Addiction is bewildering when it enters into your life through your own substance abuse or the substance abuse of another.
Addiction Isn’t a Matter Of Crime
Crime is defined as “an action or omission that constitutes an offense that may be prosecuted by the state and is punishable by law.” Criminals commit crimes. People of all walks of life become criminals, sometimes intentionally and sometimes by accident. Not every crime is punishable by law. People steal time, energy, love, devotion, and affection all the time. They steal trust, respect, and dignity. Unfortunately, people also steal money, cars, jewelry and other material items. Breaking the law can be a characteristic of people who are struggling with addiction. The driving need to feed a biological addiction, which is coupled with a mental obsession of craving, can lead a man to make offenses. Not every man who becomes chemically addicted to drugs and alcohol will commit a crime. Addiction is not a punishable offense and it should not be prosecuted as one. Rather than chastise men who have become addicted, there must be treatment, instruction, guidance, and support.
Addiction Isn’t a Matter Of Character
Words like ‘character’ can come into the conversation of addiction. Men who are seeking rehabilitation because they are addicted to drugs and alcohol are not bad men trying to become good. They are not wrong men trying to become right. Addiction can be seen as a medical, biological, environmental, social, physical matter that is somewhat like a sickness. Men who become addicted are men who have become unwell. Treatment and recovery is the way that men become well again. By the definition of ‘character’, this understanding of addiction negates the association: “principles concerning the distinction between right and wrong or good and bad behavior”.
Addiction Is a Matter Of The Brain
In many ways, addiction is seen as a “disease” or a “disorder” of the brain. Drugs and alcohol create a surplus of a neurotransmitter called dopamine, a chemical messenger of pleasure. Altering the way various systems in the brain work, dopamine causes an imbalance which ultimately causes a dependency on external substances. Eventually the brain becomes fully chemically dependent on drugs and alcohol to create the surplus of dopamine over and over. The brain ultimately becomes depleted in its ability to produce any dopamine at all, causing a sickness of body and mind.
You can find freedom from addiction. Tree House Recovery is a men’s residential treatment program in Portland, Oregon, creating sustainable recovery for men through sustainable change. Call us today: (503) 850-2474