Chemical Dependency/Illness or weakness

[Brown Thrasher]

Originally Posted by xoxoxoBruce

It's always a choice but as you progress the wrong choice looks more and more rational, more like the right choice.

A person who is chronically addicted, most likely knows the choice to use their drug of choice is irrational. However, without detox, the physical and psychological craving is to much to bear. Why would a pregnant mother smoke crack the same day she is to give birth? There are stages with addiction, just like stage with cancer and other diseases. An addict can go into remission, then relapse and die. I've seen this numerous times. A person can work a program of their choice and stay sober for years. However, it appears once they quit that program, they are apt to relapse. After being detoxed, or becoming sober in whatever way, it is a choice when the addict uses again.....
I will never disagree with that. That is why so many people have a problem with calling adiction to psychoactive drugs a disease.....
An alcoholic or addict has to want to be clean/sober more than they want to be high for sobriety to work. If they ever lose that, it is just amatter of time before relapse.......

[Brown Thrasher]

Originally Posted by Brett's Honey

Once they move past denying that there's a problem, and actually figure out what is happening, I cannot imagine that anyone would LIKE it. I do feel like it's a fact that there are times when choices are made - and that would be the first few times when a person does the drug.

No, it is more like whwn a doctor tells a person he will die in a year, if they continue to smoke. 6 months later you see that same person smoking with an oxygen tank strapped to their wheelchair... The bottom line is unless you are addicted to psychoactive drugs, you will never fully understand the physical and psychological craving that an alcoholic/addict goes through.....Think of one vice you may have. wheteher, it be chocolate, sex, etc..... Think about never doing it again..... I know the average person thinks this analogy is absurd, but think about the one thing you like more than anything in the world, whatever it is and never being able to have the positive sensation again........ You know what, if your not addicted or you will still not be able to comprehend it.....

[Happy Monkey]

When the decision-making part of the brain gets corrupted, how do you make decisions?

[404Error]

Then it's mind over matter...once your mind is corrupted with drugs or alcohol, it don't matter anymore.

Kind of like sex, when one heads over rules the other.

[404Error]

The difference being, in the prison the distinction between the two is indiscernible.