Chapter 6 was about addiction and drug abuse. It defines addiction as, “a persistent, compulsive dependence on a behavior or substance, despite ongoing negative consequences’ ( Donatelle, 2019). It explained the difference between substance addictions and process addictions. Substance addictions include things like alcohol, drugs, and smoking. Process addictions include things like gambling, shopping, eating, and sex. Addictive chemicals can be legal, illegal, OTC or prescription. Addictions can be to any one of these or a combination of any.
Drugs become addictive primarily by affecting the pleasure process of the brain and how chemical neurotransmitters are released. The route of administration of a drug affects how fast the effects come on. Intravenous injection is the fastest, and the the most dangerous with an additional risk of contracting HIV.
The chapter discussed some of the most commonly abused drugs, including which are used most frequently on a college campus setting. That would include stimulants and pain killers. It also identified several factors that might increase a persons risk for addiction. These are especially important if you have a family history of addictions and/or are in an environment where there is often easy access to addictive substances.
Some common OTC drugs that are abused include: sleeping pills, cold medicine and diet pills. Prescriptions drug abuse has become a huge problem. According to Donatelle, “only marijuana is more widely abused”. Unfortunately, many people started using these drugs for legitimate reasons and then became addicted. Once addicted, drug seeking behaviors begin which often leads to other drugs once they can no longer get the prescriptions they are now addicted to.
Since I’m an adult learner, not living on campus, and not a heavy drinker, I have to admit I really didn’t relate to a lot of this. My days of abusing recreational alcohol/drugs is long since over. I do however have an addiction. I’m most definitely addicted to coffee. Our book states that habitual intake of caffeine leads to tolerance and psychological dependence. I think I probably have both of those. I’ve tried quitting before and I was able to. However, the first 1 to 2 days with no caffeine were hell. I had massive headaches and was miserable! I guess that would be the detoxing that Donatelle mentions.
As far as how this week is going … its much better than last. Week five seemed like it was really a tough week for a lot of us (myself included). It made me wonder if there was something to the fact that so many of us had a bad week at the same time. Turns out statistics show that a majority of people who make resolutions last for about a month before they give up. That means week five is the sticking or quitting point for a lot people.
Armed with that information I decided that week six would have to be all about finding more inspiration to keep going. I did my meditation to help with my mood and to promote positivity. I brought out old cookbooks that I hadn’t looked at in a while and I watched some good food documentaries on Netflix. All that, combined with the fact that we had our first day of real sunshine where I could enjoy some time outside, definitely did the trick ( I know all you in MA got more snow. Sorry).
The Netflix documentary that I watched was called In Defense of Food. It was basically focused on eating healthy by sticking to one really simple rule. Eat Food (i.e. real, unprocessed food), Not to Much, Mostly Plants. This is an idea that I really love. No need to make things so complicated. Just eat real food. Another quote from them was: If it came from a plant🥬eat it, if it was made in a plant 🏭 don’t!
One of the cookbooks that I found inspiration from is called Thug Kitchen: Eat Like you Give a F**k. It’s an awesome vegan cookbook that focuses on easy delicious vegan cooking. I’m actually not a vegan, but I have tried it in the past and I still make a lot of vegan meals. There was a statement in there that I think is going to be my new mantra going forward.
Drink water. Make your own food. Allow yourself to eat dessert once in a while.
I truly believe that if you take control of the ingredients in your food, everything else will just fall into place.
From that cookbook I got an awesome recipe for vegan vegetable lasagna. It was soooo good. We ate it for a couple days until it was gone and never got tired of it. Even my meat eaters said they liked it better than regular lasagna.
Feeling newly inspired, I was able to stick to my dietary goals this week as well as doing my 3 days of exercise. My one day of seeing the sun lead to an outdoor yoga class and some fun time playing ball with my dogs. Afterwards I really felt like a new person. I’m hoping I’ll be able to keep it up for next week. If I have trouble I’ll try the same method that seemed to work this week and go on the look out for more positive inspiration. All in all it was a great week for me. I hope everyone else is having a great week too!!
Lucy 2.0 My Healthy Journey 