What is addiction?

As you can surmise from the title of this post, Understanding Addictions, the intent is to invite exploration of addictive disorders and their treatment. But what is addiction?

Everyone – literally EVERYONE – has an understanding of what addiction is as a “problem” and who addicts are as individuals. The problem, however, is that these personal definitions of addiction are fraught with “facts” born of the “nudge, nudge; wink, wink” personal descriptions of addiction and addicted individuals, often based on “Hollywood’s” spin on these disorders. Consequently, every person on the street has an opinion about what an addiction is and how to "spot an addict." Have you seen Train Spotting, Leaving Las Vegas, or When a Man Loves a Woman? Did you have any doubt about who was addicted and who was not? But while any observant human being may be able to identify the individual in the later stages of dependence, i.e., the classic symptoms of physical withdrawal, serious medical complications resulting from chronic abuse, and the litany of socioeconomic problems associated with addiction, it takes a trained counselor to recognize the problems of abuse and dependence in their earliest stages so as to increase the likelihood of effective treatment. This is not easy to accomplish without a clear understanding of what an addiction is and how it evolves.

As you can image, “street definitions” may not be the most accurate source of information about addictive disorders on which a professional counselor can base a diagnosis and develop an effective treatment plan. Unfortunately, relatively few counseling and medical professionals have much if any direct education about or training in understanding addictions and their treatment.

The Assignment
To learn more visit the online article on addiction by Howard Schaffer. Consider his attempt to answer the question, “What is an addiction”? Think about how like/unlike Dr. Schaffer’s position is from your “preexisting” beliefs.

In addition, also read Peter Cohen's essay on addiction—I think you will find this essay interesting as it argues there is no such thing as addiction, suggesting instead that addiction is a “social construction.”

As will become clearer when you dig deeper into the issue of addictions, rarely does someone present at a counselor’s office saying, “The war’s over, I lost and am ready to do whatever you say to get better.” In fact, most clients do not even realize the extent to which their use of alcohol, other drugs, or involvement in compulsive behaviors such as gambling affect their lives and those of their significant others. It is our job as professional counselors to invite our clients to consider what one mentor of mine used to suggest…“what causes a problem is a problem because it causes problems.”

Robert J. chapman

Home for the Helidays

In just over 2 weeks, student from alcohol & other drug dependent families will head home for T-giving and Christmas breaks. It is that time of the year again…time to share a reminder of The Network’s brochure, Home for the Helidays. This brochure presents an overview of what students face during this time of the year when preparing to return to an alcohol or other drug dependent family. There are several suggestions proffered regarding how to help students prepare and cope with what can be an extremely trying experience.

Please consider referring students to the brochure online or printing copies for those students you know may appreciate such…if not all students you know who can “pass it on” to quote an old AA slogan. And please feel free to pass this along to others who may be able to share this information with students if not be able to use it themselves.

The brochure can be found in PDF format on The Network addressing collegiate alcohol and other drug issues web page and is based on an essay I wrote some years ago with the same title.

Robert

Fake IDs: Who Values Them Most

The issue of false identification, A.K.A. "Fake Ids" is not news, especially when considering the importance of alcohol and drinking as icons of contemporary collegiate life. A recent article in the Roanoke Times outlines this issue and hints at both its prevalence and the sophistication of these IDs in the 21st century.

This post is not so much intended to comment on Fake IDs as a contemporary social problem as to shine some light on the underage individuals who most highly prize possessing such identification. More to the point, some students value fake id as not only a status symbols or an accoutrement of the savvy, well prepared collegian, but as an absolute necessities to salvage a successful collegiate social life.

When conducting qualitative research on collegiate drinking, both as part of a formal research methodology in the mid 1990s and unofficially in conversations with underage collegians from the late 1980s throughout the 1990s (and on to the present) I had expected the 18- or 19-year-old first-year student to be at the head of the pack in advocating the importance of the "fake id"; I was surprised to learn that I was wrong.

Although fake id, especially "good" fake id, is prized by entering college students, they were not seriously inconvenienced if they did not have access to identification that could stand the scrutiny of trained "gatekeepers" at licensed drinking establishments. Many of these students told me that they did most of their collegiate drinking with friends and acquaintances at clandestine locations, often the "$X at the door, all you can drink" house party where there was no id check or if ids were required, a "note from your mother" was sufficient for entry.

For these entering collegians, it was the ability to produce fake id and display it, like the "condom in the wallet" of the 1960s male, that was significant. It was a trophy or talisman of sorts, that evoked awe and respect from other "less fortunate" underage collegians. And even if the entering student had a "high quality" piece of fake id, the chances are that it would be used far less frequently that either "we" or its owner would have thought because the venues desired for collegiate socializing by entering or "inexperienced" first-year students were the clandestine sites frequented by friends and these simply did not require id.

Surprisingly, it was the 20-year old junior or senior student who not only coveted "quality" false identification, but who recognized that her or his ability to socialize, and do so with specific friends who were of age, depended on such. Many junior and senior students--students I refer to as "experienced" students--realize what in the literature is referred to as the "maturing out phenomenon." For these students, the allure of the keg party attended by "100 of your closest friends" has passed. Juniors and Seniors report that they prefer to go out in small groups and frequent establishments where alcohol is served and frequently is not the focal point, i.e., "the entertainment." Such students of age, planning to go to a club requiring id, will inadvertently present their 20-year old friends with a dilemma...either talk the group into a different social venue or secure quality false identification that will ensure entry to the club. It is this student, the 20-year-old junior or senior, for whom fake id is an issue of social primacy.

It would seem that false identification has always been an issue for "underage" students, but as the sophistication of such identification has increased and its importance for specific underage students is recognized, we can begin to appreciate why some students will go to great ends and invest significant amounts of money and resources in securing "quality" fake id.

Robert