More Notes on Addiction
Addiction is distinguished by two primary characteristics: repetitive behavior and some means of altering consciousness. The addict's repetitive behavior and pursuit of altered states of mind both serve to provide an authoritative, surrogate self that supplants the otherwise unformed, vague, and inchoate sense of self the addictive person is trying to escape.
The behavior's repetitiveness, intensity, and rigidity create the structure into which the addict can transplant himself. Mundane and boring life without the help of a some predictable behavior provides a sense of certainty and helps the addict deal with life. On his own, he frets, worries, and simply does not trust himself to do it alone. Repetitive behavior - such as working a lot (e.g., the "workaholic"), exercising excessively, cleaning, promiscuity, etc. - provides an external form whereby the self-perceived lack of internal form can be forgotten, subsumed. The repetitive behavior and ensuing structure acts as the "authority" that rules the addict's life.
When the addiction involves some substance that alters a person's consciousness and physiology (caffeine, alcohol, harder drugs, or even the feeling of high from exercise), this serves as an escape from the addict's unaltered state of mind, the scary core of existence that the person fears. Being alone with the self, when that self is not ever sure what is it - or even 'that' it is - is disorienting and frightening. When the 'normal' state of a person's mental state is not well formed, not based upon a level of security, stability, or calm, then altering that consciousness with a pleasurable, euphoric state of mind provides escape from the weakened self. The altered state of mind takes over from a sober state of mind and becomes the "authority" that rules over the addict's helpless, mistrusted self.
Smoking, drinking coffee or alcohol, even shooting heroin, all have a special time and place when the consumption takes place. Consuming the drug becomes a highly structured ritual, dramatized and stylized, which allows the addict to form an identity based around this ritual. The behavior and mind alteration provide a new definition of who he thinks he is. This is why when the substance or behavior is gone, when he tries to kick, he feels even worse than before he started, because he learned to believe that this false self created out of the addiction was actually who he was. In reality, that addicted self was only a substitute for the addict’s real self, which at heart is a slippery, shaky, elusive, center-less hole.
Addiction is distinguished by two primary characteristics: repetitive behavior and some means of altering consciousness. The addict's repetitive behavior and pursuit of altered states of mind both serve to provide an authoritative, surrogate self that supplants the otherwise unformed, vague, and inchoate sense of self the addictive person is trying to escape.
The behavior's repetitiveness, intensity, and rigidity create the structure into which the addict can transplant himself. Mundane and boring life without the help of a some predictable behavior provides a sense of certainty and helps the addict deal with life. On his own, he frets, worries, and simply does not trust himself to do it alone. Repetitive behavior - such as working a lot (e.g., the "workaholic"), exercising excessively, cleaning, promiscuity, etc. - provides an external form whereby the self-perceived lack of internal form can be forgotten, subsumed. The repetitive behavior and ensuing structure acts as the "authority" that rules the addict's life.
When the addiction involves some substance that alters a person's consciousness and physiology (caffeine, alcohol, harder drugs, or even the feeling of high from exercise), this serves as an escape from the addict's unaltered state of mind, the scary core of existence that the person fears. Being alone with the self, when that self is not ever sure what is it - or even 'that' it is - is disorienting and frightening. When the 'normal' state of a person's mental state is not well formed, not based upon a level of security, stability, or calm, then altering that consciousness with a pleasurable, euphoric state of mind provides escape from the weakened self. The altered state of mind takes over from a sober state of mind and becomes the "authority" that rules over the addict's helpless, mistrusted self.
Smoking, drinking coffee or alcohol, even shooting heroin, all have a special time and place when the consumption takes place. Consuming the drug becomes a highly structured ritual, dramatized and stylized, which allows the addict to form an identity based around this ritual. The behavior and mind alteration provide a new definition of who he thinks he is. This is why when the substance or behavior is gone, when he tries to kick, he feels even worse than before he started, because he learned to believe that this false self created out of the addiction was actually who he was. In reality, that addicted self was only a substitute for the addict’s real self, which at heart is a slippery, shaky, elusive, center-less hole.
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