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Addiction and living in the shadow of death: impact of the body on agency and self-control.
- Source :
-
Addiction Research & Theory . Apr2024, Vol. 32 Issue 2, p143-151. 9p. - Publication Year :
- 2024
-
Abstract
- To explore the lived experience of self-control by people with opioid and alcohol dependence. A longitudinal qualitative study. The sample consisted of 69 persons with alcohol or opioid dependence, mostly from low socio-economic backgrounds in Sydney, Australia. People were recruited in both a detox facility and a maintenance treatment. Semi-structured interviews. The bodily effects of substance dependence impact profoundly on the self-control of substance-dependent people. This change to self-control happens in two ways: by forcing substance users to take a local perspective on their lives, and by changing both their self-concept and their beliefs about what they can achieve. These bodily effects on self-control resemble other chronic diseases. Understanding the role that the body plays in impairment of self-control in substance dependence can help to prevent these harms and contribute to overall recovery and well-being. Good quality health care, rendered by non-judgmental professionals, contributes immensely to the normative and diachronic agency of those struggling with addiction by minimizing somatic damage and damage to the self. Knowing how a loss of trust in one's body can impair self-control may help health care professionals support people struggling with addiction in regaining trust in their body, future and self-control mechanisms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 16066359
- Volume :
- 32
- Issue :
- 2
- Database :
- Academic Search Index
- Journal :
- Addiction Research & Theory
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 176147000
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1080/16066359.2023.2230874