The ability for an individual in an active addiction to self-reflect is many of the possibilities why the addict can remain trapped in their suffering for numerous years. Cognitive dissonance was one of the reasons why Michael remained in an active addiction. This means he held two contradictory beliefs. While he was driving to buy drugs he was thinking I should not be doing this my girlfriend will be mad. Consequently, these thoughts happened more than once. I believe Michael, along with my friend, protected their ego from their conflict through utilizing denial. The individual discovers other sources for their problems and refuse to reflect the likelihood that it is the substance abuse that is at fault. However, they may believe that the drugs or attention are the only positive thing in their life. It is questionable if the individual would be able to continue with their addictive behavior if they self-reflected precisely. If anything, Michael and my friend learned from the situation. This is where I do not understand why people still understand addiction as hopeless? Whether it is drugs, sex, or gambling, addiction is a disarray of learning. It is not a disarray of self-indulgence or imperfections. However, the learning experience will include our brains because learning is involved, cultural, social and environmental influences are important in constructing it. As a social worker, I want to be able to help individuals in active addiction to learn from the experience rather than conditionally make the substance abuse worse. Therefore, I believe I can use my friend’s story as an example for myself to learn from the experience, rather than thinking what if I would have done this or that. I believe this situation will be a reminder for me to learn from my experiences and mistakes throughout my social work
The ability for an individual in an active addiction to self-reflect is many of the possibilities why the addict can remain trapped in their suffering for numerous years. Cognitive dissonance was one of the reasons why Michael remained in an active addiction. This means he held two contradictory beliefs. While he was driving to buy drugs he was thinking I should not be doing this my girlfriend will be mad. Consequently, these thoughts happened more than once. I believe Michael, along with my friend, protected their ego from their conflict through utilizing denial. The individual discovers other sources for their problems and refuse to reflect the likelihood that it is the substance abuse that is at fault. However, they may believe that the drugs or attention are the only positive thing in their life. It is questionable if the individual would be able to continue with their addictive behavior if they self-reflected precisely. If anything, Michael and my friend learned from the situation. This is where I do not understand why people still understand addiction as hopeless? Whether it is drugs, sex, or gambling, addiction is a disarray of learning. It is not a disarray of self-indulgence or imperfections. However, the learning experience will include our brains because learning is involved, cultural, social and environmental influences are important in constructing it. As a social worker, I want to be able to help individuals in active addiction to learn from the experience rather than conditionally make the substance abuse worse. Therefore, I believe I can use my friend’s story as an example for myself to learn from the experience, rather than thinking what if I would have done this or that. I believe this situation will be a reminder for me to learn from my experiences and mistakes throughout my social work