HISTORY

My personal theory of addiction was not created solely in the duration of this assignment; rather, it has been developing and evolving since I was a child. Essentially, it breaks down into three prominent categories in which I can attribute certain influencing factors as to how my perceptions were changing; simply put these categories can be distinguished by grade school, university, and my time in this current program.

 

My personal theory of what drug addicts were was shaped in my childhood by a variety of differing media sources including television, the news, magazines advertisements as well as what I was taught in the public school system. What was this theory exactly? I have no idea. I was taught and influenced that addiction was specific to illegal drug use; users were dirty, dangerous, and a burden on the rest of society. It was not uncommon to hear on the 6 o’clock news (which my mother watched every night) about the arrests of drug deals, addicts, or another incident with the Hells Angels. In school we were strictly warned to stay away from drugs as they would ruin your life and likely end it as well. My first substantial memory with drugs as a child was in school (around grade 3) where a local police officer came into talk to use about types of drugs and drug use. He brought with him a variety of samples so we could learn to identify different types of drugs. I remember him pointing at a small amount of white powder (which looked like icing sugar to me) and saying that it would kill us if we used it. Scared straight? Not likely, but this incident play a role in how I perceived addiction at this time.

As I grew up and move into my teenaged years I began to have some personal experience with drug use and addiction. I had always heard of kids my age experimenting with drugs but it was not until I personally knew someone with an addiction problem (a friend’s relative). I experienced a few incidences first had that scared the shit out of me, so I added scary to the list of addict’s traits.

At this point in my life (let’s say around ages 5-17) questioning authority was not something I was brave enough to engage in. This means that I accepted all of the information I was given without any hesitation. If the media, my family, my teachers, and the police were all telling me that using drugs will make you homeless and eventually lead to death, I was going to believe them and I did.  

In the next stage of my addiction theory evolution, I am at university, St. Francis Xavier University to be specific. I did my undergraduate degree in psychology with a special interest in forensic psychology. Here I was bombarded with information and information about everything. I took a variety of courses but I was drawn to psychology courses which focused on mental illness, addiction, and crime. I began to learn the science behind addiction, how it was a disease and the biological factor which come into play. Most importantly, here I learned that an addiction did not only mean addict. One interesting experience I encounter here was with a forensic psychology course I enrolled in where we took field trips to all the federal prisons in the Maritimes (I later went on to do service learning at the maximum security men’s prison). On these trips were talked to inmates who recounted their pasts filled with drug use and crime. My theory, in this stage, became very focused on the role drugs and addiction played in crime and incarceration.

 

Finally, we come to today. I am enrolled in the Addictions Community Outreach Program where I have changed my entire outlook on addiction in only the past few months. Learning from someone who works first hand with addiction gives an insight that no one else can quite provide; humanity. ‘Addiction’ or now as I like to call them INDIVIDUALS with substance dependence are people just liked the rest of us. Learning best practices in the field made me realize all of my previous misconceptions. Over my life span my theory and changed and evolved. It will continue to do so through-out my life.