No one wants to be a drug addict or alcoholic, but this doesn’t stop people from getting addicted. The most commonly asked question is simply - how? How could my son, daughter, father, sister, or brother become a liar, a thief, someone who cannot be trusted? How could this happen? And why won’t they stop?

The first thing you must understand about addiction is that mind-altering drugs are basically painkillers. For drugs to be attractive to a person, there must first be some underlying discomfort or unhappiness.

Drug addiction follows a cycle like this:

A person has some problem, discomfort or inability. It could be a teenager experiencing his first romantic rejection, or it could be a man in his prime, wondering why he is not happy with life. Or it could be any age in between.

This person tries drugs or alcohol. The drugs APPEAR to solve his problem. He feels better. Because he now SEEMS better able to deal with life, the drugs become valuable to him. The person gradually becomes addicted to his drug of choice. He is then trapped.

Whatever problem he was initially trying to solve by using drugs or alcohol fades from memory. At this point, all he can think about is getting and using drugs. He loses the ability to control his usage. He is now a drug addict.

The addict will now attempt to withhold the fact of his drug use from friends and family members. He will begin to suffer the effects of his own dishonesty and guilt. He may become withdrawn and difficult to reason with. He may behave strangely.

The more he uses drugs, the more guilty he will feel, and the more depressed he will become. He will sacrifice his personal integrity, his relationships with friends and family, his job, his savings, and anything else he may have in an attempt to get more drugs.

The drugs are now the most important thing in his life. In addition to the mental stress created by his unethical behaviour, the addict’s body will have adapted to the presence of the drugs. This is when the newly created addict begins to experience drug cravings.

He will experience an overwhelming obsession with getting and using his drugs, and will do anything to avoid the pain of withdrawing from them. He now seeks drugs both for the reward of the "pleasure" they give him, and also to avoid the mental and physical horrors of withdrawal.

At this point, the addict is stuck in a vicious downward spiral. He faces the problem of having to find money to buy drugs and to attempt to appear normal to his friends, family and employer. Whether he wants to stop or not, he is now trapped.