Definition and Helping Philosophy of Addiction

When addiction is left untreated it destroys every area of an addict’s life. Families and homes are torn apart, friendships and other precious relationships disappear, health declines, work life become unstable, and valuable possessions are lost. Death - the most tragic consequence of untreated addiction - is sometimes the final outcome for many addicts.

We know that you are worried that you or your loved one will never be able to stop drinking or using drugs. We know the thought of getting help can be frightening, and finding the best treatment facility can be overwhelming. Don’t let the fear of getting drug abuse treatment or the task of finding a rehab program stop you from getting the treatment you need. Continue to move forward with your desire to manage the addiction in your life.

In 2008, an estimated 2.9 million persons aged 12 or older used an illicit drug for the first time. This averages to almost 8,000 initiates per day. A majority of these initiates reported that their first drug was marijuana (56.6 percent). Nearly one third initiated with psychotherapeutics (29.6 percent, including 22.5 percent with pain relievers, 3.2 percent with tranquilizers, 3.0 percent with stimulants and 0.8 percent with sedatives). A sizable proportion reported inhalants (9.7 percent) as their first illicit drug, and a small proportion used hallucinogens as their first drug (3.2 percent).

Slightly more than half of Americans aged 12 or older reported being current drinkers of alcohol (51.6 percent). This translates to an estimated 129.0 million people.

Most (84.6 percent) of the 4.5 million past year alcohol initiates were younger than age 21 at the time of initiation.

26.4 percent of underage persons (aged 12 to 20) reported past month drinking and 17.4 percent reported past month binge drinking.

An estimated 59.8 million persons ages 12 or older (23.9 percent of the population) were current users of a tobacco product.

The rate of substance dependence or abuse for youths aged 12 to 17 was higher among females than males (8.2 vs. 7.0 percent).

The percentage of youths aged 12 to 17 with substance dependence was 7.6 percent.
Adults aged 21 or older who had first used alcohol at age 14 or younger were more than 5 times as likely to be classified with alcohol dependence or abuse than adults who had their first drink at age 21 or older (15.1 vs. 2.6 percent).

In 2008, serious mental illness (SMI) was associated with past year substance abuse or dependence. Among adults aged 18 or older with SMI in 2008, 25.2 percent (2.5 million) were dependent on or abusing alcohol or illicit drugs.

Adults having had a past year episode of major depression were more likely than those without a past year episode of major depression to be dependent on or abusing alcohol or illicit drugs (20.3 vs. 7.8 percent).

Among 12 to 17 year olds who had a past year major depressive episode, 37.4 percent has used illicit drugs during the same period.

In 2008, 23.1 million persons aged 12 or older needed treatment for an illicit drug or alcohol use problem (9.2 percent of persons aged 12 or older).

Helping Philosophy and Addiction Definition

The words "alcohol dependence" or "addiction" are often used without definition. So, let's first look at an addiction definition. As used in this web site, alcohol or drug addiction means that a person's alcohol or other drug use has reached the point that the person cannot use without loss of control over use of the substance and/or cannot use without producing adverse consequences in significant life areas, and has developed a psychological and/or physical dependence upon the substance. An addicted person will continue to use the substance in the face of adverse consequences.

The term alcohol or drug dependence is often used interchangeably with addiction, but here I use the term dependence to mean physical dependence on a substance, meaning that stopping use of the substance will result in withdrawal symptoms. A person can develop dependence on a substance without developing addiction; the best example of this physical dependence would be the person who takes a narcotic analgesic (pain killer such as oxycodone or morphine) as prescribed by a doctor long enough to be physically dependent on the drug, a natural, inevitable consequence of chronic use of such a drug. Under these circumstances, abruptly stopping use of the substance will result in the withdrawal syndrome typical for the class of substance involved. Most persons with addiction (for ex., alcoholism) are NOT physically dependent on their drug and will not experience the full blown physical withdrawal for the substance. They will experience cravings, sleeplessness, and other symptoms caused by their psychological dependence on the drug.

Alcohol or other drug problems fall within two diagnostic categories: abuse or addiction (as I said, often called dependence). Abuse basically means the person has developed a pattern of use of the substance in the face of adverse consequences in significant life areas (medically, financially, legally, problems in relationships). Addiction is summarized in the first paragraph on this page.

Alcoholism and other drug addictions are devastating disorders which negatively impact affected individuals and all who care about them, physically, emotionally and mentally, and spiritually. For persons diagnosed with full blown addiction, I favor an abstinence based treatment model, meaning a model whose basic ultimate (it may take a while to get there) goal is abstinence from use of alcohol or other drugs. This model should include education, cognitive behavioral counseling, and use of Twelve Step (for ex., AA) spiritually based principles. Online addiction treatment can be helpful in itself and/or as part of a comprehensive treatment program that includes traditional face-to-face counseling and other treatment interventions.

For persons whose alcohol or other drug use has not yet reached the severity of an addiction diagnosis, but indicates abuse, I favor interventions aimed at educating the individual about addiction, about his/her risk factors for developing addiction, and at helping the person to see if he/she can control drug or alcohol use. In Person and Online interventions such as those offered here on this site can be helpful at this stage.

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1) Fill out the Contact Form and a counselor will call you with 24-hours;
2) Call our offices at 303-933-5800.