a key component of how individuals make choices is how they frame them.
“for an alcoholic, one drink is too many and a thousand are not enough.”
the combination of immediate rewards and greatly delayed costs that are typical of addictive drugs make estimating the drug’s net value difficult.
The terms “hitting rock bottom,” kicking the habit,” “going cold turkey” are specific to addiction.
No one goes “cold turkey” from depression or diabetes.
Relapse and other forms of backsliding are often precipitated by the verbal formulas “this is
a special occasion,” or “this is the last time,” or “tomorrow I turn over a new leaf.”
There are more “last” times and more “new leafs” to turn.
“Do I prefer two packs of chalk and three pounds of cheese or three packs of chalk and two pounds of cheese?”
a workaholic is someone who does not schedule in leisure time
“wild and crazy guy” is someone who does not schedule anything.
The logic is correct but it leaves out the natural history of addiction. As described above,
there is an initial honeymoon period in which drug use is, on balance, beneficial, followed by
a period in which the costs and benefits may more or less balance each other out. Nevertheless,
if addiction is a disorder and addicts really do remain voluntary drug users, as assumed dependence must voluntarily come to an end.
\In contrast,among many experts and the informed public, addiction is widely understood to be a chronic relapsing disease and that only treatment can help addicts stay clean.
The cumulative frequency of remission increased each year for each drug, and the good fit of
the equations to the frequencies of quitting says that addicts did so at a constant rate, regardless of
time since the onset of dependence. By year 4, half of those who were ever addicted to cocaine had
stopped using cocaine at clinically significant levels; the half-life of dependence on marijuana was six
years; and for alcohol, the half-life of dependence was considerably longer, sixteen years.
The worst is smoking 20 years
People who became addicted to an illicit drug were “ex-addicts” by age thirty. Of course, many may have switched drugs rather than quit drugs,
As predicted, researchers invariably report that most addicts do not seek treatment . But there must be reasons for dependence ending. In the absence of clinical interventions, it is reasonable to suppose that the motivation was in response to the events of everyday life, such as economic issues, family pressures, concerns about staying out of jail, concerns about health, and the difficulties that attend any illegal and/or stigmatized pattern of behavior.
Before concluding, it should also be pointed out that unassisted quitting is not an argument
against helping addicts quit drugs. It is routine and sensible to use coaches and teachers to help
facilitate mastery of difficult voluntary activities. Similarly, there are proven programs for accelerating
the rate at which addicts quit using drugs .
Given the great damage that addiction causes, effective treatment programs should be strongly supported.
“for an alcoholic, one drink is too many and a thousand are not enough.”
the combination of immediate rewards and greatly delayed costs that are typical of addictive drugs make estimating the drug’s net value difficult.
The terms “hitting rock bottom,” kicking the habit,” “going cold turkey” are specific to addiction.
No one goes “cold turkey” from depression or diabetes.
Relapse and other forms of backsliding are often precipitated by the verbal formulas “this is
a special occasion,” or “this is the last time,” or “tomorrow I turn over a new leaf.”
There are more “last” times and more “new leafs” to turn.
“Do I prefer two packs of chalk and three pounds of cheese or three packs of chalk and two pounds of cheese?”
a workaholic is someone who does not schedule in leisure time
“wild and crazy guy” is someone who does not schedule anything.
The logic is correct but it leaves out the natural history of addiction. As described above,
there is an initial honeymoon period in which drug use is, on balance, beneficial, followed by
a period in which the costs and benefits may more or less balance each other out. Nevertheless,
if addiction is a disorder and addicts really do remain voluntary drug users, as assumed dependence must voluntarily come to an end.
\In contrast,among many experts and the informed public, addiction is widely understood to be a chronic relapsing disease and that only treatment can help addicts stay clean.
The cumulative frequency of remission increased each year for each drug, and the good fit of
the equations to the frequencies of quitting says that addicts did so at a constant rate, regardless of
time since the onset of dependence. By year 4, half of those who were ever addicted to cocaine had
stopped using cocaine at clinically significant levels; the half-life of dependence on marijuana was six
years; and for alcohol, the half-life of dependence was considerably longer, sixteen years.
The worst is smoking 20 years
People who became addicted to an illicit drug were “ex-addicts” by age thirty. Of course, many may have switched drugs rather than quit drugs,
As predicted, researchers invariably report that most addicts do not seek treatment . But there must be reasons for dependence ending. In the absence of clinical interventions, it is reasonable to suppose that the motivation was in response to the events of everyday life, such as economic issues, family pressures, concerns about staying out of jail, concerns about health, and the difficulties that attend any illegal and/or stigmatized pattern of behavior.
Before concluding, it should also be pointed out that unassisted quitting is not an argument
against helping addicts quit drugs. It is routine and sensible to use coaches and teachers to help
facilitate mastery of difficult voluntary activities. Similarly, there are proven programs for accelerating
the rate at which addicts quit using drugs .
Given the great damage that addiction causes, effective treatment programs should be strongly supported.
