Addiction, A Cost Benefit Analysis

I’ve done a lot of Crossover writing within different Publications here on Medium about Addiction, and my own life of Sobriety.

Recently I started bringing attention the need, presence, and idea of an Addiction Cost Benefit Analysis. Pretty clear subject now, though I sure wish it was something clear that came to my mind in my past as fast as its able to now.

I never believed I took a drug for the first time because of the usual reasons people give, you know “rough child hood, depressed, abused,” etc etc. Going through, and making a CBA can usually end up answering many questions, even when you truly thought finding hope was of the utmost impossibility. It allows you “to really look at yourself and reasons under a microscope, side by side.”

Smart Recovery states that there are two different types of thinking that should be recognized. Those are, Short Term Thinking and Long Term Thinking.

Obviously when talking about addiction, we can figure out that the short term thinking is the instant gratification that stems from the actual drug use. If you’re popping pills, you have 30 minutes before all your worries and cares float away. If you’re snorting your drugs, you are 3 to 5 minutes away from “numb bliss,” and if you’re using a needle, you only have to wait from 3 seconds to a minute or so. Again, its a phony delusional, problem solver. Nothing really is getting solved. It’’s only getting masked, numbed. Kind of like, casually putting a tarp over something while a monsoon flooding downpour with high winds is all around you. That tarp, will only last so long. All the “stuff, drama, what have you,” is alive and well under that tarp.

Long term behavior is also mostly obvious stuff, but, seemingly, just doesn’t always seem to be as easy as one would think to process. To compare to short term, Smart Recovery states “short behavior, is something like, we want to use because it instantly makes us feel better; long term behavior being we want to stop the behavior to lead a healthier life.” The Cost Benefit Analysis does a lot of things, but one of its most important things it does for us, is that it brings together, on paper in front of our eyes EVERYTHING. Since short term behaviors, and long term behaviors don’t happen at the same time, this is a way to be the only way to look at it all after its written. Everything, good, bad or indifferent, is right there.

Smart Recovery says that doing this gives you a “right now” approach about all behaviors. Plus we aren’t able to have short term and long term behaviors at the same time.

Short term and long term benefits can finally be compared side by side in real time.

The CBA for Addiction consists of making lists. First a list would be labeled, “what are the benefits (pros)of using?” That list could include answers like, “instant gratification, feels good, makes me forget my problems, makes me normal, helps have fun, temporarily relieve (but not remove) stress, makes me friendly, and more answers that are similar; very short, one word, or short phrase answers.

A second list called be called “what are the benefits (pros)of not using?” Those answers could be answers like, “it makes me a better employee, it improves and earns trust with relationships, a healthy mind and body, makes me a better parent, sibling, or son/daughter, it stops me from breaking the law, I have money in the bank, stops any chances of being arrested,” and more answers like that, answers that may be a bit longer, and have a lot more meaning and substance to their whole meaning. Much more substance.

Now, to flip it around, we can ask ourselves what are the cons of using? Think about it. Are the answers you’re thinking very similar to what the benefits of not using are? Legal troubles, health problems, divorces, hangovers, loss of trust, loss of relationships, jobs, or freedom & no money in the bank.

Now, what are the cons of not using? Boredom, have to figure out ways to manage stress, or pain, stress can’t be relieved as easy or quickly. This one is normally a pretty short list, again, another one with short artificial answers.

This shows how the Cons of using, and the benefits of not using are pretty much twins, almost exactly similar. Just like how the cons of not using, are similar to the benefits of using. It is all things, on all sides, but exposing the similarities, therefore the truths. If anybody needed to figure out if they should begin illicit drug use, an Addiction Cost Benefit Analysis would be an excellent project to start and work through before picking up that drug.

After you have everything listed, we can move onto the next phase, and that is, asking yourself what type of benefits do you have? Which are short term, and which ones are long term? It is most likely, like I said before, that the short, simple, answers with no substance or depth, are the answers falling into the benefits of using, and the costs of stopping. Therefore, being short term. While long term goal encompasses the benefits of not using. I would highly recommend sticking with the longer term goals. Stick with the ones with depth, because that depth also represents the foundation, and many strong layers of value.

This Article has been one of the more detailed, and significant piece I have ever written on Medium, and probably ever written period. I think if every addict did a complete Cost Benefit Analysis when they got Sober, it could up their improvement chances for long term sobriety Tremendously.