Alcoholism – What makes someone addicted…. to anything?

Why do people become addicted? On the surface this question may seem simplistic and rather meaningless. Obviously people become addicted to things in life by using or consuming them, right? If an alcoholic never drank, would they really become an alcoholic? If a drug addict never swallowed a pill, would they become a drug addict? If a gambler never entered a casino….. well, you get the point.

These issues are quite complicated and the further along the “ism” path one moves along, the more complicated the issues become. For instance, most of these issues become “multiplistic” addictions toward later stages. What is meant by that, for instance in the case of alcohol, the alcoholic will eventually become both psychologically addicted as well as physically addicted.

But is this “multiple” dilemma true in the beginning? What really occurs the very first time someone takes a drink, swallows a pill, places a bet? The answers this examiner knows today come from the experiences of his very on life combined with literally thousands of stories told throughout AA. Without exception, almost everyone that develops an addiction in life usually begin the journey around a common age of fourteen, fifteen or sixteen. The intense psychological emotions and needs of feeling “Secure and Loved” can almost always be found at the root of any addiction. The chemical that gets set free in our bodies seem to satisfy these needs in some perverse way.

It took many years of sobriety for this writer to realize that with his first drink, which was a can of beer at the age of fifteen, the alcohol produced the most wonderfully euphoric feelings of being accepted, “a part of” or “belonging to”, “good enough” and yes….. even loved. This “effect” was truly a remarkable Dr Jeckle and Mr. Hyde transformation. However, it was a transformation that happened ONLY in MY mind and was not real! The friends, who were so very important at that time, did not really see the miraculous change that occurred in my mind. However, the satisfaction that came from that transformation was a feeling that was very real to me and I desperately pursued the effect every day for the next thirty one years!