Why is drug addiction so hard to kick?

Ive been using since preteens and am in my mid 40s. I primarily use opium based drugs both pharmacutical and designer.
Answer:
Drug addictions gets into the R-Complex of the brain, and then it can be impossible to resist. It becomes a part of your emotions and takes over your consciousness.

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cause it eats ur brain and makes u too dumb to figure out how to quit ... drugs ruin your body, mind and life

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wow you're REAL cool...

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Because people who even start to use drugs are weak minded in the first place.

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I really believe it has a lot to do with the mental need for it. Yes, it hurts you physically, but it is your brain that is craving the sensation.

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its so hard since you've been doing it for 30 years or so. the more you use a drug (take nicotene for example) the harder it is to kick. Like when you start smokin and you feel it pullin you in a little, you can just back off for a week or so and you won't get addicted. when you smoke for over a year then it's really hard to kick the habit.

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Because you are self-medicating your problems instead of dealing with them and working through them.

PLEASE get some help. Haven't you been to NA?

http://www.na.org

If you really want to stop, that's where you need to be.

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Genetic. Anyways, I saw this article that states that certain people have a part of the brain that gets hooked on drugs easier than someone who does not. I'm not sure how true the article is but I do know that my hubby loves caffeine and it does not do anything to me.
Get help.

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addiction-the state of being enslaved to a habit or practice or to something that is psychologically or physically habit-forming, as narcotics, to such an extent that its cessation causes severe trauma.

30 years of 40. LONG TIME! Opiate based. A highly addictive drug.

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giving up an addiction is simply a matter of choosing to do so. Unfortunately most people have a psyco somatic reaction when they give something up. Because our blood carries the drug around our systems it feeds the bodily tissues and becomes associated with feeling 'normal'.

Just remember that it is claimed that giving up smoking is actually harder than giving up heroin, and lots of people give up smoking. You control your brain and your brain controls your body. If you make a decision to give up something, and have enough self control, you can't fail.

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You've altered your natural happy chemicals by replacing them with drugs. Take away the drugs and it causes illness and extreme unhappiness, this is very hard to cope with, like torture, especially when you know what will fix you up real quick. Eventually your brain should start producing the good stuff again, but you might always need a little help from the doctor.

Whatever underlying mental, physical, emotional issue that may have been there before you became addicted is probably still there.

Your social life is probably built around drug use, and socializing without drugs seems boring or weird.

Being an addict for this long means you might have alot of regrets about things you have done, or opportunities you have missed, and possibly burned alot of bridges with people who really cared.

Don't feel like mid-forties is a bad time to start a new life.
Good luck to you and watch out for people who want you to remain an addict because it validates their problems or because they feel they are in a position of power over you by acting as your enabler.

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well, there are psychological and physical reasons.

first, when you try to stop, do you feel sick or uncomfortable at the least? if so, that's most likely because you're body has gotten used to having it in the system, which is the physical aspect.

psychologically, when you are stressed, you naturally try to find some way to relieve it. In this case, drugs are among ways to relieve stress, and having done them before is another reason why it's hard to quit.

If you were able to stop drug use for some time but then go back, you're relapsing back into drug use, mostly due to some form of stress.

There are ways to kick the addiction, the most well-known being going to therapy while another would be to make taking the drug a horrible experience.

hope this helps explain it.

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There are many reasons why we use our drugs.
emotional reasons
situational reasons
family reasons
mental health "self-medication" reasons

Quite often, when we start using our drugs to escape what ever emotional issue we had when we started, until that base emotional issue is worked on, changing is difficult, but never impossible.

Statistics point out that the younger you started, the harder it is to kick the habit...and also the more dedicated you must MUST be if you want to stop.

If you find yourself wanting to quit you must make every effort, without excuse, to seek out help. As someone else mentioned in this list, NA is a free source of assistance...the only trick is that you must make this a priority. Be open, honest, and willing to go and participate. Make no excuses not to attend a meeting. Once you start making excuses, relapse will happen.

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Its hard to kick because you are an addict. I can speak from first hand experience with opiates, and i don;t think its about what type of drug specifically. Addiction IS a disease, whether people like to believe that or not. Once you are using, you cannot stop. Every day becomes about getting that next high, nothing else is important. I bet the high isn;t even all that great anymore, its just about feeling normal. The more time that passes, the harder it will be to kick the habit, as it becomes a way of life and change is hard.

I highly suggest looking into the rapid opiate detoxification procedure, followed by getting the Naltrexone implant. (an opiate blocker) Keep taht going for at least 6 mos, and go to meetings, maybe even inpatient rehab.

I owe the last 8 sober years of my life to that. It is possible

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belive in yourself. stayway if want to stop. it is nothing wrong your brain.you just took life as comfort and believe in who you were around. belive in you rself. ILOVEYOU,because iknow you can do

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You develop an addictive thinking process which is almost impossible to spot yourself.

When people talk about hitting their rock bottom it is because finally something in your brain is reacting to the situation that drug use has gotten you in to and you realize that you have such a severe addiction that you put it before (fill in the blank)

Until that time you can say "ya, I have a problem" but because addictive thinking is not really connected to your emotions it won't really hit you.

I got out of rehab earlier this year for opiate addiction, check out my site all about what led me there and my life after http://www.whatwinnersdo.com There is so much more to life

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