Addicted Or Not? A Real Test?

[ventrue]

After a discussion with some friends about if SWIM is really addicted to meth, if you read the Drug Free America "Are You Addicted?" faq yes it has influenced my life/family blah blah blah. However, Icouldn't come up with a measurable way to tell if I was addicted,SWIMdoesn't have withdrawls/comedown etc. The only test I could devise was a "Dont do it" test. SoSWIM had it available athis house wherehe could get it and nobody would know, for a period of 15 days.SWIM was able (with no real trouble) to not do it for 15 days.SWIM think ifhe *wanted to* thathe could go indefinately. The catch is thathe likes it. So my question is howdoes SWIMtest hiself, in my mind of course SWIM is addicted they do it on a regular basis....end of thought.


-Randy

[als5555]

i like dxm but i don't do it more that twice a month, usually once. i have only tried meth once, and it's not really my thing, but to each his own. the point i'm trying to make its that you can like something without being addicted. if you could go for fifteen days without doing it and you had it, that sounds like you could control yourself pretty well. just don't do it to the point where it gets in the way of the rest of your life. i see drugs as a luxury that one must respect. use them wisely and you can learn great things and meet amazing people, but abuse them and they can go as far as killing you. all things in moderation. sounds to me like you have it under control, but that's for you to decide. good luck with finding your own answer.

[ventrue]

i've been hoping for some other views or suggestions but nothing looks like its coming...

[polloloco001]

it seems to me that there are degrees of addiction. i attend mandatory
AA meetings (sigh) and they love to tell you that some people are born
alcoholics and others just are not. i thinks this is a bad way of
thinking. i think the reality of the situation is that some people deal
with alcohol/drugs more irresponsibly than others, but its not a black
and white thing. they love to tell you addiction is a disease, you have
it, you were born with it, it can never go away and such. i would not
call addiction a disease, i would call it a condition. it sounds like
you are somewhat addicted to meth if it has an impact on your life and
family and you do it regularly, but if you are able to quit cold turkey
for 15 days you probably dont have a bad physical addiction. in my
experience addictions can get worse and they can get better. for a
while i drank quite heavily, blackouts, trips to the hospital/jail, the
whole thing, i thought i was the text book incurable alcoholic. then i
just sort of stopped drinking like that. now i just go to a party and
have a few beers and dont even have a strong desire to drink a lot of
the time. perhaps its the other drugs i use and they substitute for the
alcohol, but they say it all the time at AA: "we understand that we
know only a little." and its true. the shit they say there is not
facts, it is white lies to help people with fucked up lives.

[Solidly-here]

If you Think you are Addicted . . . you are. Why worry about it?


There was an anti-Drug slogan back in the 60s: "The only person who can stand to be around a Speed Freak, is another Speed Freak."


Today it is: "Are you an addict? If you don't think so, you probablyARE one." What's the difference, anyway? If your Drug-of-choice seems to be working for you, just believe: This Drug is working for me.


I think you said it all: "if you read the Drug Free America 'Are You Addicted?' ..." Why do you read this? I will choose to Not read it. I have enough things to worry about already; I try not to invent New things to cause me confusion. If I wanted to get even-handed info about Drugs, I won't hear it from people whose SOLE purpose to exist (drug-free america) is to convince EVERYONE that all drugs are bad. Instead, I will get my info from people who are not so biased against it.


One thing that surprises me is when I hear the results of some Poll: 80% for, 20% against. It seems that no matter WHAT the issue, there are never any that Some people don't disagree with. I am waiting for the day that Today's question is: "Do you think that all 3-year-olds should be murdered, to help the Population explosion?" Mark my words, it won't be 0% for, 100% against.


In the Literal sense, there are VERY few Drugs that are physically addicting: Heroin, Nicotine. So, there are millions of Nicotine addicts roaming the streets; so what? Most of these "addicts" live pretty normal lives. It doesn't matter that they are addicts. Life goes on. We each have our own problems.Edited by: Solidly-here

[BrugmansiaBrujo]

Addiction comes in many forms



Religious zealots are addicted to their faith.



Wankers are addicted to their hands.



I'd say if you can have it around and not use it for 15 days, you are
not quite into full-on addiction yet. But use caution, as
addictions creep up on a person very slowly and insidiously.



Keep use infrequent and you should be OK. There is a difference between liking something and being addicted to it.



