To explain addiction to someone who has never struggled with it would be like explaining colours to someone who has always been blind.
Well done Chloe, well done!! :notworthy:notworthy
As a recovering addict myself (for well over 25 years), you have absolutely hit the nail on the head!
Sorry but cousins is not a good example, as being spoilt with no mentors or people saying no to him doesnt work. Like elvis, Jackson, if u r allowed to run a muck only have yes men around u and never get any consequences for actions u get this result.
Real addicts need support from family and friends that r tuff but fair by being there when they ask for help. Intervention has worked for people I know but they need to be strong people themselves for help to work, playing to their wishes never works.
Sorry had to say.
Sorry Hornyball, but Cousins is a great example!!
Ben worked just as hard as anyone else in our society to develop & succeed in his chosen career (therefore not spoilt). Although with addiction of any sort, logic does not come into the equation, there is no logical reason why any addict chasing after his / her fix, would choose to have strong positive mentors in his / her life. Once Ben "came out" and chose to fight his disease / addiction, this mindset of having "yes men" around would slowly change. Trust me, and NEVER believe otherwise, Ben (just like me, as a recovering addict), HAS, IS, and WILL suffer the consequences of this stupid life choices for the rest of his days!!
Ben Cousins IS a real addict! He was offered plenty of support from friends, family, and career industry colleagues who were tuff. These people made themselves available to Ben whenever he needed / wanted them. Ben chose to not utilise that help and support! Why? Because he was in bondage to his addiction, and logical though to truly seek help did not exist in his mind.
Don't get me wrong here, Ben Cousins is an idiot who made stupid decisions which nearly killed him, lost respect, lost career, lost $$$ income, lost friends, lost fans...need I go on about his consequences? I do not support or condone what he has done in his off-field life. BUT, he is the same sportsman we all loved and admired 7 or 8 years ago, we just now know that he is a recovering addict.
All addictions are the same, and they are a mental health DISEASE, no different to cancer, diabetes etc. So, leave him alone to recover in peace. Remember him as an awesome elite athlete. Do not let your children idolise him off the football field!!
Sorry for the novel, but for someone who knows first hand the struggles of addiction and its prisoners, I have huge empathy for Ben Cousins and other addicts like him.
Walk a mile in his shoes, and then come back and disagree with me!!:nono:
Think of it like this. We all as humans have some primal needs. Four of which are:
- certainty
- uncertainty
- love/connection
- significance
If we can meet 2 or more of these needs in any kind of habit or behavior. Then that habit or behavior is addictive whether it serves us or not.
Sorry but I disagree Master Yoda.
Primal needs are primal needs, NOT addictions!
Are you addicted to air?
Are you addicted to water?
Are you addicted to light / sunshine?
I'd suggest that you aren't, but these are all primal needs that are met by us all on a daily basis.
An addiction is ANYTHING that we ordinarily do not need in our life (or only in "normal" portions), but which becomes the only thing that is important in our life! So important that you will lie, steal, cheat, deceive etc in order to get your fix.
All four of the primal needs you quoted can become addictions, but in their own right, in normal human quantities, they are simply primal needs.
One thing that always got me was So many letters in the paper defending Cousins would use the line that his problem hurt no-one else leave him alone
The reason he did not steal or worse in the attempt to get his fix was purely money & fame
A young man with the same addiction without the benefit of Money etc has to get his money through theft or maybe selling his body in unsafe circumstances
But because Cousins can play high level sport and is a lovely bloke he is a subject of sympathy and even righteous indignation from some The leave him alone brigade anyway
Happy2, I think you need to do a bit more research into Ben Cousins, and addiction in general than reading letters in the paper. You then might have a more balanced opinion.