Post #4: Mental vs Chemical Addictions

I find it interesting the way in which the views on addictions have changed throughout time. There are different types of addiction, both chemical and mental. Chemical addiction being when the body becomes so accustomed to having a certain substance in it, builds up tolerances to it and rewires certain pathways, that a withdrawal from said substance can cause the body to revolt. Withdrawal from chemical substances can be dangerous and even fatal. Some examples of this are alcohol, cocaine, heroin, and other "hard drugs".

On the flip side, mental addictions I am defining as addictions to substances or actions due to the perpetuity with which individuals try to chase the feeling they have when they are doing the substance or action. Examples of mental addictions are eating disorders, gambling addictions, sex addiction, kleptomania, and anything else you can think of that an individual feels little or no power in controlling but were they to stop there would not be a dangerous physical withdrawal within their body.

Marijuana is a drug that has been heavily debated as to the addictive properties of it. Does one experience THC withdrawal? Is it a chemical addiction, or is it a mental addiction? Many people who are frequent marijuana smokers argue that they can stop any time, that they are not addicted, that when they do stop they only experience minor withdrawal symptoms for a few days, and mostly that marijuana is a safe drug because you cannot become addicted to it. Scientifically, however, marijuana withdrawal does exist. It isn’t as dangerous as heroin or cocaine withdrawal, but it does exist. I personally have seen people I went to high school with, who smoke multiple times a day, experience nausea, depression, headaches, and the shakes from not smoking (although the “shakes” could have been just from them feeling so crappy and exhausted). This is a bit scary, that individuals start smoking in high school, a drug that they are told by those older than them that is safe and they won’t be able to get addicted to. I’ve seen many of my friends come to me, telling me they wish they could quit, but they always find themselves coming back to it. There is both a chemical and mental addiction component to marijuana, that people often times don’t comprehend. Marijuana is the casual drug that everyone seems to use, but when used too frequently it is no longer casual.

Also, which is worse, chemical or mental addiction? I’ve never had a chemical addiction, so I can’t speak from personal experience, but I have suffered from eating disorders and other mental issues. These are extremely difficult to treat since there doesn’t seem to be a physical cause that you can pinpoint and either ween off of or fix. Addiction is a difficult subject to conceptualize, because there are so many different types and they have to be treated differently. And some don’t seem to have a treatment. Addiction is something that we do not seem to have an effective way of communicating about, YET.