| There are many drugs that are legal. Alcohol is legal. | | | | same five situations-and how an addict handles them. |
| Nicotine is legal. Caffeine is legal. Over the counter | | | | 1. Immediately upon waking up you drink three or four |
| drugs like Ibuprofen and Acetaminophen (also known | | | | cups of coffee and then stop in at the coffee shop on |
| as Tylenol) are legal. This does not mean that these | | | | your way to work for another extra large espresso |
| common drugs aren't addictive. On the contrary-how | | | | drink. During the day if you feel a little drowsy or |
| many people do you know that have spent years | | | | sluggish, you immediately head to the break room |
| trying to stop smoking? With the prevalence of coffee | | | | coffee pot or make a coffee run to the nearby |
| shops in America, how many of your coworkers run | | | | espresso stand. You might even take a couple of No |
| to the nearest coffee shop as soon as they have a | | | | Doz in the afternoon to fight off the post lunch |
| tiny headache or start to feel sleepy? How many | | | | drowsiness that always seems to hit at about two |
| people do you know (possibly yourself included) who | | | | thirty. You do this every day. Even on days off. When |
| respond to a hard day at work by drinking alcohol | | | | you can't get your six or seven cups of coffee each |
| when they get home? How do you know when | | | | day you become irritable and lose control of your |
| something is simply a compulsion and when it is an | | | | moods. |
| addiction? | | | | 2. As soon as you feel a slight twinge of pain, you |
| At a drug and alcohol treatment center in Delray | | | | grab your bottle of ibuprofen and take six or seven |
| Beach, Florida, addiction and medical experts teach | | | | pills. You might even have a prescription for vicodin |
| drug and alcohol addicts the difference between | | | | and take one of those-just in case-or take one before |
| having a compulsion or a strong affinity for something | | | | you feel any pain, "just in case." |
| and having an actual addiction. The therapists and | | | | 3. As soon as you feel stress, you reach for the |
| other staff workers work hard with the treatment | | | | alcohol. You drink a bottle of wine before dinner on |
| center's clients to identify their addiction triggers and | | | | hard days at work (which has become most days) |
| work on new ways to calm themselves down or deal | | | | and can usually finish another bottle or two before bed. |
| with those triggers in a way that does not depend on | | | | You might drink harder alcohol or keep a flask nearby |
| alcohol or drugs. | | | | at work to help even you out when you start to feel |
| So what is an addiction? What a rehab-worthy | | | | stressed. |
| addiction different than an "every day" addiction? | | | | 4. You take two or three anti-histamines a day, just |
| Ask yourself if any of the following are true: | | | | because. What started out as a way to combat |
| 1. When you get up in the morning you drink a cup of | | | | allergies or a cold has become an affinity for the |
| coffee because it helps you wake up quicker. | | | | "medicine head" that accompanies these pills. You go |
| 2. When you get a headache you wait for it to go | | | | through a box of anti-histamines a week, if not more. |
| away and, if it doesn't, you take a couple of over the | | | | 5. Before your bedtime hits, you take a sleeping pill to |
| counter pain killers to combat the pain. | | | | help you feel tired. When it doesn't kick in within ten |
| 3. After a really hard day at work, you pour yourself a | | | | minutes or so, you take another one. It can take six or |
| glass of wine before making dinner (during which you | | | | seven over the counter sleep aids to help you sleep |
| might have another glass of wine). | | | | through a single night. |
| 4. When you suffer from a cold, you take an over the | | | | The experts at "drug and alcohol rehabs" or drug |
| counter cold and flu aid to help keep your fever (and | | | | rehabilitation centers can help you figure out which |
| other symptoms) down until you can get home and | | | | compulsions have become addictions and teach you |
| get to bed. | | | | coping mechanisms to keep any new addictions from |
| 5. If you can't sleep at night and you've spent a couple | | | | popping up once you have completed your drug and |
| of hours tossing and turning, you get up and take a | | | | alcohol rehab program. Clients at the drug treatment |
| sleep aid or an herbal supplement to help you fall | | | | center work with groups of peers and therapists to |
| asleep. | | | | get sober and develop tools for staying sober in the |
| The previous scenarios are all signs of someone | | | | real world. |
| having control over the "legal drugs." Here are the | | | | |