AS you can see from my title above, addiction is but a simple word, but is so important to recognise all the pain and hardship that this simple word has inflicted and continues to inflict on individuals and families down through the years all over the world.
It is very much with this in mind that I write this article, as this simple word represents such pain and has indeed resulted in so many needless deaths that I simply had to write about it.
It comes in many shapes and forms and just like a thief it can be extremely cunning and deceptive and often even the person who is suffering from an addiction can be totally unaware of the approaching danger that is about to succumb them.
People who suffer from any type of addiction need and require, love, care, deep understanding, professional help and above all a non-judgemental environment.
The phrase – Before you judge me walk in my shoes – comes to mind.
It is the word ‘understanding’ that I suppose I am trying to address in this article and to this effect I am going to tell you about a story that I heard a few years ago that might give you an insight into the perils of severe addiction.
It was about a tribe of Amazon Indians in South America. Their main diet was ‘monkey meat’ and to this end they managed to come up with and ingenious way of trapping monkeys.
They cut of the top of a large fruit (perhaps the size of a coconut) and scooped out the flesh inside. So there was a small hole on top and inside they placed some nuts and berries. These ‘Traps’ were then suspended by heavy-duty rubber bands from the branches of surrounding trees.
When the monkeys arrived on the scene they were tempted by their sense of smell and awareness to put their hands into the open holes to remove the food inside, but because their clinched fist (with food inside!) was bigger than size of the opening they were unable to free themselves.
The Monkeys had a choice – ‘food’ or ‘freedom’. Nature had already decided that the monkey’s desire for food was higher up the chain than the monkeys desire for freedom so the native Indians has a fool proof trapping mechanism.
On observation of nature, the Native American Indians became aware of this and all they had to do after a period of time was to walk up and pluck the suspended monkeys from the trees.
On a more serious note about addiction and taking alcohol as an example, the alcoholic has a higher desire for consumption of alcohol than for his own personal welfare, his financial welfare, love of his wife and family (if that is the case) and everything else in his life.
His desire for alcohol is higher up the chain than any other need. If truth be known the alcohol is but a means to calm severe emotional pain within the alcoholic.
He may not admit this to himself or his family but the pain of putting up with this emotional trauma is simply too much, thus the overwhelming desire for alcohol.
However as human beings with appropriate counselling and as I restate from above a loving caring non-judgemental environment even the most severe cases of addiction can be overcome.
Next week I am going to write about ‘The importance of a good mantra’.
