America, the Addicted

     Next month will make it a full year since I quit smoking cigarettes. For me, this is one of my proudest moments because not only have I proven all of those people wrong who said I couldn't do it, but I have, more importantly, proven that the dark voice of irrational doubt that haunts my self-confidence is not more powerful than my will. Any addict knows how strong that voice can be, and as someone that has always struggled with self-confidence, this is a huge personal win. Now don't worry, this post is not another preachy advice column about "how to quit."  I understand that addiction is a personal thing, and because of that, every person's journey is going to look different. Moreover, the tactics that one uses to quit must be tailored to that person's unique motivations and I prefer to keep those intimate aspects of my personality to myself. My best advice for anyone struggling with addiction would be to see a trained therapist (preferably one who specializes in addiction, but any therapist will work), and they will be able to help you to identify the best plan for you and your lifestyle.  I have included a link at the bottom of this page to a website with a great database of mental health professionals.
       Instead, my goal is to address how poorly our culture handles addicts. In previous posts, I spoke at great lengths about the stigma of mental illness in our society. So as a launching point, keep in mind that mental illness includes addiction. Many people in society tend to treat it as a seperate diagnosis, but, as a personal witness of countless addicts in my life, I know that they often display the same symptoms as any other person with a mental illness, and while treatment is typically much different, the causes are often the same. Now when I talk about addiction, I am talking about my personal definition of addiction: use of a substance that manipulates the brain AND subsequently changes the functioning of the brain in such a way that it results in a physical or mental dependence on that substance to maintain normal brain functioning.  
       What I want you to notice about this definition is that it doesn't indicate any sort of idea that addiction can only happen to weak or evil people. The fact that our minds so easily slip to an image of a dirty criminal when we think of the word "addict" proves just how ubiquitous the criminalization of addiction is in the public consciousness. The fact is that in 2007, alone, an estimated 23.2 million people aged 12 or older needed treatment for a substance use disorder in the United States, and my guess is that the self hatred that most of those individuals suffer from as a result of this criminalization doesn't help their problem. Labeling oneself as a criminal only perpetuates the cycle because as Mahatma Gandhi once said:

"A man is but the product of his thoughts. What he thinks, he becomes.

       If we truly want less criminal activity among drug users then we should focus a little more on reducing prison sentences for these "crimes" and by, instead, offering cheaper rehabilitation options to non-offenders and offenders alike. According to the National Substance Abuse Treatment Services Survey, the average cost for inpatient programs was about $7,000 per month. Since more than 30 days produces a higher recovery rate, the cost of drug rehab can easily range between $7,500 and $75,000.  To me, this is ridiculous. I understand that it costs a lot of money to provide quality treatment to these individuals, but I feel like using our tax money to pay at least a portion of these costs would be cheaper in the long run than the cost of repetitively paying for prison stays of repeat drug offenders. No matter how its defined, though, drug and alcohol addictions are a huge problem. A problem that is highly specific to the American culture. I personally blame our inefficient system of negative reinforcement, but maybe you disagree. Feel free to share your thoughts about this topic in the comments below!

Resources for those struggling or those who know someone struggling with drug addiction: 
http://www.allaboutcounseling.com/