The worlding of addiction.

Abstract

Addiction can be partially seen as a worlding; as a lived-out set of ecological relations. Based on existential-phenomenology, the lived-world of the addict is described as a particular way of being in the world. Although attained through active addiction, this way of being endures beyond active addiction into recovery. Active addiction is characterized by narrowness and withdrawal from the world; recovery from addiction entails an embrace of the world. This movement into recovery is described as broadening and reaching out, a way in which the world is opened up to be experienced in all its breadth and spiritual significance. The clinical implications of this perspective are described and explored.It is common to try to understand addiction in terms of chemistry, biology, character predisposition, emotional coping, or personality issues. By contrast, this article focuses on the life-world of the addict by describing commonalities adopted by those who suffer from addiction. I contend that addiction has the effect of worlding the world of the subject. This worlding is a unique matrix of lived-relations to things, to others, and to time. This way of being in the world does not dissolve or change when active addiction stops, but, in fact, persists. Thus, one of the key factors in recovery is the adoption of another way of being in the world.A few preliminary remarks are necessary before proceeding. For the most part, this article deals with those who suffer more severe forms of addiction, and the data are drawn from my work over the past decade in London. This work includes individual and group psychotherapy with in-patients and out-patients. In this time, I have worked extensively with heroin, cocaine, crack, alcohol, and cannabis addicts. I have also worked extensively with gamblers (setting up with colleagues the first UK National Health Service [NHS] gambling service) and, to a lesser extent, with sex addicts. I suspect that these ideas are applicable across a variety of addictions, and can apply to milder forms of addiction that world in similar ways. However, some caution may be in order in how widely the notions presented here can be applied.The terms addiction and addict also need clarification. These designations are specifically chosen terms and are not meant as a vocabulary of denigration. Although other terms, such as the subject-of-addiction or the addicted-subject, may be more accurate, these terms are unwieldy and clumsy.

Assessing the experience of using synthetic cannabinoids by means of interpretative phenomenological analysis

“…Participants described asocial behavior as another impact of SC use. Though addiction in general is associated with a retreat from social connections and an avoidance of the outside world [ 48 ], people who used other drugs than SCs including mephedrone, ecstasy, and GHB reported increased sociability, talkativeness, and loss of social (and other) inhibitions due to the effects of the drugs [ 40 – 42 ]. However, isolation and turning inward seem to be the consequences of SC use, and therefore SC use is a potential mediator of asocial behavior [ 29 ].…”

“It’s A Deficiency Disorder”. Clients Understanding of Substance and Behavioral Addictions and Treatment Needs: An Interview Study

“…It has been proposed that research on behavioral addictions should be less directed toward questions of definitions and more toward clients experiences, and how to enhance treatment outcome [2,9,40]. Moreover, substance abuse treatment needs to be holistic and address a variety of difficulties among clients concerned [6,14].…”

“…In line with this, compulsive buyers [20] as well as pathological gamblers [30] are heterogeneous groups and therefore it is necessary to investigate and provide a variety of treatment interventions. Moreover, the self-perception, life-world, and the clients understanding of her or his difficulties should guide treatment planning [2,[31][32][33][34]. Taken together it seems as if investigations of clients perspectives might contribute insight into the lived experience of co-occurring addictions and thus improve the possibility to provide successful treatment.…”

“…It has for example been shown that clients who attain abstinence from substances instead might "switch addiction" and develop excessive gambling [1,2]. It has also been shown that clients might use substances and one or several behaviors concurrently [3,4].…”

A szintetikus kannabinoid termék használat élménye: interpretatív fenomenológiai analízisen alapuló kutatás

“…Az SZKT-használat egy további következménye az aszociálissá válás, a szer "leválasztó", "izoláló" hatása. A függőség kialakulásakor jellemző ugyan a szociális kapcsolatok számának csökkenése, a "külvilág kerülése", befelé fordulás (Kemp, 2011), azonban az SZKT esetében (nem csak a függőséggel összefüggésben), már a szer hatására megjelenik ez az izoláció. Míg más drogok esetében a szerhasználók a használat alatti szociabilitás növekedésről, beszédességről, szociális (és egyéb) gátlások levetkőzéséről számolnak be (Barker és mtsai, 2007;Lee és mtsai, 2011;O'Neill, 2014), az SZKT potenciális mediátora lehet az aszociális viselkedésnek (Every-Palmer, 2011).…”