Chemical Dependency
A person becomes chemically dependent when he or she develops a craving for a substance in order to feel good or “high”- or to keep from feeling discomfort of not using the substance. The need for the substance is always psychological but may be physical as well.
Chemically dependent people can describe their addiction in various ways:
“When I take that first beer, I’d have no intention of getting drunk. Sometimes I didn’t- but sometimes I just lost track.”
“My mind would constantly stay on getting high. It was what got me through the day.”
“Alcohol was my buddy for twenty years.I never missed a day of work, I never abused my wife or kids and I never got in to trouble with the law. Then one day I realized I was no longer in control. The beer and scotch had taken over.”
“I don’t smoke pot and drink to get high anymore. I do it to just get by.”
“Nothing can describe a good cocaine high. Nothing. What else really counts when I experience that kind of feeling?”