The Dependent Stage: An Unsolvable Maze

This is a continuation of our blog series: "The Cycle of Addiction." Read the previous post, which discusses the third stage: The Instrumental Stage: A Familiar Routine

In order to survive on planet earth, there are certain things you absolutely must do. Eat. Sleep. Move. Breath. Your body must keep pumping blood. Your lungs have to keep contracting. Your brain must function at a certain level. And the list could go on. Addicts take this extensive list, and tack on one more requirement: drugs or alcohol. Just as everyone has to breath, an alcoholic has to drink. Just as I wouldn’t be able to finish writing this article if my heart stopped beating, in the same way a heroin junkie couldn’t survive without his “fix". Addicts are impulsively dependent on a substance. They are controlled, powerless, and weak. On a daily bases they sacrifice their life on the altar of addiction. By this stage, the alcoholic doesn’t necessarily drink because he wants to, nor does the cocaine addict "shoot up" because he wants to. Sadly, they do it because they have to.

Dependence – A Terrifying Reality

I am scared – scared for India. Every day, more and more Indians give themselves away to substances that will eventually destroy what could have been a thriving and happy life.

• “It took total control over my life” – Cocaine Addict
• “What ever I could get in the needle, I was going to use it.” – Prescription Drug Addict
• “It ruined my life.” – Heroin Addict
• “My marriage fell apart, I lost my house, but I still chose Heroin.” – Heroin Addict

Each of these quotes are from real people, with very real addictions. Each of them are dependent on drugs. They can’t live without them – don’t join them.

Lost in a Maze

By this stage of addiction, an addict has now gone full cycle. No longer is the addict experimenting. He’s not using the drug to build a reputation. And he’s way beyond using drugs or alcohol to deal with specific life issues. Instead, the addict is using the drug to deal with life itself. And this means he’ll do anything to get the stuff – steal, spend away a life savings, give up on everything he previously loved, just to get his fix. Addiction becomes a incomprehensible, unending maze. Addicts get lost in all of the twits and turns. When they hit a dead end, they turn around only to hit another. The scary thing about the maze of addiction is, if you don’t get help, you could die there. But like any maze, there is a way out. The way out isn’t fun or easy. But it is worth it. If you are addicted, or if you know an addict – please search for help. Don’t try to do it on your own. We’ve buried too many who were lost in the maze.