“For as long as human beings have had ways to feel good, we’ve struggled to know when it’s time to stop,” says Jeffrey Kluger, author of “The Disease of the Pleasures” for TIME Magazine. Kluger explains that the brain is “simpleminded.” He says that much of what our minds are responsible for is “primal stuff,” such as “regulating breathing, managing memory, interpreting sight and sound and touch and taste. It’s the brain that puts us to sleep at night and runs the inner cinema that is our dreams.” There’s also another big thing the brain does: processes pleasure. This one is a bit more than simpleminded. It’s complicated, just like pleasure itself. By processing pleasure, it’s going over “the satisfaction of eating; the thrill of sex; the exhilaration of winning; the light, loopy, all-is-well feeling of being buzzed on drink or drugs.” It’s “just chemistry,” explains Kluger. But, really, it’s more than that. It’s our whole life. We don’t go a day without doing something pleasurable. Continue reading to learn more about when pleasure becomes the disease of addiction.
“Sometimes, we’re powerless to not repeat the behavior.”
“Sometimes, we learn from those lost battles, with the hangover or the numbers on the scale or the heartbreak of a spouse being enough to set us right,” says Kluger. “Sometimes, however, there is no lesson learned, or at least no lesson heeded. Sometimes instead, we’re powerless to not repeat the behavior. Perhaps we intend to behave — we promise ourselves and the other people in our world that we’ll behave — but always we fail. The behavior becomes a habit, the habit becomes a compulsion, and the compulsion becomes the life-wrecking disease that is addiction.” Indeed, addiction is life-wrecking. Many people lose their jobs, their friends, their families, their homes, their happiness, and so much more. Due to their dependence, they are not able to stop using and abusing substances and behaviors. These chemicals and behaviors “draw us in and seize our will.” It’s an endless cycle that you may feel as though you can never break. You can, though. And that’s what Arbor Behavioral Health is here for.
Treatment and recovery
“Treatment and recovery differ from person to person,” says Kluger. This is why we have individualized treatment for those who seek care at Arbor Behavioral Healthcare. “But, experts agree that it should be multifaceted and ongoing.” This is also true. We work on recovery by treating the whole person. Not just the disease. We want to continue care with you.
Arbor Behavioral Healthcare is ready when you are. We want to help you take the first step to recovery. Call us today at 844-413-2690. We can’t wait to speak with you.