How to find the root of addiction?

[SHroomtroll]

I come from a family of alcoholics so it´s always been natural for me to stay away form that stuff, also i never liked being drunk so it was never tempting to drink much for me.

Instead i started smoking pot when i was 16, the first years were great! i felt that i learned alot from it and it was in a period of life when everything started to go better for me.

It was a time when i made alot of friends met alot of women etc... So it was only natural for me to give some credit to mary jane since my life basicly got better when i started smoking...

Fast forward a few years and i started abusing it and smoking it every day, to make it worse i also used tobacco to mix my hash (there is mostly hash where i live)

It took a few years to accept my addiction and a few more years to figure out that nicotine was making it alot harder to stop when i wanted.

Actually my first succesful attempt to stop being addicted came after i started working with dmt and aya, and after that i feel that i done alot of good and have it somewhat under control.

The problem happens when ive been sober for a month or two, i get bored with life and find excuses to start smoking again.

Usually it´s ok for awhile since i try to not use nikotine and it´s kool like that, but then i always find an excuse to start mixing in that nasty crap.

Usually it´s triggered by being at a party with other people smoking spliffs or tripping at home with my gf, when doing cid or similar it´s really nice to smoke some bud with tobacco since it calms the trip down abit.



So what i´m asking is does anyone have any experience with stopping smoking like this? i know cannabis is no problem for me it´s just when i get the urge to smoke tobacco it get´s dangerous.


Right now i´m fine, i just stopped smoking again and will e sober for at least a month, but i know the urge will come back and really wan´t to be ready for it this time.

 

[polytrip]

I don't know if there is a root to addiction. I suspect there is one wich is existential fear and the urge to be in some sort of total controll as a result of it.
The best thing is to realise that the longer you're sober, the easier it get's. The first few months are the hardest part. If you manage to hold on for long enough, it eventually will leave your dreams.

 

[soulfood]

Isn't that just repressing the urge though?

If there's one thing that I've learned from psychedelics, it's not to repress anything! I mean ANYTHING!

It's always clear to me when I'm smoking/drinking more and why. It's never just for the hell of it and with enough careful thought it's usually quite simple to get to the bottom of.

Some issues are more complex and are a lot harder to deal with, but I have the strongest allies in haramaloids/DMT and they've smahed through some very thick fog over the last couple of years. I think it can work for anyone. It's definately very worth while learning how to self-council. It can be quite brutal at first but with more experience you need never repress anything again.

Obviously there are some traumatic extremes that can't be handled so easily and the subject is left with very little choice, though I do believe for 95% of people this isn't the case.

 

[deedle-doo]

My advice for keeping off nicotine: You can't start by saying "I'm never taking nicotine again." Instead, think "I'm not taking nicotine right now."

You have no control over what happens a week or a month or a year from now. You only have control over what you are doing (or not doing) right at the moment.

 

[Jin]

hey ShroomTroll , i get where you're coming from
i too started smoking, marijuana very early in my teens but was 18 then , still smoking regularly
everyday before going to work coming back from work and sometimes in between a joint when i have free time

fortunately or not i am very addicted aswell, somehow the addiction has gone so deep i cannot do anywork i mean official or fun without this substance and tobacco is also my friend too
cant help it , either i have to be addicted and keep doing my work which i do excellently thanks to MJ or i am out of a job , because i really cannot seem to do any work without MJ , i am rolling a spliff right now as i type this message

sorry to say it i am not going to quit ever , i have stopped smoking many times for long periods too , however never again am i going to quit MJ , she has always been kind , made me relax , make me do work more better and effortlessly , i have quit many a times due to different factors but never again
i say this for i am truly addicted and i love it because now after 10 yrs of smoking there is no turning back , whenever i quit very bad things have happened to me ,(ruined relationships , lost jobs ) , i was on the brink when i decided to smoke MJ again , things have been better for me eversince

i cant quit because i cant fight with myself anymore , i don't care anymore , i fought for years quiting and getting back at the habit again and again and again , it was like a war raging within me ,i spent so much energy trying to fight myself , i really got tired , angry , lost jobs and destroyed entire relationships because of quitting and being back, i could not take the war anymore ,

i am better off being addicted and having my job and everything running smoothly , infact not smooth but better than smooth , i smoke MJ and things are good i don't and it gets bad , thats all i know

this is just my crazy opinion , pls do what your heart tells you , this is my story with the addiction , i am not most happy to be addicted , i would quit but i know i will smoke again and the war is just too much for me , i cannot fight myself , its too damn tiring and nothing gets done

pls do what you heart tells you , i cannot offer any advice , i can only relate my story

 

[kyrolima]

Addiction is just a habit enforced with a strong believe which sais: "x results in something good for the "I" and it's either the only way to achieve that state or you have no clue how to achieve it otherwise."

