Intentionally Addicting Yourself to a Substance?

[karpedeem13]

Does anyone know of a case in which someone willingly took a drug repeatedly in order to create an addiction to the substance?

I am not in any way advising any individual to purposely addict themselves to any substance whatsoever. I am merely curious if anyone has heard about or read of someone who has intentionally addicted themselves to some drug (i.e. cigarettes, opium, heroin, etc.)?

[nibble]

While I don't know of any specific incidences of something like this, it is certainly plausible. The idea of the poor, suffering addict may seem almost romantic to some and thus want to be addicted to something for the attention and pity it might bring...

[pinksox]

Nope, certainly not SWIM. It hit SWIM like a ton of brick and she was deep over her head well before she was aware she had a "problem."

Good thread though.

[Richard_smoker]

wait a second. this is VERY plausible. in fact, it has been swim's experience thru his many bouts on and off again the opiate-addiction train that even after being addicted to something for quite a while...once swim STOPPED taking that substance for a long time, taking the drug again SERIOUSLY lacked the 'luster' that it once had. why?

my theory is that before the "SUPER-HIGH" euphoria can be achieved, your baseline has to be lowered to that of---essentially--an addict. that way you will experience the REALLY LOW LOWS during which time, you can take the drug and BAM! You're SUPER-HIGH (relative to the way you felt PRIOR to taking the drug) -DICK

[radiometer]

I knew a guy, who was the head of a local chapter of a well-known harm-reduction group, who purposely addicted himself to methamphetamine in order to see what it would be like.

Eddie sort of did this with kratom. Not for the purpose of being addicted, but - he got a huge benefit in his work from kratom, knew that chronic use would lead to dependence, yet nonetheless pursued it eyes wide open.

[karpedeem13]

Originally Posted by Richard_smoker

my theory is that before the "SUPER-HIGH" euphoria can be achieved, your baseline has to be lowered to that of---essentially--an addict. that way you will experience the REALLY LOW LOWS during which time, you can take the drug and BAM! You're SUPER-HIGH (relative to the way you felt PRIOR to taking the drug) -DICK

I'm familiar with this phenomenon of having a baseline so low that getting your "high" becomes more of a "super-high." This is reminiscent of the saying "once you hit rock bottom, there's nowhere to go but up." Since our experiences of pleasure and pain are purely subjective, they don't rely on how much pleasure an experience gives us but on how much MORE pleasure an experience gives us as opposed to our normal state; food tastes better when you are starving, sleep is more appreciated when exhausted.

Back to the original question of intentionally addicting yourself to a substance; I'm sure there is a documentary of some sort which chronicles someone's purposeful addiction to something, like cigarettes. Does anyone know of a source or can direct me to an article/movie/webpage that relates to this?

karpedeem13 added 1 Minutes and 47 Seconds later...

Originally Posted by radiometer

I knew a guy, who was the head of a local chapter of a well-known harm-reduction group, who purposely addicted himself to methamphetamine in order to see what it would be like.

Eddie sort of did this with kratom. Not for the purpose of being addicted, but - he got a huge benefit in his work from kratom, knew that chronic use would lead to dependence, yet nonetheless pursued it eyes wide open.

This friend of yours who addicted himself to methamphetamines, was he "successful" in doing so? And what was it like for him?

And as for Eddie, did he ever become addicted to Kratom, or even dependent on it for work productivity? How was it when (if) he stopped using for a day, or two, or a week?

[mr.mackey]

swim has read a paper written by a psychologist who was studying addiction, in the article, she purposefully takes her husband's hydromorphone for 14 days and then quits abruptly. Swim thinks it was in a book called the top ten psychology experiments of the 20th century or something like that

[bcubed]

I can think of a few, probable cases where one might do this:

1. I read in "opiates" where naloxone (narcan) is occsionally "abused." Considering that this drug's effect on a non-addicted SWIY is to make life in general (and booze in particular) "meh...whatever"-ish, it'd seem there are adrenaline junkies out there who crave ANY intense experience, even an intensely bad one.

2. Lizard always felt that--economics aside--the main benefit of IVing is the "rush" to bliss. Thus, the optimal way to start would be to wait until slightly dope-sick (though anyone considering this probably already has at least a lemur on their back).

3. For a full understanding of opiates...so much of their use is WD-oriented (riding them out, avoiding, etc) that one might want to tolerate a nibble of sickness for the "full tour."

4. Lizard was discussing this with his shrink...remembering that the sole upside of alcohol addiction was that is was refreshing to have a problem that lends itself so readily to a solution, he suggested that some might choose to exchange a problem without easy solution for a bigger one with one on a more-or-less willful manner.

[thirteenthfloor]

Originally Posted by radiometer

I knew a guy, who was the head of a local chapter of a well-known harm-reduction group, who purposely addicted himself to methamphetamine in order to see what it would be like.

Swim thinks it's probably no the smartest thing to do (definetly not for everyone), but has respect for this man. Swim is not an addict, but has seen from small addictions to lesser drugs how one could become one. Swim believe's that many rehab type places are run by people who have truly no idea what it means personally to have an addiction. The people who have overcome addiction know what it does to someone and how hard it is to overcome, and are much better suited to help others. Hopefully it worked out for him and he was able to quit after?

[karpedeem13]

Originally Posted by thirteenthfloor

Swim believe's that many rehab type places are run by people who have truly no idea what it means personally to have an addiction. The people who have overcome addiction know what it does to someone and how hard it is to overcome, and are much better suited to help others.

This is exactly my sentiment; a counselor must be empathetic toward the needs of an addict struggling to quit, but this is impossible if the counselor has never been addicted to a substance hirself. Swim wouldn't go so far as to addict hirself to methamphetamines, but Swim has definitely toyed with the idea of intentionally addicting hirself to cigarettes.

[OsCarwild]

The only people SWIM knows who have done that simply did it for attention. Addiction is something that everyone tries to stay away from whenever possible.