I like alcohol, but I don't drink it every day, and I seldom (at least nowadays) drink until I'm drunk.



If you listen to the "just say no" propaganda, you are an addict. But I think that's BS, and that you are not addicted yet.



Also the anti-druggers like to spout off the word "abuse". Any
use of any illegal drug is abuse to them. This is just spin, and
is BS. In my mind, occasional use for fun, in the privacy of ones
home (not out driving around or at work where you could hurt someone
else) is not abuse. To me, addiction and abuse are synonomous.



So to me, those same people that say the kid who smoked a joint once in
his life just to try it was abusing it; and those same people who say
that use of caffeine, nicotine, and alcohol daily is OK, are hippocrits.
Hippocrits who need to get a live for themselves and stop worrying
about the rest of us.


Edited by: BrugmansiaBrujo

[pabel_giboon]

I went to psicho-therapy for a coupe of years and my therapist made a difference between use, abuse and adiction. I went to therapy due to another problen, but at some point the question am "I addicted?" came up. The therapist told me one of the clearest signs of an addiction comes from the wold itself: a-dicted (not said). So in kind of a way, if you are talking about the subject, not keeping it in the dark, that`s a good sign. Anyway beware, heavy use leads to abuse, and you might be able to quit it now but you must keep an eye on it, be clever and sincere to yourself.

[Crackkim]

i'm addicted i can't wake up and fuvtion proper with out smoking crack . its sad i know but its true i cant imagine a life with out it anymore

[ventrue]

so, the question i guess is do you like it that way? if not, do you dislike it enough to do what it takes to change. even though its the hardest thing you'll ever do, and will probably take a year at minimum?

[swanprincess75]

From a previous experience with an addiction, I know that there was no way I could go 3 days without this certain thing. 15 days, well I would have been in the loonie bin!! I tried quitting cold turkey and I developed massive mood swings, hot flashes, IRRITABILTY, and everyday was commotion because, "I could not funtion properly". I thinka true addict's feelingis, "this issomething that Ijust cant go without".Even going 2 days without a problem is a postive sign that right now, you are not addicted. Hey, I like chocolot but I donteat it everyday cause it'll get you fat!! (not addicted) As like was said in an earlier post, it can creepup onyou so becareful and be safe!!

[Crackkim]

Originally Posted by ventrue

so, the question i guess is do you like it that way? if not, do you dislike it enough to do what it takes to change. even though its the hardest thing you'll ever do, and will probably take a year at minimum?

no like it

[cactus]

addiction is simply when you cant go without, it doesnt matter on the fequency of usage.


it sounds like you have control on your meth usage, sure you like it, thats why you do it right?


Just be careful, i wouldnt suggest using too often and try not to develop patterns. i have lost many friends to the evils of meth.

[Crackkim]

its hard to stay off the stuff you know

[oldman]

ventrue run out to your local border's books and get a copy of The complete guide to rational recovery by Jack trimpy. I refer to this book alot (sorry guys if it ain't cool let me know and I'll never mention what his name again) in these forums about addiction. Trimpy is the only guy out there who'll explain adiction to you and how it is definateyNOT a disease. The AMA has never acknowledged that, but they won't dispell this theory outright becauser them Board certified MD's have to have some excuse for when they come for surgery one day and blow drunk into the breathalizer. They are mandated to a very stiff treatment in and after care because by gosd we gotta lick this disease good the first timeamd then you'll be all better. well as long as they subscribe to that then they get a return ticket back to the big money factory. As I said Trimpy is the only guy that makes sense and he hates AA.

[a-SalviaLover]

Addiction to meth is on the samo (dopamine) basis as the addiction to nicotine. Meth encoureges the mind to self administer more meth. It has some phisical withdrawal which is a consequence from the exhaustment it causes. And this withdrawal is not dangerous. I don't like the mental effects when the drug wears off. It makes you feel paranoid and by far not stable on this world. It makes me hallucinate each time I try to sleep and these hallucinations are bad, not like from psychedelics. Anyway, these side effects do not encourage you to take more. But the higher dopamine levels do. This is the motivation system of your organism and the fact that you always have thoughts about taking more of this stuff doesn't mean that it is exactly a psichological dependence like it is with MJ. Anyway I like meth, too. I was doing it regularly until I found shroomz and saw what big dangers it can cause. Still doing it occasionally though!