I'm not sure if this definition helps you or matches your situation, but to me it is helpful.

 

[SHroomtroll]

Ive been without cannabis and tobacco for 3 + 5weeks now, first i didnt smoke for 3weeks and then i did it once and felt like shit.

Haven´t touched it since then although i have some very nice hash at home.

I don´t know what made me feel this way but ive tripped a few times without it now and that helped me to get rid of the "stoner" person that i was before.

Just 3months ago i could not imagine taking lsd without alot of cannabis but now i feel empowered by not touching the stuff.

I would like to stay away from it at least untill new years eve where i might smoke a big blunt or two just for the sake of doing it

 

[Purges]

Tobacco made it very hard for me to cut down / quit as well. I feel your pain mate. I don't even like tobacco on it's own, it was just in there to dilute and smoothen out the smoke, but that has its cost. Now I don't use tobacco, and after a two week abstinence it is MUCH easier to control. I don't feel the need to do it every night any more, and it's not constantly on my mind either, which is great. I had been smoking skunk heavily and daily for 8 years and needed to be adressed.

Well done on such a long period of abstinence, that takes strength!

 

[kyrolima]

I wouldn't necessarily be looking for a root of addiction. Rather look for solutions!
And for that purpose you can try a LOT of advice! There is such a variety of treatments available. If somebody is REALLY willing to make a change I strongly believe one can!

 

[Metanoia]

I would like to stay away from it at least untill new years eve where i might smoke a big blunt or two just for the sake of doing it

My advice would be to see if you can go passed new year's without touching it. See if you can celebrate a special occasion without needing to resort to old ways. Start the new year with a new mindset

If somebody is REALLY willing to make a change I strongly believe one can!

It has a lot to do with willpower and the desire to change. For a lot of addictions, you have to change everything in your life to overcome it. Sometimes even as drastic as where you live, where you work, etc. Because when an addiction is that deeply ingrained, just some familiar surroundings can set you off down the road of using again.

The root of addiction can be very complex. But like has been said, repression is not the answer. For me at least, repression may have begun the whole cycle of addiction in the first place. That and trying to escape trauma and deal with emotions that I did not know how to cope with. To overcome the addiction I did have to deal with the urges to use again in a more constructive manner, not simply repress them and hope that they would never resurface. It can be a tough battle, but it can be won, if you really believe it can be won, stay strong and have positive reinforcement from yourself and others that love you.

 

[SHroomtroll]

I would like to stay away from it at least untill new years eve where i might smoke a big blunt or two just for the sake of doing it

My advice would be to see if you can go passed new year's without touching it. See if you can celebrate a special occasion without needing to resort to old ways. Start the new year with a new mindset

If somebody is REALLY willing to make a change I strongly believe one can!

It has a lot to do with willpower and the desire to change. For a lot of addictions, you have to change everything in your life to overcome it. Sometimes even as drastic as where you live, where you work, etc. Because when an addiction is that deeply ingrained, just some familiar surroundings can set you off down the road of using again.

The root of addiction can be very complex. But like has been said, repression is not the answer. For me at least, repression may have begun the whole cycle of addiction in the first place. That and trying to escape trauma and deal with emotions that I did not know how to cope with. To overcome the addiction I did have to deal with the urges to use again in a more constructive manner, not simply repress them and hope that they would never resurface. It can be a tough battle, but it can be won, if you really believe it can be won, stay strong and have positive reinforcement from yourself and others that love you.

Who knows once the time comes i might not wan´t to ruin my streak, for everyday that goes i wan´t to smoke even less.

I even got some very fine hash at home but the thought of smoking it does not appeal to me at all.

If anything i would like to make some hash brownies and do more of a trip out of it.


I don´t really wan´t to quit cannabis for eternity i would like to be able to use it as any other entheogen with respect to get something out of it.

But who knows maybe after abusing it for many years this option might be lost to me.

 

[longshot]

An addiction has multiple roots. Over the years you have let it settle in your life.
Try to discover these little roots in your daily life. Your routines. (not by thinking really hard about it )
Just be a little bit more "aware" for triggers that make you think about MJ/want MJ.
Not especially understand, just be aware of them, try to spot them.
Understanding comes automaticly after

 

[SHroomtroll]

12weeks and going strong

I feel great and don´t miss cannabis at all anymore, although i have smoked some synths a few times but def nothing regulary.

in hindsight i can´t really see why i had the urge to get high everyday and more and more it feels like a useless addiction that i´m glad i´m getting out of.

