From addiction to bipolar to purpose

I’m yet to meet a person who is not addicted to a substance or an activity. Usually, when we think of addicts, the picture that comes to mind before us is that of a raging alcoholic, cocaine snorter or chain smoker. However, there are also activities like computer games, sports, the arts, food or sex which are addictive.

At the end of the day, what does addiction mean for an individual?

Think of each human being as a piece in a jigsaw puzzle. Each piece has an opening which needs to be filled. Addictions complete individuals.

Does this mean that you should be an addict else you are failing in your cause to be a productive human being? Absolutely not.

There are some individuals who will proudly announce that they are addiction free. Good for them.

But somewhere along the road, these individuals will encounter addictions or they may have already bypassed them. How does this happen?

Addictions are scary. They overpower you. Being an addict is not for the faint-hearted. You need to be prepared to submit yourself to them. And when you emerge on the other side, you are a stronger person.

Of course, there will be addicts who stay the course for their entire lives. Is this good or bad? It depends on their productivity. Are they bestowing creative gifts or making the world a better place?

Is it possible to do these positive things as a non-addicted person. Maybe. But, you’ll have to draw upon a reservoir of creativity which exists within all of us through a straw.

Addictions are nothing but a tool of self-expression. It baffles me how obese people are accepted in society but chain smokers are not. Why should people hooked to Command and Conquer be lesser than marathon runners?

It is all about the lens with which we gaze at society.

However, too much of anything is obviously a bad thing. And, addictions by definition are too much of something. This is where your self-awareness and will power comes into play.

Can you ride your addictions like massive waves in the ocean? Or, will you drown in them?

There are alcoholics who engage in domestic abuse. There are drug addicts who simply cannot face the world. There are computer game addicts who lack basic social skills. There are runners who feel that time is their enemy. And of course, there are the book lovers who are always lost in the world of imagination.

How does one master an addiction?

Like any new process, you take baby steps. Dip your toes in the water and see how you feel. Go deeper and allow yourself to feel the experience in total. Learn to ride its crests and troughs. Easier said than done since the crests are so mind boggling and the troughs so depressive.

We are all bipolar in some form or the other. It is just that only 2% of the population is chemically diagnosed while the rest hide behind their addictions.

Diabetes patients are the best example of this point. Most of them have had late nights spent working, food is their defense mechanism against stress and work pressure and of course they love to eat sweets. Food and sweets help them to calm down and curb their active brains.

So, one addiction hides a mental disorder. Who is to say that this is not the case with all addictions?

We all have extremely active brains which need to be directed towards a particular activity. This is where addictions come in. When we allow our addictions to overpower us then that leads to mental and physical disharmony.

What’s the solution, then?

You cannot simply give up on your favourite hobbies because you are afraid of the pitfalls of addiction. If that were to be the case then we would all stay in our houses or not drive because we are scared of road rage.

And, no: the solution is not ‘balance’.

The solution is to immerse yourself in the activity till you know it in its entirety. This means that you have a fair picture of how it affects you, helps you and allows you to contribute to the world at large.

Don’t be a directionless addict. Be a purposeful human who has gone through the rite of passage of addiction.