Many types of addiction can affect people from all walks of life.
Addiction can overtake any individual’s life, regardless of socioeconomic status, gender, age, or other factors. Some people are more at risk than others, but as a whole, addiction does not discriminate.
One of the types of addiction that is more commonly known is that of alcoholism.
This is a disease that centers in the mind and manifests itself as a physical allergy. People addicted to alcohol cannot safely consume it in any form or fashion; the only sure way to recovery is complete abstinence. Alcoholism is a temporary solution for a thinking problem. This means that most people who struggle with an addiction to alcohol have turned to it as a solution for problems in their lives. In this way, they are self-medicating physical or emotional pain or stress.
Other types of addiction similar to alcoholism are drug addictions.
Addictive drugs produce physical and psychological cravings. Some types of these drugs include marijuana, cocaine, heroin, opioids, and even legal pharmaceuticals. Drug addiction is also used as a way to self-medicate. In this way, addiction is a thinking disease, which means that those who turn to mind-altering substances are unable to differentiate the true from the false. Education, self-awareness, and spiritual principles must be implemented in order to learn how to live without using.
Sex, gambling, and overeating are other types of addictions that are, once again, temporary solutions.
Any time something is used to excess and the user does not have the ability to refrain, addiction is present. Though the person probably wants to stop and can’t explain why they continue doing what they do, they are unable to quit. The 12 Steps have worked and continue to work in countless lives. These principles and guidelines to living can be applied to any addiction. They call for surrender and a reliance on a power greater than yourself. It is highly recommended to work with a sponsor, someone who has traversed the Steps themselves and whom you can trust. There is a way out of the madness of addiction, regardless of the type of addiction. The 12 steps and professional treatment can mean the difference between doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results, and actually finding peace.
