The Anesthetic Highs

The Anesthetic Highs are the final stage in the downward progression of addiction. When we think of anesthetics, we think of pain killing drugs. That is not precisely how I am using this word when describing this final stage of addiction. Take a look at the post on Maslow's Pyramid. The bottom level of Maslow's Pyramid is the level of Physical Needs (food, water, oxygen). A person dieing of hunger is in pain, hunger pain. A person dieing of asphyxiation is in pain too, and so is someone dieing of thirst. These are the types of pain that motivate addicts to seek an Anesthetic High.

An alcoholic is a man dieing of thirst. Water will not quench his thirst. Neither will alcohol but, the alcoholic thinks it will, if he drinks enough. A drug addict is a woman starving for a drug. Her hunger is insatiable but, she nevertheless uses more and more drugs in a vain attempt to satiate it. These people feel empty and desperate. They use alcohol and or drugs hoping for any brief respite from their torment. Of course they are only feeding their addiction, not themselves, and so they are doomed.

Denial evaporates at this stage of addiction. The trouble is now it is too late to quit! The addict can no longer face life without her drug, even though she knows her drug is destroying her life. Way back during the Arrogant Highs or even during the Performance Highs the addict told himself he would quit if it ever got this bad. The trouble is, once it gets this bad, he can no longer quit! The addict at this stage is reduced to utter hopelessness. He is a candidate for suicide. She may just give up and drink herself to death.

How long does it take to descend from the top of the Lowarchy of Highs to the bottom? To go from the euphoria of the Arrogant Highs to the desperation of the Anesthetic Highs? The answer is, it depends. It depends on the person's vulnerability to addiction. It depends on the drug or drugs he is using. It depends on the age she started using. To some extent it depends on gender.

Some  people are more vulnerable to addiction than others. They may become addicted very rapidly. Some drugs are more addictive than others. People using narcotics get addicted really fast. Children and adolescents get addicted much faster than adults. And unfortunately for women they get addicted quicker than men. So a young girl using heroin would become addicted faster than anyone I guess. The truth is the process of addiction is subtle but fast. People become hopelessly addicted before they know it. It may take years or, could only take months, either way it happens to them in a subtle sneaky way they fail to fully comprehend until it is too late.

Fortunately there is a way out, it is not easy though. More about this later.





Russell P. Mai, LCDC, AAC