Habits usually do not form overnight. I have often heard this popular quote repeated, though the source is unknown: “Watch your thoughts, they become words. Watch your words, they become actions. Watch your actions, they become habits. Watch your habits, they become your character.

Watch your character, it becomes your destiny.” By this statement, it is clear that people do things habitually after a process that begins in our thought patterns. The whole sequence takes time, and it’s usually a negative thought or idea that leads to a negative habit. Habits, when not checked or balanced, become addictions; and addictions are the hardest habits to break.

What Habits Lead to Drug Addiction?

A person might try their first drug after a dare or a little pressure from their peers, in an attempt to fit in and look cool. Others try drugs when they are depressed, sick, or at a weak moment in their lives; looking cool is the farthest thing on their minds. Some might try it for no particular reason at all, other than out of curiosity. Kids who have access to drugs (prescription or otherwise) through parents or peers sometimes experiment, even using cough syrups, cold medicines, and other household products to get high.

It doesn’t help that drugs and alcohol are glamorized in the media, in music videos, movies, and in advertising. Print ads tend to be sleek and alluring enough to draw someone in. The drug, alcohol and tobacco industries are some of the richest businesses in the world, thriving even in tough economic times.

Unfortunately, there are some people who have an immediate strong reaction and addiction to a drug, while others seem unaffected until larger doses are taken. Some drugs are more potent and addictive than others, so one dose can get a person hooked. Ten-time Grammy winner Natalie Cole recalls in the movie, “Livin’ for Love: The Natalie Cole Story,” how her very first encounter with heroin at a house party got her hooked. She had taken other drugs before but had never had such an intense reaction.

Prescription drug addiction can begin by accident, especially when they are narcotic painkillers. These kinds of drugs are known to be addictive, but also effective at relieving pain. Patients are simply seeking pain relief, while their bodies are gradually building up immunity to the drugs, rendering the drugs less and less effective. As a result, they take greater doses and more pills to ease their pain and an addiction forms.

No matter why someone gets started taking drugs, taking them habitually usually leads to addiction; and once they are addicted, it usually becomes a lifelong struggle to break free and stay free.

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