The alcoholics I've known have all had underlying emotional problems. One can't get over the business partner who left him holding the bag - it cost hundreds of thousands of dollars for him to get the bank to leave him alone.
Another couldn't deal with her marriage falling apart. Prison also didn't help her learn how to better deal with life.
I believe the third was turned into an alcoholic by methadone. The etiology of this one's addictions is fascinating, but I think the main consideration is the lack of stability growing up. Money was never a problem, but her family life during childhood and teenage years was ... sub-optimal.
Emotionally-stable people tend to not become addicted to alcohol, heroin, cocaine, etc. I've met former cocaine users whose attitude is "been there, done that, no need to use again." That's kind of my attitude about alcohol - I don't care for it at all, no matter the price.
A wise woman once said, "... When a person feels safe, the false ego goes away." Helping people feel safe should be the #1 priority of every effort to help someone with substance abuse problems.
You're absolutely right. Good emotional state is probably the key factor in combating addiction. Yet it's important to remember that there exist other factors at play in addiction, and that we should target them too. For instance, addiction to alcohol seems to have some genetic factors. In some genetic lines, almost every person with a low emotional state might be at huge risk for addiction. And in others, almost no one might be at risk. We need to also understand why that is, and combat that, too.
> Helping people feel safe should be the #1 priority of every effort to help someone with substance abuse problems.
Exactly this thought. I've helped a lot of kids over the year through abusive homes and the greatest thing you can give them is the feeling of safety above all else. This isn't necessarily helicopter parenting, but it's attentive to the needs to help them feel like they can fail without losing the essential securities of life.
I cannot recommend mindfulness meditation (or yoga, or deep breathing,...) enough for this - it brings a feeling of safety automatically (seems to have to do with meditation reducing amygdala responses; I read something about taking 8 weeks to produce a lasting effect).
> What do you mean they were turned into alcoholic by methadone?
Of the three alcoholics I mentioned, only one was (possibly/probably) triggered by methadone maintenance therapy.
Methadone is well-known to cause sugar cravings. This one started drinking heavily after about a month of methadone. She justified this as 'okay' because she wasn't driving.
Alcohol is just another form of fuel (derived from carbohydrates) for the body to burn. The alcoholic brain preferentially burns acetate (one of the breakdown products of ethanol):
Another couldn't deal with her marriage falling apart. Prison also didn't help her learn how to better deal with life.
I believe the third was turned into an alcoholic by methadone. The etiology of this one's addictions is fascinating, but I think the main consideration is the lack of stability growing up. Money was never a problem, but her family life during childhood and teenage years was ... sub-optimal.
Emotionally-stable people tend to not become addicted to alcohol, heroin, cocaine, etc. I've met former cocaine users whose attitude is "been there, done that, no need to use again." That's kind of my attitude about alcohol - I don't care for it at all, no matter the price.
A wise woman once said, "... When a person feels safe, the false ego goes away." Helping people feel safe should be the #1 priority of every effort to help someone with substance abuse problems.