Addiction
In avoiding addictions, one will be spared from alcohol, drug, and tobacco-related diseases (Pr. 20: 1; 23: 19-21, 29-35). The general meaning and thesaurus of addiction are Habit, Compulsion, Dependence, Need, Obsession, Craving, and Infatuation. To be an addict is to devote or surrender (oneself) to something habitually or obsessively. Addiction is the quality or state of being addicted. The causes and meaning of addiction vary from person to person depending on perspective and background:
- Addiction to some is a failure of morality, a spiritual weakness, sin, or crime by people who will not take responsibility for their behavior. To these people, if addicts want to self-destruct, let them; it is their fault; they choose to abuse themselves.
- For the teetotaler and politicians, it is a self-control problem.
- For sociologists, it is poverty.
- For educators, it is ignorance.
- Psychiatrists or psychologists will say personality traits, temperament, and character are at the root of addictive personalities.
- Biologically oriented people will consign it to the genes and heredity.
- Social-learning & cognitive-behavior theorists will say it is a case of conditioned response, intended or unintended reinforcement of inappropriate behaviors.
- To Anthropologists, addiction is culturally determined
- Dan Quayle, an American citizen, blames addiction on the breakdown of family values.
- The most popular theory is addictive behavior diseases.
There are various types of addiction that break family values and turn upside down the unity in a family. They include:
- Work,
- Sport,
- Television,
- Food,
- Alcohol,
- Hard Drugs,
- Caffeine,
- Steroids,
- Theft,
- Gambling,
- Exercise,
- Love,
- Sex, among others.
Paul summarizes addiction in his Pronunciation in the Scripture,
- All Addictions are immorality and Greed
- Addiction is evil & a Sin
- They are forms of Idolatry because they demand an allegiance, which is due to God alone, and
- Addiction is slavery – Romans 6: 16
The new view on addiction is that addiction theories and policies are woefully outdated. Research shows that there are no demon drugs, nor are addicts innately defective. Nature supplies all people with the ability to become hooked, and all engage in addictive behaviors to some degree. However, the brain, mind, and behavior specialists are re-thinking the whole notion of addiction. With help from neuroscience, molecular biology, pharmacology, psychology, and genetics, they challenge their hard-core assumptions and famous “certainties” and find surprisingly common characteristics among addictions.
They use new imaging techniques to see how addiction looks and feels and where cravings “live” in the brain and mind. They conclude that things are far from hopeless, and they rapidly replace conjecture with facts. “Everyone engages in addictive behaviors to some extent because such things as eating, drinking, and sex are essential to survival and highly reinforcing (Note 41)”. The fact remains that personality without God tends towards addiction. When a man realizes that he is God’s creation and everything about him, including his activities, is from the hand of God, and without God can never be whole or happy, addiction will only then become extinct. According to King Solomon, God gives wisdom, knowledge, and happiness to those that please Him. Those addicted are looking for these things that only God can give.
Stress
Prayer, meditation, and treating others minimize the damaging effects of stress (Lv. 19: 13-18; Ps 23: 27: 1-3, 91: 3-7).
