The general public has their perception of what addiction looks like. People with addiction who are in denial also have a misconception what addiction looks like, usually not like them. Some of these misconceptions are, people who have lost everything, homeless, the drunk on the park bench or lying in the gutter. The addict believes that ” I’m not as bad as that so I cannot have a problem with mind-or-mood-altering substance” These misconceptions point to the consequences of using drug or alcohol, how it has impacted the addict’s life e.g. losing everything.
However, sometimes the misconceptions about addiction are about the consumption of substances. Many believe, addicts and the general public, to be an addict one has to consume your drug of choice every day and almost the whole day. This misconception keeps addicts in active addiction. Although this does describe a certain type of pattern of consumption i.e. the chronic pattern, it is not the only pattern of consumption addicts display. The common patterns of consumption of addiction are:
1) Binge Pattern
2) Relapsing pattern
3) Chronic pattern
These patterns are determined by the substance being used and the stage of progression of the addiction.
The binge pattern of consumption is what is commonly know as the weekend alcoholic. The drug of choice is not consumed daily, often there are long periods of abstinence between periods of using, however when the addict picks up, the consumption is out of control and lasts longer than the addict intended to use. Sometime binges can last for a few days. The addict cannot accurately predict what will happen once they pick up their drug of choice i.e how long the binge will last and what will happen when they are on the binge. A binge often is followed by feelings of shame. Sometimes the addict disappears from the family for a few days and returns remorseful about disappearing and what happened on the binge e.g. money was spent which needed to be used for rent etc, or infidelity or motor vehicle accidents or ending up in jail. This is followed by a period of abstinence from the drug of choice. This period could be described as the addict purging the shame and remorse by trying to be “good”, until the next binge.
The addict might rationalise his last binge by saying he does not have a problem because he can stop for days, weeks or even months on end. That he needs to let loose now and again. This is the denial which keeps the addict in this binge pattern of consumption for years. How the addict rationalised his consumption is focusing on when he is not using. ” I can stop when I want and for long periods” what needs to be focussed on, when trying to identifying addition, is not when you are abstinent but WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU CONSUME YOUR DRUG OF CHOICE.
So not what happens between binges but rather what happens during the binge. Focussing on the latter will reveal the loss of control over the consumption of the drug of choice, Loss of control or impaired control equates to addiction.
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