We think of glazed eyes and emaciated bodies, skin that looks bruised and old and minds that cannot be reached. We think of lost souls and it makes us afraid to trust anything, even life itself. So what is an addiction? Is it a very specific craving that grows to occupy its host entirely or is it much more than that?
Let’s take the word off the shelf and examine it. Perhaps getting to know it might help to lessen the fear and we operate more efficiently with less fear. The first thing we realize when we hold 'addiction' towards the light is that we all suffer from it in some form or another. This is the big picture view of addiction and like all big pictures it offers much needed perspective. This is a gross liberty, you say. Presumptuous and possibly libelous. But check it out. What drives us? What lies behind our most persistent desires?
Addiction is not only about substance abuse. It is true that addiction attracts the most attention in our society when it concerns illegal substances but addiction is subtler than that. Much has been written about the more blatant aspects of addiction with the principal focus on drugs, alcohol, Sexual, Negative relationships and smoking but we humans can get addicted to anything. Addiction implies addictive behavior and addictive behavior can develop around activities like Praying, Reading, eating, gym, work, relationships and people.
We can be addicted to ideas and mindsets and ideologies and moods. All of this goes relatively unnoticed but any and all of it can have negative effects. Take this story for example. Ahamed’s brother is addicted to Alcohol. Ahamed watches as his brother Drinks Everyday day. He patches the bruises and puts his brother back together and takes him by the shoulders and says firmly: "No more, brother. No more." But he knows it’s wrong and because that he’s not going to gain anything But his brother feels he cannot stop. His addiction makes him blind. Now he is fighting his family and his family is now fuelled by an aching emptiness that needs filling. This is the psychology of addiction, but it is also the spirituality of addiction.
If your teen has a serious addiction that needs your immediate attention, call in everyone who is anyone in the field of drug rehabilitation. Listen to everyone and then get help from the school of thought that sounds the most like truth to you. At this stage, action is required and there is plenty of advice out there on what kind of action to use. This is not what I have chosen to focus on.
I am looking at the causes of addiction because I am a great believer in that old saying: prevention is better than cure. I believe that if we can go deep and try to understand the mechanics of addiction we can be most useful as parents when our children have to deal with their own.
Teenagers are such vulnerable new adults. They are only just beginning to learn about the great longings that haunt us humans. Sometimes these longings are too poignant to be expressed and they become perverted into addictions that lead us badly astray. I believe that if you are to really treat addictions you cannot forget this that lies at the root of it all. This knowledge should color every other practical action you may have to take to save your child's life. Save our future generation.
