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“For most addicts,there’s a constant presenceon your shoulder telling youyou’re not good enough,that somehow, you’re ‘less’than everyone out there.Your thoughts go round likea washing machine on highspeed. The noise in yourhead is constant, loud andharsh. Alcohol and drugs aremerely the medication.“Addiction isn’t fun.Addiction is lonely, terrifyingand insidious. Oh, sure, youstart out like everyone else, afew drinks here and there, adabble or two in something alittle harder. You don’t realizewhen it stops being fun, butit does. Suddenly you findyourself alone in a room,afraid to go out, because‘outside’ is too damn scary.So you take that hit, and for ashort while, the noise stops.Peace through oblivion. Thenyou come around and thenoise starts again, louder thistime, and coupled with theanxiety, fear and terror thatcome with withdrawal.“So you take another hit.Sweet, blessed relief. Andsomewhere in the back ofyour mind you hope you don’twake up from this one. You’renothing but trouble, you see.All you cause is pain andworry.”— Kristian JohnsChanging timesThroughout much of the last century, scientistsstudying drug abuse labored in the shadowsof powerful myths and misconceptions about thenature of addiction, according to the NationalInstitute on Drug Abuse. Back in the 1930s, it wasassumed that people addicted to drugs werelacking in willpower.Today, thanks to science, our views andour responses to drug abuse have changeddramatically. Groundbreaking discoveries aboutthe brain have revolutionized our understandingof drug addiction, enabling us to respondeffectively to the problem. As a result ofscientific research, we know that addiction is adisease that affects both brain and behavior.Research has shown that people generallytake drugs to feel good, feel better or copewith difficult problems or situations. Youcannot turn on the television, listen to theradio or pick up a magazine without seeing anadvertisement promoting some substance thatwill improve your life. This Tampa Bay TimesNewspaper in Education publication, created inpartnership with the Drug Abuse ComprehensiveCoordinating Office (DACCO), focuses oneducating you on substance abuse prevention.We hope this publication will serve as adiscussion tool for parents, teachers, communitymembers and youth.Addiction: a treatable diseaseWhile the initial decision to use drugs isvoluntary, drug addiction is a disease of the brainthat compels a person to become singularlyobsessed with obtaining and abusing drugsdespite their many adverse health and lifeconsequences.Addiction is a primary, chronic illnessinfluenced by genetic, psychosocial,environmental and lifestyle factors. Addictionis not a sign of weak morals; it is a disease.Symptoms of addiction include loss of controlover drug or alcohol use, cravings, use despiteconsequences, distortions in thinking, the needto consume greater amounts to get high, andphysical dependence and withdrawal.Like many other diseases, substance usedisorders are chronic and follow a predictablecourse. Long-term drug abuse results in changesin the brain that persist long after a person stopsusing. The good news is that addiction, like otherdiseases, can be successfully treated. Peopleall around the world are recovering to live long,healthy and happy lives!The best treatment programs are scientificallybased and meet the multiple needs of theindividual, not just his or her drug use. It isimportant to remember that no single treatmentis appropriate for all individuals.Sources: National Institute on Drug Abuse, NationalInstitute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism of the NationalInstitutes of Health, and the Department of Health & HumanServices Centers for Disease Control and Prevention2 tampabay.com/nie