Alcohol: The Road to Addiction
...g of choice. As they spend more and more of their life in this altered state of reality, their problems increase and thus their need for drugs increase. As the body of the addict becomes more used to the presence of the foreign chemicals, their ability to get “high” decreases. It will take more and more drugs to attain the same effects. Eventually, the body will require the presence of the drug in order to function normally. The addict will feel abnormal without it. At this stage, the person is a full-fledged addict. The more a person uses drugs and alcohol, the guiltier they will feel, and the more depressed they will become. They will sacrifice personal integrity, relationships with friends and family, job, savings, and anything else they may have in an attempt to get more drugs. In addition to the mental stress created by their bad behavior, the addict's body has also adapted to the presence of the drugs. They will experience an overwhelming obsession with getting and using drugs, and will do anything to avoid the pain of withdrawing from them. This experience in an addict’s life is called drug cravings. They now seek drugs both for the reward of "pleasure" they provide, and also to avoid the mental and physical horrors of withdrawal. At this point, the drugs the addict abuses have changed them both physically and mentally. They possess what is called a "drug personality." This personality is an artificial one, created by drugs. The drugs can change the attitude of a person from their original personality to one secretly harboring hostilities and hatreds they do not show outwardly. When an addict initially tries to quit, cells in the brain that have become used to large amounts of metabolites (substances the body converts the drugs or alcohol into that are trapped in fatt...