 

[benzyme]

finding the root of addiction is actually very, very simple

































































































































































































































































































it's a choice.

 

[Ginkgo]

So what about the fact that we have several genes linked to substance abuse and addiction? The gene DRD2 does among other things impact the number of D2 (dopamine) receptors, and is statistically linked to abuse of dopaminergic drugs. GABR3 does among other things impact GABA, and is associated with alcoholism. I'm betting there's more too. I'm not saying addiction isn't a choice, too, but there is clearly some genetic impact on this matter that shouldn't be ruled out.

 

[benzyme]

I'm not talking about the physiological mechanisms behind addiction . we can discuss D1 feedback in the nucleus accumbens and all that other jazz, but it's really not relevant in this context.
the root of addiction is a choice, literally and figuratively.
the initial choice to partake in an addictive compound/behavior/etc.

 

[nonlocality]

In that sense, the substances themselves are not addictive. As you characterise it, an addiction is just making that same choice repeatedly.

But very often these are not conscious choices. I'd contend that very few choices actually are.

 

[jamie]

12weeks and going strong

I feel great and don´t miss cannabis at all anymore, although i have smoked some synths a few times but def nothing regulary.

in hindsight i can´t really see why i had the urge to get high everyday and more and more it feels like a useless addiction that i´m glad i´m getting out of.

Personally after months away from cannabis I lost any desire to use it frequently again like I used to. Once a week or twice a week or not at all for 3 weeks..whatever. I can smoke it one night and not think about it for another week or 2. Once your system retunes itself and the physical and psychological addiction and tolerance to cannabis is gone it is alot easier to smoke one day and not want to keep smoking in my experience. Remember cannabis can be physically addictive..so when you were smoking daily your brain was craving more and more of it in a very tangible, physical way. I used to feel like I was chasing the stone all day long..now it is alot different when I smoke..and with no tolerance it hits differently and is more psychedelic so does not lend itself to the same sort of use.

 

[jamie]

So what about the fact that we have several genes linked to substance abuse and addiction? The gene DRD2 does among other things impact the number of D2 (dopamine) receptors, and is statistically linked to abuse of dopaminergic drugs. GABR3 does among other things impact GABA, and is associated with alcoholism. I'm betting there's more too. I'm not saying addiction isn't a choice, too, but there is clearly some genetic impact on this matter that shouldn't be ruled out.

I watched a talk on addiction recently with Gabor Mate where he said that all that stuff about genetic predisposition in relation to substance addiction was bs and that there was no actual data in the literature that supported the theory in actaul addicts.

In sooo many cases in the downtown eastside here in Vancouver, heroin, crack and alcohol addiction go hand in hand with childhood abuse and neglect. Children, especially infants require a feedback loop to deveolpe between them and the parent(esp the mother) of love in order for oxytocin to be released in the developing brain, and when that does not occur the pathways associated are underdeveloped when they are older. So these people are physically unable to feel love(d) and other similar emotions naturally to the same degree as people who had better childhoods. These people also claim to have only felt that way after taking opiates from an exogenous source..and they crave it..they crave the same "high" that others experience naturally.

In that sense it is not just all a choice. The whole subject in reality is far more complex than that. At some point, with adequate education and understanding as to what is going on, I agree people can make a choice and the brain is very elastic so with therapy and biofeedback etc new pathways can form and these people can truely rehabilitate and feel normal..but infants are not asked if they would like to revieve love, or neglect etc..they just get what they get and the rest follows from there.

I think PTSD is a sort of good analogy here..alot of people come back from traumatic experiences, especially from war, truamatized. War is not a usual thing for people to go through and while has always been around, is not "normal" IMO to experience. These people go through an abnormal experience that is traumatic and changes the chemical responces in brain and sets up feedback loops etc..then these people end up with PTSD..this is just like infants and children being abused. Both end up with a sort of disorder. Both also find relief in chemicals...both will also usually find relief in drug therapies that allow them to form new pathways in the brain..such as MDMA assisted psychotherapy or ibogaine treatments. It is no wonder that so many opiate addicts that go through ibogaine treatments report having life reviews and similar experiences where they realize the root of they're addictions actaully have have a foundation in events that took place very early in life.

 

[jamie]

^there is the talk with Gabor Mate. It's a good talk everyone should watch it. He also does alot of work with ayahuasca and addiction, working with his patients here in Van with curranderos from the amazon.