The Addicted States of America
Posted: Tuesday, October 07, 2008
by Jeff Brown
Inner Projection
One human condition, habit, is a weakness, even though when doing the right thing or obtaining productive results habit has a positive connotation. But let me explain the issue at hand first.
Addiction has become a country wide issue. It's gotten so bad that Congress has had to step in in regards to food addiction. Unfortunately, mostly due to the burgeoning fast-food industry that came about in the 70s, people have become addicted to sugars and trans-fats. But it doesn't stop there.
Our youth has been caught up in Internet addictions that include online gambling, gaming (one student spoke of how she verbally abused her parents if she missed a day), and, worst of all, pornography. The majority of those acquiring addictions are now between the ages of 14 and 27. And the porno industry is a raging machine subversively making billions--more than rock 'n roll and country music combined.
But it doesn't stop there. There are also addictions to sports, television (my daughter suffers here), shopping, sex, virtually anything that is used to avoid life's responsibilities, problems, and challenges.
Life is about problems, and if you don't learn how to deal with them, handle them, big and small, then life will be difficult if not impossible for you--here, ending in suicide, also on the rise.
So how do we combat all this addiction? AA's Big Book is a good place to start. Interestingly enough, it's not just for alcoholics. It talks addiction and helps with the tangible task of managing emotion and behavior. The cause for addiction can be manifold, and this detail needs to be addressed by a therapist. This can be done privately or in groups or both. I have done both.
Like for many, my addiction was not of the debilitating variety. There are many good, productive, successful, men and women who "manage" their addiction. However, like any unproductive behavior, in time it can, does, and will get out of control, eating into one's relationships, career, and mental health. We can only go so far in life hiding the truth and living with the lies we tell ourselves and tell others from within our addiction. After a while, if the addictive behavior is not addressed it will destroy lives, marriages, families, society.
Addiction has become a country wide issue. It's gotten so bad that Congress has had to step in in regards to food addiction. Unfortunately, mostly due to the burgeoning fast-food industry that came about in the 70s, people have become addicted to sugars and trans-fats. But it doesn't stop there.
But it doesn't stop there. There are also addictions to sports, television (my daughter suffers here), shopping, sex, virtually anything that is used to avoid life's responsibilities, problems, and challenges.
Life is about problems, and if you don't learn how to deal with them, handle them, big and small, then life will be difficult if not impossible for you--here, ending in suicide, also on the rise.
So how do we combat all this addiction? AA's Big Book is a good place to start. Interestingly enough, it's not just for alcoholics. It talks addiction and helps with the tangible task of managing emotion and behavior. The cause for addiction can be manifold, and this detail needs to be addressed by a therapist. This can be done privately or in groups or both. I have done both.
Like for many, my addiction was not of the debilitating variety. There are many good, productive, successful, men and women who "manage" their addiction. However, like any unproductive behavior, in time it can, does, and will get out of control, eating into one's relationships, career, and mental health. We can only go so far in life hiding the truth and living with the lies we tell ourselves and tell others from within our addiction. After a while, if the addictive behavior is not addressed it will destroy lives, marriages, families, society.
But the overcoming of the self takes a lot of work--work, work, work, work, work. Something most don not want to do.
Dr. M. Scott Peck, author of The Road Less Traveled, speaks of how EVERYONE needs to work on themselves. We all have weaknesses: anger, procrastination, negativity, gossip and slander, lying, and so on. No one should avoid working on themselves.
I have been doing so for a LONG time. In the process, I've overcome severe introversion, shyness, hopelessness, depression, anger, and now addiction. But if you ask my wife, I've still got things to work on. And even with all this work, work, work, it doesn't end. Ever. You have to work to the grave . . . and beyond. Hmmmmm . . . our purpose for being?
Dr. Peck tells us that few have the desire to take that cold, hard look into the mirror, and of the few that do come to him out of desperation (some live their entire lives going in mis- or un-managed circles), only a small number stick with the therapy. Those who come with an open mind and accepting attitude, still take one to two years to gain control of their problem. Unfortunately, the stubborn majority takes years, and years, and years in working toward recovery.
But working through and learning through trials has brought me greater strength, compassion, hope, and knowledge, the kind that breaks one free from fear, enabling one to stand tall and firm in all that one does, for if the greatest of men to walk this earth had to descend below all things to comprehend all things, what then is required of us?
I have been doing so for a LONG time. In the process, I've overcome severe introversion, shyness, hopelessness, depression, anger, and now addiction. But if you ask my wife, I've still got things to work on. And even with all this work, work, work, it doesn't end. Ever. You have to work to the grave . . . and beyond. Hmmmmm . . . our purpose for being?
Dr. Peck tells us that few have the desire to take that cold, hard look into the mirror, and of the few that do come to him out of desperation (some live their entire lives going in mis- or un-managed circles), only a small number stick with the therapy. Those who come with an open mind and accepting attitude, still take one to two years to gain control of their problem. Unfortunately, the stubborn majority takes years, and years, and years in working toward recovery.
But working through and learning through trials has brought me greater strength, compassion, hope, and knowledge, the kind that breaks one free from fear, enabling one to stand tall and firm in all that one does, for if the greatest of men to walk this earth had to descend below all things to comprehend all things, what then is required of us?
"He descended below all things,
in that he
comprehended all things,
that he might be in all and through all
things,
the light of truth" (D&C 88:6)
I am grateful for whatever inspired me at an early age to overcome, but overcome I have. And if we don't overcome as individuals, how do we ever expect to overcome as a nation.
God Bless
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Top-level comments on this article: (2 total)Very challenging article, Jeff. Let me confess my latest addiction: Bubble Breaker, a stupid game on my cell phone. My teenage son and my 3-year-old daughter and I take turns playing this thing. But I have my excuse: Bubble Breaker helps relax my mind and relieve some stress. I know, I need to break the addiction. Thanks for your article. ~mogama~Mogama,Thanks for stopping by. And yes, addictions of all kinds and levels of severity exist that can take prescious time away from us. Keep moving on!
Excellent article Jeff! I too have had hurdles and addictions to overcome. I know today that I can do all things through Christ, Phil 4:13God bless,Michelle,Yes, as addicts one finds that their lives have gotten out of control. However, like all people, only the Savior's atoning sacrifice can free us from the bondage of our mortat limitations. God bless.
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