RADICAL RESTORATIONS

I want you to reflect for just a minute with me if you will.  How do you feel the morning after you have used some sort of substance to feel better about yourself, cope with life or just unwind with some friends?

• Are you in pain all over your body?  
• Is your head foggy?  
• Do you feel embarrassed for giving in to the temptation to use? 
• Did you promise yourself that this is the last time you will feel this way ever again?
• Did you make a decision that you are going to quit using and throw all of your drugs away as soon as you feel better?
• Are you angry at yourself?  
• Do you feel sorry for yourself and want to do something that will help you change your ways?
• Do you give in to your own thoughts for recovery after you use and your defense mechanisms are down?

But the day marches on.  You begin to get a little clearer in your thinking.  Your defenses come back on line and you begin to make excuses for yesterday’s minor indiscretion.  You may even justify what happened with excuses such as; “I had a bad day” or “I didn’t have enough to eat” or “I had a really stressful day with the boss” or some other lame excuse that doesn’t make much sense to anyone including you.

Life goes on and you eventually give in to the temptation to use or drink again.  “Just a little bit to take the edge off,” is what you say.  You are trying to convince yourself that it’s okay to use again.  Yesterday was different and after all, you’re off work today so it won’t be the same.  But the vicious cycle continues.

If you’re reading this and it hits home with you then you have got to answer this question.  What are you thinking?

Why would you want to keep on doing something that makes you suffer in such a terrible way?  Why does your body crave something that has so many bad consequences for you?

The medical research field has shown us there are two major causes of physical addiction. The first one is that your cells adapt to the drug that is introduced into your body on a regular basis. And the second one is that your metabolism will become more efficient at breaking down the toxins from the substances you put into your body.  In other words, the stuff you are putting into your body becomes a normal event for your cells.  They even come to expect it on a regular basis.

Whenever you put these substances or chemicals, your blood will take it to every living cell in your body. They become adjusted to these chemical compounds. Your cells have become trained to handle these chemicals by protecting themselves against their poisonous properties. In order to do this, the cell walls become toughened in order to maintain their strength and diminish the harmful and deadly effects these toxins have on you.

But there is something even more sinister at work here.  As your cells get tougher, it takes more of the drug to produce the effect or “high” that you feel.  That’s really the main reason for taking the drug in the first place.  As a result of this, you are able to consume more and more drugs as your cells get used to it.  But eventually, the cell walls give in and break down.  And sometimes irreversible damage is done.

When you have reached this stage it becomes very dangerous.  Not only have the cells lost their capacity to keep the poisons out, but they have also reached a hazardous stage.  They are no longer able to receive nutrients necessary for the survival of the cell.  At this point a lot of them will stop working or begin to operate in an irregular way.  This is when your major organs such as the heart, brain, liver, or lungs begin to stop working.

Metabolism also has a part to play in this tragedy we call addiction.  It is very closely associated with what you eat.  Your body will metabolize or break down the food you eat into its basic building blocks such as vitamins, minerals, amino acids, etc. in order to get these critical elements to the cells.  The reason all of this happens is to make use of practically anything that you put into your body.  This is how the body is able to grow and function on a variety of different diets.  Your body has been made to gain sustenance from nearly anything you put in it.  You truly are what you eat.

Metabolism also helps by getting rid of poisonous and toxic substances that get introduced into the body.  The liver is the organ that plays the main role in this course of action.  The liver will look at the drugs or substances as unwanted chemicals and will start creating enzymes that neutralize these toxins.  If you are using a drug on a consistent basis then your liver will get better at removing it from your system.  It’s almost as if your liver comes to “anticipate” that particular substance and has enzymes ready and waiting for it. This is a key reason that tolerance increases. That is why it takes greater and greater doses of a drug to get the same original effects.

Next time we will look at the effects that addiction has on your life.  You will not want to miss this, especially if you are interested in finding a way out.  If you have come to a place in your life where you are ready to change then why not click on the Dream Center Discipleship link to the right.  It will take you to a site where you can find out how to start your road to recovery.  More next time….