Addiction. I've looked at it, studied it, learned about it, been there and done it, figured it out and beat it, helped people deal with and get out of it, and just basically thought about it a great deal for many years. I have a lot to say about it and now I finally have a place where I can share some of my thoughts about it. 

I don't have much here in this section yet, but I'll be adding to it as I go. 

"Pain Medications" 


"Pain Medications" 
In an interview this morning [20031020] on the TV about how there are so many people addicted to pain killers, I heard the host ask, "So, why don't drug companies make less addictive pain medications?" 

That question shows that the host (and I dare say, most other people on the planet) fundamentally misunderstand just what addictions really are. 

What are they? Well, for starters, let's look at the question. "why don't drug companies make less addictive pain medications?" In asking the question, the host reveals not only that they don't understand addictions, but also that they misunderstand what "pain medications" are supposed to do in the first place. 

Pain medications are supposed to make it so that the one taking the medication does not feel the pain. They are supposed to mask or hide or distract the brain from noticing the pain signal and relaying it to the person's consciousness. That's where we have to start when wondering about the question this host asked. 

The deeper issue really isn't about the medications at all though, but about the pain, and about how we choose to deal with it. So, the important question (if we're seriously concerned and genuinely interested in dealing with what's really going on) is something more like "What are addictions?", or more simply, "What is addiction?". 

Although I don't recall the exact wording at the moment, another question they asked was something like, "So, what's the connection between all of these pain medication addictions lately?" 

Another point missed. What point? The point at which all of these pain medications connect. Not only that, but it's the point at which all addictions connect. 

The common denominator involved in all addictions is spelled out in the question that the host asked above. "why don't drug companies make less addictive pain medications?" Making "less addictive" pain medications means making medications that are less effective at taking away the pain. 

Is there some kind of mysterious ingredient in pain medications that makes them addictive though? No, it's no mystery at all. They just work. They take away the pain. If they made them less effective (or "less addictive" in this host's words), then they wouldn't take away the pain. 

It's kinda hard for me to even think that people like this (the host of a major, American, morning news TV show) even miss this point, but.... it isn't actually the pain medication that the person is addicted to. What they're actually addicted to is not having the pain. The issue isn't with the pain medications, as if they are somehow to blame. The issue is with the person's desire to be without the pain. 

Sure, they might get "hooked" on the medication and keep taking it long after the originally diagnosed pain has gone away. That doesn't mean the medication is no longer taking away any pain at all though. 

We all have pain. Sometimes it sure would be kinda nice to just not have any pain of any kind for a little while. Then what? What if we really liked not having the pain...whatever kind of pain? 

I think this is one of the most common connecting points among all forms of addiction. Whether it is physical, mental or emotional pain or discomfort, people want to get rid of it and sometimes we're willing to do whatever it takes to do so. 

So, the next time you hear someone talking about addiction as if it were some kind of disease, or about pain medications as if they have some kind of magic, addictive substance, I invite you to try to think of what it might be like to have at your finger tips something that could make all of your pain go away and then try to think of finding the balance between having no pain and still being awake and aware enough to function properly in normal society. Kinda hard? 
 [entry added 20040128_2055, but experienced 20031020_0815]