Have you ever come across a person who, upon waking up, declared, “Today is the day I’m going to become an addictions,” or something to that effect? Of course, you haven’t. The reason for this is fairly straightforward: addiction is not something that can be developed overnight. It is a gradual process that can take several weeks or months, and when it finally does occur, you may not even be aware that anything has changed. You speak up and inquire, “Why don’t you know when?”
There is no single defining moment at which a person will become addicted to something. When one uses drugs for recreational purposes, there is no clear endpoint; there is no signal that says, “You’re an addict; learn to live with it.” No, the process is very gradual. It all starts the first time you experiment with alcohol or drugs and find that you enjoy the way they make you feel. You might be experiencing a positive case of the giggles right now. Therefore, you carry out the action again. Over and over again until one day, you decide you don’t want to do it anymore, and you realize you can’t resist the draw. After that, you start doing it again and again.
You have the intention of quitting, but your body no longer seeks pleasure alone. It must have the medication. It is desperate for the drug and will start yelling at you until it is able to obtain it on its own. At that point, you realize with absolute certainty that you no longer have a choice; it is an addiction, and the drug is in complete control of you. Because of the way drugs impair a person’s ability to make sound decisions, this is a terrible thing to have transpired. When you’re high, it’s impossible to recall with absolute certainty whether you took a pill an hour ago, two hours ago, or three hours ago. It’s possible that you’ll be tempted to take more of it simply because you can’t recall how much you’ve already consumed or when or because the previous time you tried it, you weren’t able to achieve the desired level of intoxication. However, as your tolerance increases, so does your addiction to the substance. It is expanding, albeit slowly but surely.
Finding treatment and getting sober is the best decision an addict can make for themselves. After making that decision, the way forward will be more obvious. Without a doubt, it is a challenge. And it never occurs at a quick enough pace. If you think back to how long it took you to develop an addiction, you’ll realize that it wasn’t something that happened all of a sudden. The recovery process proceeds in the same manner. It requires perseverance, tolerance, and dedication on your part. The process of recovery is an ongoing journey rather than an endpoint to be reached. Give something to yourself that will bring you a lot of benefits. Find a way to recover. Find a way out of this predicament.