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Is Jeopardy getting easier or am I getting smarter?

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Mudcat-

Out of curiosity - and lack of time to research

what do you think was the key indicator(s) to the addiction of drugs?

i am curious because - having a son now - i want to get as much knowledge as possible

i know why i have done/do drugs - just want your .02

tia!
 
kato
Mudcat-

Out of curiosity - and lack of time to research

what do you think was the key indicator(s) to the addiction of drugs?

i am curious because - having a son now - i want to get as much knowledge as possible

i know why i have done/do drugs - just want your .02

tia!
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Just keep a look out for this:

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That's not an easy question. A lot of the behavioral stuff such as generally withdrawing and becoming less communicative can also just indicate being a teenager. Grades in school can suffer. That would be pretty common - but not proof positive of anything.

I mean, there are the obvious things such as smelling like dope all the time - but even then, how do you tell it is not just recreational use?

Same with alcohol stuff. I don't have to describe the symptoms of being drunk - but if it happens, how do you know if it is normal coming-of-age stuff or a problem?

Obviously the frequency of the occurrences is important. If it is happening while driving --> obviously not good.

But then even if it gets to the point where strong suspicion becomes confrontation, you usually just get a bunch of denials that you can't really know are lies or typical denial of actual addiction.

Of course different addictions will have different signs. Some addictions come with syringes or various paraphernalia that might be found.

Sorry for the vague answer so far. Problem is, sometimes you as a parent just can't win. My parents had an impossible situation with me. It sucks.



Leave this with me for a bit and I'll see if I can think of something to say that someone could better sink their teeth into.
 
Mudcat
That's not an easy question. A lot of the behavioral stuff such as generally withdrawing and becoming less communicative can also just indicate being a teenager. Grades in school can suffer. That would be pretty common - but not proof positive of anything.

I mean, there are the obvious things such as smelling like dope all the time - but even then, how do you tell it is not just recreational use?

Same with alcohol stuff. I don't have to describe the symptoms of being drunk - but if it happens, how do you know if it is normal coming-of-age stuff or a problem?

Obviously the frequency of the occurrences is important. If it is happening while driving --> obviously not good.

But then even if it gets to the point where strong suspicion becomes confrontation, you usually just get a bunch of denials that you can't really know are lies or typical denial of actual addiction.

Of course different addictions will have different signs. Some addictions come with syringes or various paraphernalia that might be found.

Sorry for the vague answer so far. Problem is, sometimes you as a parent just can't win. My parents had an impossible situation with me. It sucks.



Leave this with me for a bit and I'll see if I can think of something to say that someone could better sink their teeth into.
Click to expand...

thanks muddy, i appreciate it
 
I would throw out the catch phrase "self medicating" to help control some form of mental illness...depression/anxiety etc.. Genetics are definitely at play in terms of addictions.

I grew up in a very conservative Christian home and my parents did not drink. In part this was because of some awareness of problems with alcohol up the family tree somewhere. All of us children were successful, but I would say we all have addictive tendencies..


I say do not make them appealing by not talking about them or forbidding them (I guess I am talking about wine etc when a bit older) and just try to provide a positive environment promoting good self image and good judgment. If you can keep someone's self esteem in place I think you run less risk of addiction unless there is a strong genetic component. It won't stop periodic fun use, but for most that goes away after college.

Oh and I would say do not place TOOO much pressure for performance/success too much. I think my nephew was a product of that. His father (my brother) expected a lot from him. He was a loner in school and was pressured into attending college when he was clearly not ready. In any case, he is recently out of long stint in a Salt Lake City rehab for heroin addiction and had problems with marijuana and alcohol in earlier years. We had a mini intervention at our house last 4th of July. It was tough as he is a really good kid with a really bad habit.

It is far better to prevent an addiction than to save someone from them. It will tear you apart. I watch my brother with his son and it is heartbreaking. You are doing the right thing by being proactive.
 
Oh, and why can't some people stop? It depends on the drug but some are not only fun or enlightening but physically and psychologically addicting. The thought of having to go thru withdrawal alone is enough to keep people going. With opiates)pain pills, heroin etc) , you have to take more and more as your body becomes tolerant. With that increase is an increased likelihood of addiction.

Ultimately anyone can stop. They just have to want to.

Why can't people stop gambling? They can. They just choose not to. There is no physical w/d there. I don't know..I'm just rambling now. Best of luck friend.
 
IAG
Are you looking for symptoms of use or reasons that children turn to drugs?
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kato
reasons - son is only 4

i plan ahead

see, IAG - i have done drugs - i know the reason - but - was never an addict

i am curious about addiction
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Oh. I answered from a totally different angle. I answered in terms of indications - like how a parent might detect addictions.

Whoops.

Reasons kids use is a whole other kettle of fish.
 
I have spent a helluva lot of time listening to addicts try to explain how they got there and it is confusing.

Me, I was basically addicted from the first time I tried booze/weed. I was fully off to the races and doing as much as circumstances allowed and never looked back. I believe I was born addicted and it made no difference if I had the greatest, most supportive enlightened parents on the face of the earth.

As it turns out, I did have pretty great parents who did an awful lot right. Made no difference.

Why use the first time? The normal reasons. Peer pressure. Romanticism of drinking and whatever in the media. Etc. etc. Whose not going to try a drink once?

Now I could arrange the facts of my life to sound like there were reasons for me being an addict. Here's how that goes: I was a very high achieving young kid in school, music, athletics - always at the top of everything I tried and winning awards based on natural ability. Once I got to my teens, kids who learned work habits were catching up to and passing me as I was still trying/expecting to get by on the natural ability I had been so praised for. But it wasn't enough. Increasingly I was not living up to my promise. Increasingly I was a failure and a disappointment.

It left a big hole in my gut. That was right around the time intoxicants became available to me and I filled that big hole in my soul with drugs which made me feel happy and special and euphoric again.

All true and sounds plausible enough. But I don't believe it is the reason for my addictions. As I said, I believe the addictions were just always there inside me. Genetics I guess. All that stuff I just described is completely true and problematic to my psychology - it had to be reconciled once I got clean and sober if I was ever to have a level of peace - but not the cause of anything.

. . .
 
Not all addicts are like me though. Many describe having a period of time - sometimes a very long time - where they drank/used socially without a problem, only to cross an invisible line at some point. Sometimes the addiction phase doesn't kick in until the 30's, sometimes not until after retirement. There is no small variety of experience with this stuff.

So when they start to describe a set of life circumstances - whether it is parental pressure or domestic violence or trauma, stress, guilt, whatever - as being the reason for addiction, it feels sensible.

They were fine and then they crossed a line. Why? Must be the circumstances of their life.

So what do you do? What do you avoid? Unfortunately there are so many different circumstances that people describe, it would be impossible to avoid them all.

And the fact is too that most non-addicts have very comparable stresses and neuroses. Everyone's got shit.



How do you untangle all of that?

:dunno:
 
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