Is it Hard for You to Imagine Life Without Drugs or Alcohol? Pt. 2 of 7

At Heartland House, we have learned a lot about substance abuse disorder over our many years of serving men in recovery. Throughout our history, we have utilized an array of recovery tools that have their roots in 12-step programs, government initiatives, and studies and surveys.

We want to reach the still suffering alcoholic or drug addict. If you are questioning whether you might need help with addiction, we are developing a series of blogs on the subject that will be of interest to you. This one poses one of the key questions that we ask our clients:

Is it hard for you to imagine life without drugs or alcohol?

Our full article titled “How Do I Know if I’m an Alcoholic” describes the difference between “problem drinking” and alcoholism. Many people have done some experimenting with the use of drugs and alcohol in their youth and gone on to live completely normal lives into adulthood. Some, however, just can’t seem to stop.

If you did some experimenting early on but were able to manage or regulate later on, you may not be an alcoholic. But if alcohol or drugs have become a part of your everyday life and it’s hard for you to imagine life without drugs or alcohol, you might want to dig a little deeper.

There are often times when those afflicted by drug or alcohol addiction want to stop but can’t seem to on their own, or within good reason. This may be explained by the disease of addiction.

The American Society of Addiction Medicine, or ASAM, provides descriptive information about the disease of addiction throughout their website, stating in one article:

“Drugs, alcohol, and illicit substances activate reward systems in the brain, which cause people to feel pleasure and create memories. Each individual has a unique tolerance to drugs and alcohol; the effects of drugs and/or alcohol are individually specific. Individuals may have genetic predispositions and different brain inhibitory circuits. Addiction is a disease, just like asthma, diabetes and heart disease.”

Reference

So the inability to imagine your life without the help of drugs and alcohol may be a sign of alcoholism or addiction.

If you are ready to take a close look at your thoughts and actions to see if you may need help, please call us or click the link below to contact us today!

We also have a vast amount of Resources listed on our website, please check them out.

In case you missed the other blogs in this series:

Part 1 – How do I know if I’m an alcoholic?

Part 2 – Is it hard for you to imagine life without drugs or alcohol?

Part 3 – Has your substance use caused problems in your personal or professional life?

Part 4 – Do you need to use drugs or alcohol to feel “normal”?

Part 5 – Have you ever felt defensive, guilty, or ashamed about your drinking or using?

Part 6 – Do you have a habit of drinking or using alone?

Part 7 – Have you tried to stop drinking or using on your own and found that you couldn’t do it?