Depression is another factor that keeps an addict harnessed in his addiction. Depression is the source of a constant and significant amount of discomfort that prompts continued drug use. It is also the second major barrier to recovery for those seeking treatment for their addictions.
Some of the traditional medical- and psychiatric-based programs diagnose and treat the depression an addict is experiencing, claiming that it is the fundamental cause of the person’s drug or alcohol problem. Psychotropic medications are usually prescribed for depression but simply mask symptoms. They do not bring about a cure. When the medications wear off, depression returns, often magnified. The presence of mind-altering drugs and worsening depression makes the recovery process more difficult, if not impossible.
In most cases, depression actually manifests itself after the person becomes addicted, not before. The cause of the depression is linked to the damage done by the drugs themselves.
There are physical, social and mental factors at work creating the depression and lethargy (laziness, sluggishness and apathy) experienced by addicts. On a physical level, most addicts are in a declining or poor state of health. While they are high, they are in a euphoric, pain-free state of mind. They are numb to the damage being caused by their drug or alcohol use. When they become sober, they have no energy and their minor aches and pains intensify. They are physically spent as a result of the severe nutritional deficiencies that accompany long-term drug or alcohol use.
Socially, the person’s quality of life has declined to a low level. The addict is so obsessed with finding drugs or alcohol and using them so he can function that he can’t focus on anything else. Consequently, jobs are lost, businesses are destroyed, marriages break up and children are neglected. On a mental level, they have difficulty finding joy or happiness in anything while they are not under the influence. At some point, an addict surrenders to the idea that they must be high to experience any emotions, they must be high to celebrate an accomplishment, to escape sadness, to solve problems, enjoy sex, have meaningful relationships, work or play. The addict truly believes and operates on this principle, numb to the fact that the quality of his life and relationships with others are actually on a down trending spiral
Why Depression Occurs in the Addict
Earlier in this booklet, we discussed the presence of drug metabolites in the addict’s system and how metabolites play a role in stimulating memories associated with drug and alcohol use. The addict’s brain also identifies the chemicals in drugs or alcohol as substances that restrict or enhance the release of naturally-occurring chemicals in the brain. In some cases, the brain identifies the chemicals in some drugs as superior to the body’s natural chemicals. The body normally creates its own chemicals to act as a reward system that makes eating, exercising and procreating enjoyable. Other naturally-occurring chemicals act as painkillers that kick into action when we get hurt or experience pain. These natural chemicals are directly involved with promoting our physical well-being in one way or another.
Drugs and alcohol are composed of such strong chemicals that they can overpower the body’s own natural chemistry and create intoxication and euphoria.
When a person uses drugs on a regular basis, his or her body becomes depleted of key nutrients and amino acids (amino acids are the building blocks for the body’s natural chemicals). These nutritional deficiencies prevent the body from receiving the nutritional energy that it needs to produce and release the natural chemicals.
In short, drugs take over the functions of the body’s own natural chemicals. The brain and body are fooled into thinking that the drug or alcohol is the natural chemical it needs.
When drugs or alcohol are present in the addict’s system, the perception is that the body chemistry is working and all is well. When the drugs or alcohol leave the addict’s system, the brain and body perceive a shortage of natural body chemicals. This perceived shortage adds to the lethargy and lack of enjoyment experienced by the addict when he or she is not under the influence of drugs. This condition then contributes to the compulsion and drive for an addict to take more drugs or alcohol, despite the frequently life-threatening circumstances an addict faces on a day-to-day basis.
The drug or alcohol gets misidentified as an aid to the production and release of the natural chemicals when, in fact, it is suppressing the body’s ability to manufacture them.
The Addict’s Lifestyle Itself Creates More Depression
The final piece of the puzzle of depression comes from addiction’s destructive effects on an addict’s life. There are broken relationships and often, problems with the law or finances. The individual starts to distance himself from the people he loves and becomes more and more detached. He may lose his job or start experiencing serious health problems. Ordinarily, addicts lose everything they care about: their homes, their families, cars, possessions, jobs and friends. Addiction is destroying the addict’s life. No one would be happy about this happening.
Depression is an appropriate emotional response, considering the misery that the addict is faced with. Some psychiatrists and medical doctors will diagnose this depressed state as a mental illness and prescribe psychotropic medications. These medications will never do anything more than mask the depression temporarily. On the other hand, so will the addict’s preferred drug or brand of alcohol.
Psychotropic drugs do not help a recovering addict restore their relationships or build a sane, drug-free life. They do nothing to help the person rebuild his or her health, in fact, they add more toxins to the person’s system since all drugs have some toxic effect, even if minor. Medical personnel in the addiction treatment field treating this depression as a "mental illness or disease" expect that somehow their prescribed medications will "fix" the person. Then once "fixed," the person could then fix these situations in their life. This is an irrational assumption, if you think about it
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