Joseph R. Cruse Blog

04/24/10

Here is a question I posed on my last blog:  Should nicotine addiction be taken as seriously as the other addictions?  The answer is YES.

Most people feel that smoking results in trouble like cancer and emphysema in the smokers’  later years.  Very  little attention is given to the immediate  impact of cagarettes on our kids, our relationships, and most importantly, our efforts to be authentic, creative and successful.

The subtle symptoms of nicotine dependency can have a profound effect on an individual even to the point of impeding or delaying their recovery from other addictions.  Here are some of the ways that happens…

People in addiction treatment and recovery learn to deal with their true feelings directly and promptly.  They  do not phoney their responses to feelings that arise, even anger;  they deal with the feeling appropriately.  Mostly, these feelings arise because our feelings are expressions of how we really are at a given moment.  We need to express true feelings to the world we live in and let the folks in that world know how we feel.  We teach people how to treat us and letting them know how we are feeling at any given time is a major part of that teaching.  When the people with whom we are honest and direct can see and know the real us  they come closer to us.  They know we are not insulated from them by a chemical

Active drug addicts are constantly “putting it over on others” as they go through their world.  Their drugs of choice, including nicotine, help them to do this by suppressing their real feelings.  Nicotine is a good feelings suppressor.  Nicotine helps to keep a person from being their real self.  It serves as blinders and earplugs.  I’ve seen it… Joe

Symptoms and Complications are events in the course of a disease.   Symptoms are those events the patient sees or notices or feels during a disease or  disorder.    Pain, rashes, change in function, tremors, fever, and sweats are a few examples of symptoms.  Sometimes a doctor or a relative or friend notices a symptom,  but the patient is unaware they have it. That is called a Sign.  An example is a change in color, distended blood vessels, a swelling, fast pulse  etc.  Complications are events that occur during the course of a disease that might be preventable if the disease itself is treated in time.

Addictions are brian disorders. In Addictions it is helpful to list  Symptoms as “Brain Events” ( e.g. Repression, Obsession/ Compulsion, and Denial) and to list Complications as “Life Events” (Spiritual/ Self-Worth, Social, and Physical)  Lets give a few examples:

BRAIN EVENTS:  Repression: Get rid of painful feelings  Obsession/Compulsion: Pre-occupation and drive to feel different. Persistent use.   Denial: Fear (Terror) at losing the means to feel different

LIFE EVENTS:  Spiritual/Self-Worth Problems: Loss of zest and deep sadness  Social Problems: Family. Job, Finances, Legal Physical Problems: Weight, Blood Pressure, Heart, Liver, Circulation

In the last blog I stated that perhaps one of the reasons the nicotine addiction is taken to be less serious that other addictions is that we compare the symptoms of nicotine addiction with the complications of other addictions.  In nicotine addiction, the major complication the public sees is physical and it appears much later in life most of the time.  The complications of other addictions appear much earlier than those of nicotine addiction.  In other addictions the complications can be full blown early and those complications are what leads us to the  discovery of the addiction and its intervention.  Go through the list above and think of some examples you have seen for each of the Symptoms and Complications.

So, should nicotine addiction be taken as seriously as the other addictiions?  The answer is YES.  The subtle symptoms of nicotine dependency can have a profound effect on the individual even to the point of impeding or delaying their recovery from other addictions.

More on that next time… in the mean time, let me know if you agree, disagree, &/or find this helpful.  Your comments are welcome…

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