What games do drug addicts play
The book “What games do drug addicts play” by Zoran Milivojević provides a deep insight into the psychological and social mechanisms underlying the problem of drug addiction. The author presents us with the main characteristics of the behavior of drug addicts and their mutual relationships.
One of the key themes of the book is that addicts often play different games to avoid facing reality. These games are often destructive and make their condition worse. For example, drug addicts often play power games in which they manipulate others to benefit themselves. Also, they often play blame games where they blame others and avoid facing their own problems.
Drug addicts often have low self-esteem and do not believe in themselves. This makes them susceptible to manipulation by others and unhealthy decisions. It is important to focus on boosting the addict’s self-esteem and helping them develop healthy habits and coping mechanisms. Developing self-love is the key and most important thing.
The author also emphasizes that drug addiction is not just a matter of individual psychology, but also has social and economic consequences. Addicts are often isolated and have difficulty maintaining relationships with others. It is important that we work to strengthen social networks and connect addicts with others in the community.
The following examples are only illustrative examples of psychological games that drug addicts can play according to author Zoran Milivojević:
- Survival Game: This game involves fighting for survival in conditions of addiction. Drug addicts must learn how to get drugs, avoid the law and other obstacles, and how to avoid overdose and other health problems.
- Hide and seek game: This game involves hiding addiction from other people. Drug addicts must learn how to hide the symptoms of addiction from family, friends, and others, and how to maintain a normal life while continuing to use drugs.
- Hide and seek game: This game involves hiding the consequences of addiction from other people. Addicts must learn how to cover up financial problems, lapses at work or school, and how to avoid punishment for crimes related to their addiction.
- Manipulation Game: This game involves manipulating other people to get what they want. Addicts may try to manipulate family, friends, or others to get money, drugs, or to avoid the negative consequences of their addiction.
- Blame Game: This game involves shifting the blame for problems caused by their addiction onto other people. Addicts may try to blame family, friends, or society for their addiction rather than taking responsibility for their actions.
- Neglect Game: This game involves neglecting important obligations and responsibilities in life because of their addiction. Addicts may ignore obligations at work, school, family, or friends in order to devote themselves to their addiction.
- Competition Game: This game involves competing with other drug addicts to achieve status or respect in the community. Drug addicts may try to prove their courage or ability to cope with drugs, which can lead them into even greater problems.
- Avoidance Game: This game involves avoiding facing problems and seeking escape through addiction. Drug addicts may use drugs to avoid facing difficult emotions or problems in their life.
- Self-destruction Game: This game involves intentionally harming oneself to gain a sense of control or to avoid other problems in life. Addicts may increase their dose of the drug or use more dangerous substances to achieve a “better” feeling, even if it leads to serious health problems or death.
- The Addiction Game of Addiction: This game involves addiction to addiction itself. Addicts can become addicted to their lifestyle and seek the excitement that life with addiction provides, instead of seeking real sources of satisfaction in life. This game can lead to relapse into addiction even after the addict has successfully been treated and cleansed of drugs.
The book “What Games Addicts Play” gives us insight into the complexity of the problem of drug addiction and helps us understand the psychological and social factors that contribute to this problem. The goal is to help drug addicts take responsibility for their behavior, face reality, and develop healthy habits and coping mechanisms for stress. It is necessary to work on strengthening their self-esteem, building a social network and connecting with others in the community.
It is important to emphasize that treating drug addiction is not a simple process. Long-term therapy and continuous support are necessary to achieve long-term results. Therapy should be tailored to the individual needs of the addict and should include various approaches, including psychological, social and pharmacological interventions.
The author also points out the importance of preventing drug addiction. It is necessary to work on educating children and young people about the numerous effects of drugs and on raising awareness about the nature of prevention. Drug addiction prevention is much more effective and cheaper than addiction treatment, so it is recommended to focus on this aspect in order to reduce the number of people who become addicted to drugs.
The book gives us a deep insight into the psychological and social mechanisms that lie behind the problem of drug addiction. The goal is to help drug addicts take responsibility for their behavior, face reality and develop healthy habits and coping mechanisms with stress. Drug addiction prevention is also very important and should focus on education and raising awareness about the nature of prevention.
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