This Is Your Brain on Drugs
Summary
I thought this experience was rather interesting and difficult at the same time. This experience posed to be a bit difficult when it came to hiding the use of the ice cubes. I work as an installer visiting anywhere from 3-5 homes a day. This makes having a steady supply of ice cubes rather difficult. To fix that problem I would bring a cooler with ice cubes in it to help get me through the day without having to resupply. I lead a rather normal life so after work my time is spent doing homework and spending time with my family. Of course being at home made having access to ice cubes rather easy in the evening. The “track marks” on the other hand were pretty easy to hide. To hide them I wore a long sleeve work shirt for the 48 hour period. In my line of work this does not make my job any easier. I sweat so horribly bad that having that long sleeve shirt on made the days rather hot and wet for me. At home I could not where a long sleeve shirt that would be so out of the ordinary for me so I decided to make up a story about the strings on my wrists. Now as for the obsession log I found an interesting way to hide that. At work we have a handheld device that we process all our work orders on. I used that to take my notes on for the obsession log. It just looked like I was taking care of the work order information for the customers. At home it was just another day it would be more unusual if someone didn’t have some sort of electronic device in their hand at my house so it was much easier to hide at home. Overall there were no significant obstacles with this exercise I thought everything went rather smooth.
Own Reactions
This experience was rather enlightening for me. I have dealt with addiction of my own and I have watched friends go through the same thing. I found it rather easy for me to slip back into the mindset for this exercise. At times I even felt like I would get that rush like I was really on a stimulant again. I am not sure if that was adrenaline or what but I found that to be rather interesting. Hiding the usage was like second nature to me, although you still have that guilty feeling when you hide it, the lies get easier the more you spit them out. Before you know it you don’t even think twice when it comes to making up lies or excuses when it comes to your usage. I think this exercise really puts you in the mind of an addict and allows you to walk a mile in their shoes.
Others Reactions
I found that I had very little reaction from others in this exercise. I really think I did such a good job of hiding the usage that I didn’t draw attention to what I was doing. I know when I was at work it was much easier to hide because I am my own boss, so I don’t have anyone looking over my shoulder. I am in and out of customers’ homes all throughout the install so that’s why I think there were no reactions from my customers. Now at home I did get questioned why I was making so many trips to the bathroom, which was easily dismissed by telling my wife I drank too much. I do believe that if this exercise was longer than 48 hours my wife would have definitely noticed the change in behavior.
Neurotransmitters and Drugs
Cannabis is plant from which we get marijuana, hashish, and THC. The usual method of ingestion would be smoking it, but it can also be consumed orally. Marijuana is a mixture of leaves, flowers, stems, and seeds, hashish is made from the resin of the cannabis plant, and THC the active chemical ingredient in cannabis can be synthesized for research (Weiton, 2014). When smoked this drug has an immediate effect, causing a mild relaxed euphoria and enhanced sensory awareness. This drug affects several neurotransmitters dopamine norepinephrine, serotonin. The dopamine being released helps create the relaxed euphoria. The norepinephrine being released in your system creates your enhanced sensory awareness. The serotonin that is released in to your system can affect a few things, the first