Addiction Simulation Exercise



Addiction Simulation Exercise

Rationale: This exercise will allow you to experience, first hand (though no where to the extent as an actual addiction), some the physical (thirst being analogous to the cravings for drugs), social, cognitive, and emotional experience of a person who is actually addicted to a drug. You may choose to end your participation at any time during the exercise, though you will not achieve the full benefit of the exercise if you choose to follow through to the end. You may also opt for the written assignment in lieu of the experiment.

Protocol: You are to engage in this exercise for a period of time. The more strictly you adhere to the guidelines, the more effective the exercise will be for you.

1. Drug: Your drug of choice is an ice cube. You used to be able to “get off” on simply water, but your addiction has progressed way beyond this. You now need specifically processed water-ice cubes. This is analogous to progressing from powder cocaine to crack cocaine.

2. Craving: thirst is your craving for the drug ice cubes. Every time you take a drink of any liquid you must have ONE and only ONE ice cube in the liquid. Yes, this will be difficult and will require planning on your part…. Anticipate!!!! This applies to all drinking situations including coffee, water from drinking fountains, cans or bottles of beverages, and even late-night drinks of water.

a. You must have at least 2 complete drinks during the school day – yes this will be difficult!!

b. You are only allowed to have one ice cube at a time in the drink – yes, you will curse my name. You can bring a cooler with you

c. You may NOT freeze water bottles – it makes the experiment too easy

3. Legality: Ice cubes are socially unacceptable and illegal. Don't let “regular people” see you or catch you using ice cubes. This applies to friends and family. The only people with whom it is acceptable to be open about your use of ice cubes are other “addicts” who are participating in this exercise. This will take some creative thinking at home, in restaurants, and other public places.

a. You may have a “dealer”. You may access this person once per day only.

b. You are allowed to tell only one person – it defeats the whole idea if you tell everyone what you are doing.

4. Obsession: To stimulate the obsession aspect of drug addiction you are to keep an hourly log (waking hours only). Please obtain a notebook in which you can answer the following questions hourly:

a. Are you thirsty now?

b. Where is your next ice cube coming from?

c. What is your plan to satisfy your cravings?

5. Tracks: You will be given a “bracelet” (rubber band or piece of string). Wear this bracelet at all times during the exercise. This bracelet is analogous to an addict’s needle tracks, so it is socially unacceptable to wear the bracelet. Try your best to keep “regular people” from seeing the bracelet, because they might ask what it is and this would put you in a difficult situation trying to explain it. Remember, you are trying to hide your addiction from “regular people”. The bracelet will also serve as a reminder that you are participating in this experiment. Remember addicts cannot turn off their cravings at will.

6. Write-up: At the end of the simulation period, write 500 words describing your thought, feelings and reaction to this exercise. Part of your write up, should include any funny stories you had; as well as, what did you learn from this experiment?

7. Class discussion

Optional writing assignment: You will need to research drug addiction and its consequences. This should be 1,000 words in length and must contain at least 2 sources outside of your text book.

|Waking Hour |Thirsty now? |Next cube from? |Plan for craving? |

| | | | |

| | | | |

| | | | |

| | | | |

| | | | |

| | | | |

| | | | |

| | | | |

| | | | |

| | | | |

| | | | |

| | | | |

| | | | |

| | | | |

| | | | |

| | | | |

| | | | |

| | | | |

| | | | |

| | | | |

| | | | |

................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download