Symptoms: Death.... Or Maybe That's Just the Destination | Teen Ink

Symptoms: Death.... Or Maybe That's Just the Destination

October 18, 2008
By Anonymous

Addiction is arguably, even indisputably, positive. Of course that now seems absurd… But each separate life is based off of, catering to each individual’s addictions. Now, let “addiction” be defined, at least in my sense of the word. When “addict” was used as adjective, in any sense, it was simply a form of the Latin word “addictus” under the context of “devoted”. Addiction is something that the body craves and feels it absolutely needs and must have, without which suffers some kind of invariable withdrawal/ hopelessness/ panic/ etc. This does exclude necessities; the line between a necessity and an addiction can be drawn when this person will actually die without said substance (I’m thinking that necessities only include substances, whereas addictions do not), such as sustenance or air. Though it is rare to be born with an addiction, and impossible to actively support an addiction at birth any human can and (most) will learn that addictions one of the most satisfying and ever present life experiences.

Here, it might become necessary to define what an addiction is in reality, because it has only been stated, specifically anyways, what it is not. Addiction still remains within the perspective of those who experience. Addiction always involves dependency in a certain form, to a certain degree. And even as I explain it now, addiction remains one of the things with which I can talk about more vaguely than anything else, but everyone who thinks within the sense of the word will still understand with perfect clarity. Addiction is more thoroughly detailed but more widespread than any other “affliction” out there. And it can always be disputed to what percentage addiction is mental. With certain highly addictive substances, addiction is reality… But reality is more involved with perception than anything else.

This all being said and considered, an addiction is one of the most tangible things that can exist. Though it is said to be a physical dependency, it is also something you can control, in the most paradoxal sense. Without any kind of addiction in my life, I feel a strange kind of emptiness… Without any addiction, I have to nothing to feel better, no fix or solutions, however temporary. Some addictions are developed as avoidant tendencies; they are open and easy distractions from problems. This is all too common. Most are probably therapeutic, not only to the person with the addiction but in a way proven by science. Tobacco via the cigarette has actually been shown to reduce the risk of some health ailments the same way it increases others. Those in reduction include breast cancer, Parkinson’s disease, and Alzheimer’s disease. Do these benefits outweigh the risk? Is taking the risks of reducing some things but increasing others, or would it really just be worth it to bottom out and not indulge in any of it at all?

I find that addictions are more tangible than anything else. Addictions have a concrete quality that eludes even life itself; even without being able to explain them, they are never difficult to understand because they are a mutual, shared experience between… well, everyone. You’ll find addictions are easier to control than anything else. With every course of action you take when involved in a full blown addiction, you know the consequences of every turn. You miss a fix, you can expect withdrawal. You obtain one, you can expect elation. Every turn is easy to predict, easy to grasp, and therefore easy to control. Within dependency, you have perfect control. Even within psychological addictions, when only your emotions are what hangs in the balance, it is impossibly easy to predict what event will come next. Not in a clichéd sense, but in a sense that you know your reaction because what occurred in the time it took the addiction to develop.

Most could even associate love with addiction. The two are undeniably very similar in structure and composition: You begin with small doses, and eventually work yourself up into an inescapable wrap up of dependency on intimacy that effects all other actions and courses of direction in your life, without which you feel would surely die. Which one am I speaking of? Love is addiction, and vice versa, though not in a literal sense. Closeness with a substance is almost intangible from intimacy with another person.

Even further than this, addicting is also one of the most satisfying things to exist. Addictive substances i.e. heroin, emotions i.e. abusive relationships, experiences i.e. gambling or shoplifting, or even people i.e. first loves; they’re all addictive for a reason. People love the feeling, the experience, the result they get from these things they’re addicted to. And what’s more, I’d rather spend my life trying to live, and enjoying the risks and suffering result consequences rather than trying to not be something. If you aren’t addicted, you haven’t tried yet.

The author's comments:
This piece details the importance of an instance that almost all relate too that is only typically thought of without purely negative connotation. It sometimes reveals more of the mind if it is opened to think beyond what we are taught initially.

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