive disorders to be able to identify such issues. There just simply is too much in life to have to know. Unfortunately addiction is only brought to our attention when it is full blown and life altering. But if parents would just be on the look out for any excessive or obsessive compulsive behavoir such as eating and obesity, over-excercising and running, gambling or even behavoir such as a childs inability to sit still. There are several childhood disorders which are now being diagnosed such as ADD, ADHD, Depression, Anxiety or bipolar. These disorders bring with them a very high suseptibility to addiction because they carry with them the symptom of anxiety and "an unquiet mind". Not being able to sit still, or to be agitated and ansy such as pacing all the time and being hyper. If you notice any of these symptoms in your child you should become aware that he or she has a much greater chance of becoming an alcohol or drug addict later in life.
Changing seats on the Titanic
In all my studies of alcoholics and drug addicts I have found a pattern that seems to afflict most all of them. When they quit their substance addictions they will take up a new addiction such as drinking excessive amounts of coffee or caffeinated beverages, over-eating and gaining weight, obsessive excercising, gambling, excessive sexual behavoir, or overworking and excessive behavoir. There are a great many amount of ex-addicts who will actually become addicted to AA or NA meetings and will attend three or more meetings a day. An addicts family will be over joyed with their quiting their substance addiction only to be less than enthusiastic with their new obsessive addictive behavoir. When an addict quits one addiction only to take up another one this is referred in Alcoholics Anonymous as merely changing seats on the Titanic.
This is not always a bad thing as long as the new addiction does not disrupt their life as much or even worse than their original addiction did. I always explain to an addict newly in recovery that they need to be aware that a new addiction almost certainly will replace the old one. I try to get them to control which new addiction will replace the old one. I call this switching or trading addictions.
The key to quiting your addictions all together.
In order to quit your addictions all together is for the addict/exaddict to get the proper psychiatric medication. The addict has "an unquiet mind". The key to an addict eliminating their main destructive addiction and not atking up another addiction is for them to treat their condition called "their unquiet mind". In most cases this means they are in need of medication to reduce their anxiety. Anxiety is associated with, and the cause of most addictions. I am 44 years old as of this writng and as I look back at my life it is clear that since early childhood I had gravitated from one addiction to another and especially in my early teens when I tried drugs and alcohol, it was then in which my addictive personality became clear to me and my family because it uprooted and nearly destroyed my life. I know a wonderful woman who beat a 15 year addiction to crack cocaine. She has been 3 1/2 years clean and drug free now, only she has gained 40 pounds because her unquiet mind has now brought her to a food addiction. But in her case I thank God because she is no longer homeless and she now has a relationship with her son, daughter and mother. She may be a bit heavier now but her life is much more serene and tranquil.
Addiction is a strange animal. But once you understand the how and why's of it, and it's accompanying unquiet mind, it is then that you will be able to win your battle with all its fallout.
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