Addiction
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This document discusses different types of addictions that people can experience including alcohol, drugs, food, gambling, and computers. It provides information on what addiction is, why people become addicted, the dangers of substance abuse, and approaches to treatment like rehabilitation centers and support groups like Alcoholics Anonymous. The document also asks questions to prompt discussion around various addiction topics.
Addiction
- 1. Addiction What is an addiction? What kind of things can people become addicted to? an addict to be addicted to something to have an addiction
- 2. Addiction Why do people become addicted? Is it because they are weak people? How hard is it to break or stop an addiction? Have you ever tried to give up something (smoking, eating chocolate, eating junk food … )? Were you successful? Why/why not? What advice would you give to someone who thinks they are addicted to something?
- 3. One of the problems with addiction is that we can start off as a normal user or consumer (of food, alcohol etc) and not realise that we are addicts before it’s too late. How do we know if we are misusing alcohol for example? What is a safe amount of alcohol? What kind of damage can alcohol abuse cause? (think of damage to the individual, physical, emotional, damage to other people etc.) Is alcohol a dangerous substance in the way that drugs are? What can governments do to prevent alcoholism ? Addiction - Alcohol
- 4. Alcoholics Anonymous has a very good record of success with alcoholics. Why do you think it has such good success? What do you think about the religious element of Alcoholics Anonymous? Addiction - Alcohol The Alcoholics Anonymous 12 Steps 1.) We admitted we were powerless over alcohol--that our lives had become unmanageable. 2.) Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity. 3.) Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him. 4.) Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves. 5.) Admitted to God, to ourselves and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs. 6.) Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character. 7.) Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings. 8.) Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all. 9.) Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others. 10.) Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it. 11.) Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out. 12.) Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to alcoholics, and to practice these principles in all our affairs.
- 5. Addiction - Rehabilitation What is a rehab? What is detoxification? Are rehabilitation centres a good idea? Many famous people – movie stars and musicians are addicts of alcohol or drugs? Why? Cedar House Rehabilitation Center Healing from drug and alcohol abuse Rehabilitation programs Detoxification programs Clean living programs Counselling
- 6. Addiction - Smoking Have you ever been a smoker? No – Why not? Were you ever tempted? Yes – How old were you when you started? Why did you start? What are the social problems associated with smoking? What are the physical problems associated with smoking? Why do people smoke when they know the damage it does to their bodies? How can someone give up smoking?
- 7. Addiction - Computers I just joined a support group for Internet addicts. We meet online every night from 7pm – midnight! Is it possible to become addicted to computers? Do you think you are addicted to your computer!? Could you go on holiday for two weeks and not miss your computer? Would you take your lap top with you? Would you spend a lot of time in internet cafes? How can parents protect their children from computer addiction?
- 8. Addiction - Food Is it possible to be addicted to food? What types of food do you think people become addicted to? People are getting fatter in most societies. Do you think that is because of food addiction or is there some other reason? What can we do about the number of overweight people in society? Flavour is the key to the attractiveness of fast food. It is not just the blend of salt, sugar and fat, but the combination of taste and smell which is now micro-engineered by the big food corporations’ chemists. Nearly 90 per-cent of what we think of as taste is actually smell. We can distinguish about 20,000 smells in the tiniest amounts. Smell is a powerful sensation that helps to shape our psychology, and is strongly linked to memory.
- 9. A dults often return to the smells of their childhood as “comfort food” without knowing why. Fast food companies use this knowledge to sell more food. They use colour additives to make the food look good, and chemical flavour compounds to make it taste right. Americans spend $110 billion a year on fatty, sugary fast food, more than they do on films, videos, books, magazines, newspapers and music combined. Nearly two thirds of Americans are now overweight, and the US Surgeon General says 300,000 Americans die each year of obesity. Fast food chains have now spread through Europe and Asia. People are getting fatter in those countries. Addiction - Food Can you remember childhood smells? Do you think that the big food companies target children? Do they try to get children addicted to their products? If so, how do they do this?
- 10. Addiction - Gambling Many people enjoy playing cards. Some people make small bets with friends for fun. When does a bit of ‘fun gambling’ become a problem? Have you ever been to a casino? Are they legal in your country? Do casinos encourage problem gambling? What do you think are the symptoms of gambling addiction? If someone in your family had a gambling problem, how could you help them?