Bronwyn... it so happened that Macca's is a convenient place to meet. She had been to the doctors actually, and I needed to get to the tip before it closed and return a trailor. We did have a quick maccas for our dinner as for a women who is already coming down with a cold and had spent the day with me clearing out a house, neither of us felt like preparing food thereafter. I think your post was just a tiny bit.... well.. please think about it.

Foxy.. most interesting. Specially the part about didn't plan/realize what was going on. In your case it seems, (If I read your post right) that there was an underlying medical condition ie.. headache pain.. which you were seeking to address with the tabs. This is the more understandable path to unintended addiction.

Anyway, I hope your more serious health problem comes under control, as well as you staying free of those tablets.

Cuphandle.. you have my sympathy for your daughter. I only found out the other day about my own eldest son having some issues with alchohol.

It seems to me that when someone does become embattled in a losing fight with drug addiction, they need all the triggers removed if possible...and this can include a home environment as much as a peer one.
I'm helping a young man at the moment come out of drug abuse, and you cannot imagine how thrilled I was this morning to hear our speaker relate a Biblical healing in his talk. A baby with a skull which would not grow to allow the brain space. Scheduled for surgery to split the skull, medically diagnosed, all on the record, mum called the elders to pray and annoint with oil (James 5) and when the child went for surgery the surgeons said "Nothing to be done... it's all ok"

You all know by now that in my case, the belief that Spiritual renewal is the most needed dimension in escape from drug addiction. Some can do it alone, but others need special help.

* also definitely include Alchohol and nicotine and gambling and porn.. *

The thing about addiction is that it changes brain chemistry and
makes people feel good for a while, so they need more to cope with
life. Religious addiction is of course a major drug too, where all
reason is thrown out the window, to help people cope with life.

Fair enough, each to their own poison :) The point is, as we see
so commonly on OLO, religion is definately an addiction that
helps people cope with their lives. Wether it is actually true
or not, is beside the point. The Xtian loves his god as much as
the Muslim loves his god as much as the Hindu loves is gods.

So IMHO brain chemistry is what it is all about. The religious
nut is as addicted as the substance addict.

Porky: << It seems to me that when someone does become embattled in a losing fight with drug addiction, they need all the triggers removed if possible...and this can include a home environment as much as a peer one. >>

Indeed - and I imagine that a home environment characterised by an overbearing Christian fundy father and a regular diet of McDonald's junk food is probably full of such "triggers".

Dear Cuphandle,

I'm so sorry for your daughter.
And, I wish you and her, All The Best.
Stay strong, and my prayers are with
you both.

Dear Examinator,

Thank You. You have a wonderful capacity
of making people feel better about themselves.
It's a gift.

Dear Polycarp,

Thanks for your kind words.
I won't ever return to taking those tablets
again. My health scare
woke me up well and truly. As for my current
health, well, so far so good...

Yabby says:

"Religious addiction is of course a major drug too,"

Surprisingly(?).. I_agree.

Kind of. If by addiction one means a change in the brain chemistry.. absolutely!

"be transformed by the renewal of your mind"(Rom12:1-3)

But there are some differences between drugs of addiction and religious "addiction".

The chemical variety creates an artificial "high" .. with endorphins well and truly served by the chemical interaction of the drug with our brains.
The downside of course is the 'low' which inevitably follows.

Then there is the difference where, as one's brain becomes familiar with the levels of stimulus.. it requires more and more to create the same level of high and here is where the destructive spiral happens.

There is definitely a 'high' associated with religous experience. But this requires (dare I say it... to quote Sancho) a 'nuanced' analysis.

The 'high' one experiences by faith in Christ, is one of overall well being, and deep inner contentment, based on the fact that one is assured of Gods unfailing love for you.

Secondly, it is not a selfish, gratuitious high,.. as in 'I want to feel GOOOOOD'... no..it is more 'I want to be right with the Almighty.. free from sin, free from it's penalty, and this means a person must in fact turn away from many of the more carnal avenues of endorphin release.

I'd like to see some research about 'good endorphins' and 'bad' ones.. or.. those related to inner tranquility and those related to a chemical fix.. and to know if there is a difference. I can only speculate based on experience at the moment.

The other major difference between a Christian 'high' and a drug high, is that (besides being 100% free:) you cannot maintain it and at the same time indulge in immoral behavior. It is only connected to high morals and righteous behavior.

Needless to say that when one departs from pure fellowship with Christ on one's daily walk, there is only misery which follows.
So.. we don't need to be reminded of our failings, we know them blow by blow. We feel it.

I’ve found this discussion very sketchy. Addiction is the issue - the focus of that addiction is secondary; the process needs to be understood.

We are a combination of physical and mental phenomena. The body is not solid, it consists of particles which arise and pass away with great rapidity; so do the mental phenomena, which comprise four elements. The first is consciousness, the part of the mind which recognises a contact – contact of a vision with the eye, a sound with the ear, a thought with the mind etc. The second part is perception, which recognises and evaluates the contact – e.g., a sound has come to the ear; if it is, say, words of praise, we evaluate it as good; words of abuse, bad. This evaluation leads to the third part, sensation – every contact generates a related sensation on the body; in accordance with the evaluation, that sensation may be regarded as pleasant, unpleasant or neutral. The fourth part of the mind reacts to this sensation, with liking or disliking. These processes continue every moment, our so-called subconscious mind constantly reacts; and these reactions of liking and disliking lead to strong cravings and aversion.

Addiction is not to the external object, but to the sensations on the body – the mind craves a particular sensation, and we take an action which generates that sensation. To control addiction, you must control reactions to the sensations. To do this, you must understand their nature; to do that, you must learn to observe the sensations with detachment.

The nature of sensations is impermanence; they arise and pass away with great rapidity, they have no substance. This is the nature of existence – no substance, no continuing entity, nothing to cling to – and we suffer because we do not understand this, we cling to the imaginary I, me, mine rather than observing the flow of physical and mental phenomena with detachment, without identifying with it.

This understanding is the starting point for dealing with addiction, or any other form of suffering.