What are your thoughts on Drug Addiction?

Question

Please tell me your opinion on drug addiction! As a person who has battled it for a while and now clean and sober I would like to hear your thoughts and opinions... Is it a disease? Do you stero type drug addicts? Why do you think they became an addict? woudl you have af irend who was a drug addict in recovery? and so on.... Thanks :)

Answer 1

As someone who has also been addicted I realize that there is something in me that causes the addiction to be so bad. Some part of me that makes anything I do become an addiction if it has any possibility of addiction. If I have a drink (alcohol) at lunch today and again tomorrow the next day I will desire that drink at lunch time. It will take a few days for it to go away. I dont drink much alcohol because of that(I know I will be addicted to it if I do). Any thing that is a habit is extremely hard for me to break, it took a serious illness to get me off of cigarettes (and I wont promise anything for sure its only been 6weeks) I bit my nails for all my life (mother remembers me doing it at 8 months) and only recently was able to quit the nail biting. Maybe its a gene that makes some of us more addictive than others . I hate it that I feel like any small habit cant be allowed. Only the good things can be allowed to be a habit in my life any more. Once I start something I simply have such a hard time stopping that I wll not allow my self to start any new things.

Answer 2

I think it's a horribly sad problem with no real solution. I think someone is playing with fire to ever try drugs in the first place, because you never know if you're going to be one of those with the biochemistry to become an addict (or even just a dependent) with the first drink/hit/pill, etc. On the other hand, I can understand some of the personal demons that drive a person to experiment in the first place. I just wish they wouldn't.

I had a dear, dear friend who I loved more than anything in the world who became an addict. It made him do some unforgiveable things to many of those who loved him. I can't be his friend any more because of it, and the pain he caused me and my family and his attitude that everyone else "made" him do it. He had choices, and he chose to do the things that would be hurtful, not helpful, and for that I don't think I can forgive him. At least not for a long, long time. And *that* is what drugs do to people - they warp the mind not only in that your brain and body can no longer produce "normal" brain biochemistry, but also in that they make a person into a totally different individual, personality-wise. My friend would not have done the things he did had it not been for the drugs. In this way, it is a disorder of the brain, but it is one that is self-induced - not a disease that just "happened" because of a birth defect or a bacteria or virus, etc.

As for why anyone starts - I don't know. Like I said, if you know how scary it is, why would you take that chance? But I imagine for everyone it's different. For my friend, his dad died when he was young and he felt a lot of guilt that he never got over, and the rest of his life has been spent trying to escape the pain. I would guess that a lot of people start by wanting to escape - escape pain, boredom, societal norms, whatever. I can understand the desire - I just have a lot more respect to people who face up to whatever the problem is and do something to try and fix it, not just run away from it.

I have known too many "functional addicts" in my life to ever think there is one size/type that fits all. I've known some who make $80K+ a year in a legitimate job, some who have been mothers and fathers of beautiful, healthy children, and still others who were regular church-goers, etc. In fact, I've never known, personally, the stereotypical "druggie" that is the homeless man begging on the street or the skank turning tricks for drugs. That's why I said, you never know who will become an addict so why would anyone ever want to take the chance of that first hit or whatever in the first place? You might as well play Russian Roulette.....

I am so glad to hear you are clean, for you but especially for the people who love and care about you. If you died, you would most likely be in a better place, but the people you left behind would be destroyed. You owe it to them - especially your two kids - to live the healthiest, happiest life you can. I wish you all the luck in the world to continue on your drug-free path.

Namaste.

Answer 3

Congrats on getting clean and sober! Um, no I don't think it's a disease, it's an addiction, but, like diseases, if addictions go untreated for too long, there may be no hope of curing them. I think of drug addicts as people who need help...I'm not sure if that would be classified as a stereo type though. I think they became an addict because they got addicted? I don't know. Maybe they thought they would try it once and got addicted. Yes, I would have a friend who was a drug addict in recovery, or had recovered.

Answer 4

Hey there. As far as it being a disease, I don't know, everything you hear says yes, drugs & alcohol. It just is what is! I don't stereotype drug addicts; my brother-in-law, sister-in-law, a friend, and my daughter's friend's mother are all addicted to prescribed pain killers. Pain can be physical, emotional and psychological. People are addicted through trying to stop the pain, sometimes at any cost. I certainly would be a friend to someone in recovery, and not think twice about it. We're all human and sometimes we just don't know why we do what we do. I sure do hope you're recovery is successful and I truly hope you have friends to support you. Bless you and take care:)

Answer 5

Clean and sober? Good for you. it is a desease but unfortunately many people fall back on that and say "I can't help it, it is a desease. You wouldn't get mad at a cancer patient would you" well if the patient refused to get the medical treatment available, then yes I would. I have been surrounded by drug addicts my entire life, family (whom one can not choose) and friends (whom one can) it is very difficult and still have some problems dealing with some of the aftershocks (most of my friends and family are in recovery) and remember you have adjustments so do the people around you that were affected by it

Answer 6

Well done, yes it is a disease but I have zero tolerance for the few that think it is their right to get stoned every day. A situation that me and my b/f are dealing with with his childrens mum, she got kicked out of the local pool the other day because they thought she was drunk this was in front of the kids too,apparently mummy hadn't slept for two days, mummy has a water pipe and this isn't all mummy is using either, but under our laws the children are allowed to stay in her care 50% without proper food,clothing or upbringing (mum also works as a call girl when she needs the money, yes this is also legal)
I appologise if it sounds like I am getting stuck into you I'm not and I really do think you have done well be proud and strong. The kids are 10 and 4.

