How Does Addiction Start?
Start of Addiction
There are times when everything seems to be going wrong in your life, and you are upset and feel lost. At such a time, you think everything will feel better if you try out that spectacular drug that everyone has been talking about.
WRONG
That is not really how addiction starts. A typical first time drug user has no need for anything to cope with their past or to feel good, because they do not know what a drug feels like. So how can they expect any results?
There is no detailed plan for a first time use of drugs. What triggers it is often a party where drugs are spontaneously being abused. Imagine this. You go to a party expecting the main event to be the drinking of alcohol, and you notice from the corner of your eye that somebody has pulled out a bag of white powder.
It is cocaine, which you have never even seen before. By now, everyone, even your best friend is trying it. This makes you think you should also try it.
Outlines of this thin white powder are being laid out on the counter. A rolled dollar bill is picked up by someone, and a white line on the counter start to disappear. Another line is similarly picked up by your friend, who then hands the rolled bill to you.
At this time, your heart is pounding and your hands are sweating, and you start to question what is happening. Should I do it, and what will it feel like? So you snort a line and wait for the feeling.
It is both empowering and peculiar. You feel a burst of energy in your body. Your hands shake and you have the jitters, but soon you are tapping your feet to the music and dancing like you have never done before this. You are having the time of your life, because everyone includes you in their conversation and laughs with you.
And then the effect wears off.
You think the party has stopped, even though it has not, and you start feeling sluggish. There has been no change in the music, and the the atmosphere still has the ring of a party. You take some time to sit down on the couch, because your head feels heavy and you are not sure of how you are feeling. Your friend sits beside you and asks you if anything is wrong. You are feeling funny inside and do not know what to say. Your friend gives you an assurance that everything is fine, and you just need one more line of coke.
The mention of cocaine causes you anxiety. That is not what you need, because you do not want to do it.
One more friend comes up to encourage you to take more cocaine. You are helped up and brought to the counter that has rolled dollar bills and traces of cocaine. Another thin line is snorted by you. Your heartbeat starts to match the music as you close your eyes.
The actions in this story may not get you addicted, but there is every chance that they will. The beginning of addiction often starts with pressure. There is pressure to fit in, to look and seem cool, and the pressure to experience that which everyone else already has.
“It is just one time”, is what you think, or that it is not a big deal as you will only do it when you go out.
Whatever the drug, addiction to it is always a possibility, especially if the circumstances you find yourself in are the same as the one above, and you are surrounded by the same people as when you first used it. There are people who can stop themselves or even function like a normal person when they drink alcohol or use drugs, but you have to understand that drugs can cause a physical addiction. The use of the substance makes your body used to it, and can alter your brain chemically so that you adjust to its use.
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