This is a novel about life, and people much like you and me. You will find parts of me in it. You are likely to find bits
and pieces of yourself. The characters will reveal for you, show, and teach you
things you never knew about addiction. You will learn how to recognize addiction,
understand it, and treat it. Yet all you will be doing is reading a realistic
novel of people and their lives, people like those I see in my office every day.
The
book is about addiction(s) and their influence on our behavior and damage to our health and to those we love. We will cover most recognized addictions. Smoking, alcohol,
and opiates (the big three) are the most visible of the problematic addictions, and therefore are used as a basic model for
illustration and educational purposes. This is a fictional story written for
the purposes of entertainment and self-help as well as personal and public education.
You will be better equipped to win your battle over addiction or to help a friend or loved one.
Addictive substances are generally seductive, much as sex itself can be addictive. Intense, immediate pleasure is often the hook that tethers us to that addictive source of pleasure. It will seem so innocent, and feel so delightfully powerful, that our minds are captured. This combination is irresistible to many, unleashing a passion within us, igniting
an unquenchable fire of desire. With some addictions this is even instantaneous,
but with others, time and denial collude to eventually addict us. We are lulled
into believing that we have control of the fire. We forget that fires can also
deceptively and slowly destroy us.
With
bravado, we swing our sticks of fire much as cavemen might have swung their fire weapons attempting to impress their women
or peers.
Tobacco releases tars, nicotine, and other chemicals into the body. Nicotine
is a powerful nervous system stimulant. Tars are carcinogenic irritants to the
oropharynx, larynx, trachea, and lungs. Statistics attribute 440,000 deaths annually
in the US
alone directly to smoking and exposure to secondhand smoke. The statistics regarding
other addictions are equally disturbing (please see Appendix I).
Treatment is available for all addictive disorders. The storyline
engages these, thereby teaching us about them. After reading the book, see Appendix
II for further sources of information.
Ignorance
plus addiction equals destruction, generally through early and discomforting illnesses that range from tooth decay and loss,
impotence, and personality changes to more serious ones that frequently cause premature death.
Knowledge helps one to understand and remove the addictive control, thereby avoiding ill-health, and postponing death
until its natural fate and time.
This book is for those of you who are personally addicted, know someone who is, or would appreciate being more
informed. You will begin to know and identify addicted people, their struggles,
addiction, its consequences and, most important, recovery and the maintenance thereof.
It sparks the motivation, hope, and desire for recovery and gives the formula to win the battle.
Read
on, if you suspect that you or anyone you know has any addiction.