My Substance Abuse: Sign of a Deeper Problem

It started innocently enough. I’d stopped drinking sodas and rediscovered the joy of drinking water instead. I found myself craving that cold, clear refreshment in a whole new way.

But soon I realized that I was looking forward to the moment when the water in my glass was gone….leaving the ice free for the taking. I began guzzling the water just to get to the ice. My preference was, and still is, crushed ice, melted slightly so that it crumbles into slush in my mouth.

Ice, not the kind cooked up in a makeshift lab, but the frozen kind from the dispenser, had become my substance of choice. I knew it was becoming a problem when I started hiding my ice addiction from my family. I try to speak nonchalantly, as if I don’t have to tip my head back slightly and move the ice to the side of my mouth to communicate. I try melting it in my mouth as I lie in bed, so as not to draw attention to my stash on the nightstand. And I never leave the house without a cup of water, er, ice.

It struck me recently that this ice habit could be a sign of a deeper medical problem. Like a scared junkie, I secretly googled “ice craving medical symptom” and was both surprised and relieved at what I found.

I am not alone.

Thanks to other scared ice junkies who posted their pleas for help on message boards, I found that ice craving is linked to anemia. ANEMIA! While I’ll never fully understand why having a low iron count can make a person kill for ice, it was my answer nonetheless.

After a few days of pumping iron, I feel like I’m returning to normal. Oh, I know I may always be one glass away from being sucked back into the world of frosty dependency, but at least now I’ve got the energy (thanks to the iron) to pull myself back from the brink.

Getting to the real source of my problem was like finding the key that held the answer. And it made me start thinking about other things in my life that are symptoms of something deeper.

Maybe the symptom of being short tempered with my kids is rooted in me doing too much.

Or perhaps my need to control things comes from not being able to trust God completely.

Maybe I need to start looking for the source of my problems and not just treat (or excuse) the symptoms. I’m thankful that I won’t need a 12-Step program to kick my ice habit (although I’m wondering about the effectiveness of an ice patch), and I’m asking for wisdom to deal with the rest.