Answer 7

well honestly i will tell you i have alot of friends in recovery. I also ran N.A for about 7 years and have been through it. Im not saying im better than anyone because we are all the same. some just dont think about why people get to that point. I have one brother and two sisters. my oldest sister was an addict at a young age. my brother was the first to introduce me to meth. on my 24th birthday.I went throught that for a while and believe that it is not only the weak but the people who think they are invisable on it. my husband and i have been clean for years. My oldest brother will get on the phone and yell at me that im not better than him and im not . I just choose no to do it and not be around it. Not because in weak but because it changes them and he gets mean and ugly. but I will not ever turn my back on him. or my youngest sister who has lost her children due to meth. She just went to rehab and left after 1 day because they picked on her.It is more important then her children but its the drug not really her. so may god bless all t he addicts and give them faith and lead them out of there troubles.

Answer 8

The use of drugs in our culture has become widely prevalent with social oprobrium gradually declining. I believe a general lack of discipline from broken homes and both parents working are the major contributors to this malady. Rapid and easy communication via the internet and cell phones also contirbutes to the ease of access. As a parent to be an effective disciplinarian, you have to monitor everything and continuously. Give no resources unless they are accounted for. Keep a log of activity, miles driven, etc. Inspect your children's rooms and hide aways for evidence and confront them with it. Log your findings and remind and remind them about the costs of using this bad stuff. Find ways to do things with and for your kids too. I could go on and on, but finding a group of people to collaborate with who share or have shared this problem would be very helpful. You'll get lots of good ideas on how to deal with the situation on a day to day basis. The moral support is priceless!

Answer 9

These are my thoughts on drug addiction. I do not believe in addiction. I believe people drink because they like to be drunk. The term alcoholic relieves them of taking responsibility for their actions. I do not believe in drug addiction. I believe that people take pills or snort coke, meth etc, or smoke pot or crack because they like to get and be high. The term drug addict relieves them of taking responsibility for their own actions. Weak minded? Yes, by all means. Selfish? Yes, by all means. An addict? No, you cannot make me believe that. You see, I smoked pot for almost 33 years. I liked to get stoned. I liked being stoned. Period. I drank beer and then whiskey for years. I did it because I liked to be drunk. I was calculating about it, because I did my drinking at home. When the drinking started, the driving stopped. But I did it because I liked drinking. Same thing with cigarettes. Smoked them for 31 years. I liked smoking. It was the act of gratifying a want instantly. Selfishness. I no longer smoke pot, or cigarettes, or drink whiskey or beer. I no longer take pain pills. I do not need them, and never did. I simply liked doing all those things. I am now seeking the kingdom of God, and I give Him all the glory for making me not want to do those things anymore. I now enjoy being straight and sober. I am happy to feel better than I have in years. I doubt that the damage I did will be undone, but at least I am not still doing damage to my body.

Answer 10

particular, i've got faith that if we are speaking some real actual/psychological dependancy, he/she will conflict, to a pair quantity, for something of his or her existence. maximum all addicts bypass by way of tiers the place they opt to think of they are cured, and that they are in a position to resume to a low/reasonable ingesting point. notwithstanding, I surely have yet to fulfill one individual this plan works out for. i think of that's a factor of a grieving cycle one is going by way of alongside the path of integrating being an addict into ones self-thought. Many examine teach that an addict could properly be sober for an significant quantity of time, attempting to stay as a social drinker. notwithstanding, dependancy differences ones recommendations chemistry in such approaches that interior of an exceedingly short quantity of time, no remember the rationalizations and supplies to drink frequently that are made, that interior of an exceedingly short quantity of time the addict will esencially be precise returned the place he/she replaced into on the path to hitting backside. as much as all addicts, kinfolk and pals, and scientific personel choose it have been real, dependancy is in contrast to a bacterial an infection that is cured ultimately with antibiotics, ultimately returning the physique/recommendations to its unique situation. the real popularity of dependancy as a factor of your self and your day by day existence is, from my journey, the main confusing step. once you first look over the 12 Steps, it feels like the least confusing one---Yup, I surely have a concern right here, finished! verify that one off and circulate on. i will fly precise by way of those steps and be cured! Unfortunatley, working this device seems no longer something like this. Im sorry my answer seems so rambling, with the purpose to respond to your question today out--while you're touching on dependancy interior the scientific sense (i think of you're), particular. as quickly as an addict, constantly an addict.