Excerpt from Choice Theory with Addicted Populations by Mike Rice

Substance addictions consist of three stages:

Sociological:  Few, if anyone, start out drinking or using alone.  It begins as a social thing where inhibitions are lowered and a sense of euphoria is acquired.  If drugs or alcohol didn’t do this, no one would even want to use them.  Laughter and a sense of pleasure begin to override cares, concerns, and the concern of what others might think of them. 

Psychological:  During the sociological stage, it is also discovered that drinking/using causes unwanted thoughts and emotions to dissolve.  It’s no different than taking an aspirin for a headache or putting on a sweater or coat if cold.  Drinking/using quickly develops into a way of coping with frustration and unwanted emotions.  Substance use creates a sense of pleasure.  This pleasure is mistaken for happiness with the difference being:  Happiness is not as intense as pleasure but it lasts much longer.  Pleasure is more intense than happiness but doesn’t last long.  Therefore, the behavior must be repeated in order to continue the sensation.  We call that “Addiction.”  Also, pleasure is attained without the involvement of anyone else.  Happiness will always require a meaningful relationship with one or more people in one’s life.

Biochemical (and physical):  This is the last stage of developing addiction.  Simply stated, substance addictions are the result of ingesting or introducing addictive substances into the body over a period of time. Eventually the body's cells quit fighting the substance’s prevalence in the body and begin to change their cellular structure to accept and function with the substance. This is when it becomes biochemically a physical addiction. When the addict/alcoholic goes for any period of depravation, the cells react in a way that causes the person to experience several forms of physical and psychological withdrawal effects, some of which can lead to death.

To date, there has been no one gene that been identified that is attributed to alcoholism or drug addiction. Several claims have been made over the years but none of them have ever been proven to be a factor in addiction.  Genes are taking the rap for a lot of behaviors that are no more than learned behaviors. "Well, both his father and grandfather were alcoholics so it must be genetic." A statement made purely subjectively with no proof of any genetic factor. If his father and grandfather were both alcoholics, he learned to cope and behave with unwanted emotions the same way they did . . . by drinking. Not only are alcohol or drugs in one's Quality World, they are also in one’s behavior system as tools to deal with their unhappiness.

Using and drinking does provide for the five basic needs but in maladaptive and paradoxical ways:

Survival: An addict/alcoholic feels they cannot possibly survive without their drug of choice. Without it, they feel sick to the point of wanting to die, (and often take their own lives or die from alcohol or drug related organ damage). No addict or alcoholic has the wherewithal to be an addict or alcoholic without the help of others. They survive by relying on others to provide their physical and addictive needs.

Love & Belonging: The use of drugs and alcohol tend to drive all of the important people away from the addict/alcoholic. To compensate for this loss, the addict/alcoholic begins to rely on his drug or alcohol as his/her sweetheart. They actually have a love relationship with their drug of choice and they begin to associate with those things that don't talk back . . . alcohol, drugs, television, newspapers, pets. What they want and need most to be happy is actually being destroyed by their behavior resultant from substance use.

Power: They have lost the respect of others and the only Power they feel they have left is the power to continue to use drugs or drink and say NO to the need for help. Admitting they need help for their addiction would take away the only power they feel they have left. This is why they put up such a fight in interventions and when told by others they need help. They feel they have power over their addiction but feel powerless to control it. They tend to say they can quit on their own, but if this were true, they would have quit a long time ago.

This false sense of Power is also what led to their addiction. They believed that they could drink or use here and there and if and when it began to be a problem, they would stop. The problem, however, is noticed by others long before the addict or alcoholic recognizes it. Even after obvious addiction, they fail to see it as an addiction.

Freedom: Since they no longer have important people in their life, they rationalize that they don't need anyone and can do whatever they want to do especially drink or use drugs. They no longer have employment and have co-dependent others who will give them what they need so why work? Paradoxically, they often end up in jail or prison.

Fun: Their initial use of drugs or alcohol may have been fun at first. But over time, hangovers, incarceration, withdrawals, sickness, and pain are no longer fun. Yet they will continue to use because they feel normal when drinking or using but ill when they don't.  Fun appears to be the only need their addictive use no longer meets.

All of this information, and more, can be found in my latest book, Choice Theory with Addicted Populations, with foreword by Dr. William Glasser and is available on www.amazon.com under Mike Rice, Choice Theory in the search area, or via my web site: www.Mike-Rice.com.