Why do people keep using alcohol and other drugs after they start? I have asked addicted people this question for more than thirty years and come to the conclusion that people keep using alcohol and other drugs for one, and only one, reason – The drugs work!
Let me repeat that. People keep using alcohol and other drugs because the alcohol and drugs work! They make people feel the way they want to feel. This is what keeps people coming back. Their drug of choice, whether it is alcohol, valium, cocaine or heroin gives them the mood altering effect that they want. If it does not, they will not keep using it.
People keep using alcohol and other drugs because they work!
Not only does the drug work, it works quickly and reliably. They get the effect that they want and they get it NOW! What is even more important is that the drug is reliable. It produces the effect they want every time they use it. They come to depend on it. My drug of choice gives me what I want when I want it. There is no fuss and no muss. I get pain-free pleasure right now, on demand, any time I want it.
If I feel bad or just want to feel better what do I do? Do I go into therapy, work long and work hard trying to feel better without drugs? Or, do I use my drug of choice and instantly get the effect that I want?
Let’s see… I am feeling bad and I want to feel better? What should I do?
Should I invest a lot of time and energy figuring out what is making me feel bad? Should I then invest more time and energy figuring out how to fix it? Should I then invest more time and energy in trying to fix it? Or, should I do all of this when I know that what I am doing might not work and that even if it does work, it will take a long time to make me feel the way I want to feel? Should I take something that instantly gives me the effect that I want with little or no effort?
Can you see why so many people decide to drink and use drugs? They know that relief is just a swallow away. They believe in better living through chemistry. It is quick. It is easy. It seems painless. Moreover, it works for them every time. It gives them the effect that they want, when they want it without any real effort.