Understanding Addiction: Why It's So Hard to Break Free ?

When we talk about addiction, why is it so difficult to get free of it? Most people can drink socially, can drink on a weekend, but some just feel the need to keep on drinking until they're out of control, drunk, and unconscious.   What's the reason for that?

Imagine you're in a group of 5. Everyone's drinking, and you're in that group. Very likely you'll start drinking too. There are some people who, no matter how much they drink, will never become addicted. They'll drink on the weekends, and on the other 5 days of the week they're the ideal worker, husband, father, and family man. Alcohol just doesn't touch them. There is a large cohort of people who are genetically predisposed to addiction, though. If they try to do the same thing, they'll have problems. They'll drink on the weekends, and on the other 5 days they'll be suffering from cravings for alcohol. They'll be restless. They'll be plagued by the desire for alcohol, which will be completely disruptive to their studies, their work, and their family life. The only thing they'll be thinking about is when they're going to get their next drink, how they're going to get their next drink. Over time, they'll lose their job. Their marriages will break down. They'll be estranged from their family. Their children will suffer. That's another factor in the mix: you've got the genetic vulnerability, you've got the underlying mental health issues, and you've got being in the wrong company. The final one is that a lot of people get lost. They don't have a purpose. They don't have a direction. They don't know what they're going to do with their life. That's confusion. Once you have a goal, once you have motivation, once you know you're working for something bigger than yourself, then you can say no to the temptation of addiction because you know there's a higher purpose in life for you than just wasting your time.