From Compulsion to Choice...
The Basics about Addiction
Adapted from Denis Meacham’s
“The Addictions Ministry Handbook” p.1-2
If there is one thing you should know about people with addictions—something that should be in your head and your heart when you are in contact with them—it is this: In most important ways, they are just like you and me. They are bright people and not-so-bright people. They are outgoing and jovial, and they are introverted and somber. Most go to work every day to earn a living. Many have families, raise children, take care of aging parents, go to church, and generally manage to be responsible, at least in some areas of their lives—just like you and me.
Like you and me, these individuals are also trying to cope with the challenges that life throws at them. The behavior they become addicted to is one of their coping mechanisms, and—in many cases--it is a behavior that many people engage in without ever getting into any trouble. But for addicts, this particular coping mechanism has itself become a life challenge or worse—a serious threat to their health and well-being, the integrity of their family, and the emotional stability of their loved ones. And a characteristic of the illness of addiction (in fact the defining characteristic) is that despite the negative consequences of their behavior, these individuals are compelled to continue in their destructive pattern.
No one has ever chosen to be an addict. No one wants to be involved in compulsive behavior. Rather habitually dependant people are stuck in a behavior that probably served them well at one time, briefly, and now they can’t change without help.
As you get to know these people, you will learn they are not monsters (at least no more than the rest of us). Everything they do, including all their destructive behaviors, would probably make sense to you if you were in their shoes. This is to say that people with addictions are more like us that they are different. Like us, they are trying to make their way in the world. The problem is their life strategies are working any more. Out of an abiding reverence for their worth and dignity as fellow human beings, we are called as caregivers to companion them on their journey. And as we do, we should take very seriously a mantra of Alcoholics Anonymous: “There but for fortune go you or I.”
