Advice from a Chemical Dependency Counselor

The term “chemical dependency” is thrown around a lot but is it always used appropriately and in the correct context? My personal experience is that the term has become so commonplace that I must confess I have become a bit desensitized to it.

Parts of our country are in the midst of a serious heroin epidemic. There is too much easy access to the drug, especially among low-income earners and the homeless. Most people started out with prescription painkillers but had to move to the cheaper heroin after consuming their savings.

The number of people who are dying from overdoses is on the increase, but the problem is larger than just the fact that heroin is now easy to access. Addiction and chemical dependency are also on the rise.

Let me try to debunk a distinction. Many times, substance abuse and alcoholism are thought of separately. Even though it is true that different drugs have different biochemical mechanisms, all types of chemical dependencies lead to the same psychosocial results. I will get back to these similarities in a bit.

Generally speaking, I don’t think of alcoholism in isolation from other chemical addictions. All types of chemical dependencies stem from underlying pain mixed with an environment which is not conducive to handling the pain. That said, there is one important difference between alcohol and other drugs, which is ease of access.  To put it simply, it is “legal” to suffer from alcohol addiction, while other types of substance abuse require one to hide from the law. This presents a unique challenge for people who want to seek effective treatment.

Myriads of opinions exist regarding chemical dependency. The classic view saw substances like heroin as having “chemical hooks” which lead to addiction. Another group views it as a moral issue, with lots of churches teaching that chemical dependency only exists in the spiritual realm. Others subscribe to the view that some people have “addictive personalities.”

But what is the truth about addiction? It has been amply demonstrated that you are more susceptible if it runs in your family, pointing to the possibility of some genetic predisposition (although some argue that some families have a culture that encourages addiction from one generation to the next).

In addition, some drugs have withdrawal components and that adds to the biological side of addiction, though the “chemical hooks” theory appears to be outdated.

From a Christian perspective, the Bible urges us “not to be drunk with wine,” which would mean our Heavenly Father considers it a potentially harmful substance.

The next section is summarized from a TED talk which was given by Johann Hari titled, “Everything You Think You Know About Addition is Wrong.” It is a great talk and I encourage you to watch it. There is even an abbreviated, cartoonized version of the same created by the channel Kurzgesagt entitled simply, “Addiction.”

Hari argues that the “chemical hooks” theory of addition is an outdated theory. The theory stemmed from an experiment where rats were allowed to choose between water and heroin-water. They ended up choosing heroin-water most of the time. This was then applied to the understanding of the human response.

Nonetheless, a different experiment with the same variable was conducted except that the rats were no longer held in their characteristic boring cages. They lived in a community of other rats which meant they had a lively and stimulating environment. In this case, the rats rarely touched the heroin.

Even though we can’t run the same experiment with humans, the Vietnam War was a sort of a pseudo-experiment along these same lines. Basically, lots of the soldiers were using heroin. This resulted in a fear that most of the soldiers would return home addicts but interestingly, most of them just returned home to their families and gave up heroin.

If there was truth in the chemical hooks theory, this wouldn’t make sense at all. However, thinking of the abuse in terms of the surroundings makes perfect sense. When in bad surroundings, heroin seems like a good option but when living in a happier and more fulfilling life, the soldiers didn’t see the need nor get the desire to check out.

The question then is what do we do with this implication?

How a Chemical Dependency Counselor Can Help You

Addiction is a multifaceted problem and the social component has been the most overlooked component. When working with clients with substance abuse challenges, I endeavor to focus on their surroundings. This entails locating their family/friends support system or getting them a volunteer opportunity to keep them busy. Ultimately, I try to help them find fulfillment.

One client told me he “wanted to have a life worth being sober for.” When all is said and done, if your environment and your life aren’t providing fulfillment and meaning, it will be hard to find the motivation to keep away from drugs. This is true for both alcohol and heroin and it goes beyond chemical dependency.

We often talk about other things that are addictive, such as phones, porn, food etc., but a lot of this just boils down to lack of fulfillment in life. Therapy explores the pain that is experienced and the context in which it was experienced that led to the use of drugs as a coping mechanism.

My goal as a chemical dependency counselor is to help my clients 1) achieve sobriety and 2) establish a life that is conducive to remaining sober. This may often appear to be a daunting task. For this reason, I start with a simpler goal – to decrease your use and then gradually take baby steps towards having more social connections in your life.

I believe that God created us to be social beings for a reason and any kind of recovery from mental illness or substance abuse needs the creation of meaningful and positive relationships.