Addiction

The other day I was talking to friend about what to do when you find out someone close to you has an addiction problem.  His first reaction was one of mistrust – how could things ever be the same between them again?  He said things like, “He was high when we last talked.  I’ll help him but it will never be the same; I don’t know if I can ever trust him again.  If it weren’t drugs, I wouldn’t feel this way.” 

I have four people very close to me that all suffer from some sort of addiction (illegal drugs, pharmaceutical drugs, alcohol, and other stuff).  I’ve had to think about my behavior and what my reactions are upon hearing the news of their problem.  I had similar reactions to those above – but in time I learned that those thoughts are only about me and do nothing to help the person recover from their addiction. Whenever someone decides it’s time to come clean there are a lot of emotions around the table – anger, sadness, mistrust, cynicism, and hope.  However, hope is typically present in only small amounts – if at all.

People assume that the person screwed up to get into this condition – they’ve behaved like a screw up – so they’re only going to screw up this getting clean process and fall off the wagon.  So you immediately become very suspicious of an addict’s behavior right after they’re out of rehab or whatever.  I found that I had to work at burying by suspicion and focus my actions and conversations on being more supportive – they need help getting their lives together not a watchdog.  If they’re in a program they have sponsor that helps them with their addiction issues – since I wasn’t that person for anyone, my role way more to show that I still care for them and I want them to succeed.  It’s an absolutely difficult process to watch someone get clean – but once they do it’s like getting a new friend or family member that knows you well and has a passion for life that is invigorating to observe.

At some point a person either gets clean or they die (or disappears into oblivion which is the same I guess). You don’t know when that point is and if it is now, I would want to be there for them. No one I know (that I’m close to) has fallen off the wagon once they decided to get clean – but if they did I’d like to think I’d still be there for them – because losing them would be worse than them dying – I’d lose a bit of hope in people’s ability to change.

Comments

[Jenny]

At some point a person either gets clean or they die. You don’t know when that point is and if it is now, I would want to be there for them. No one I know has fallen off the wagon once they decided to get clean – but if they did I’d like to think I’d still be there for them – because losing them would be worse than them dying – I’d lose a bit of hope in people’s ability to change.
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Jenny
Substance Abuse Center

[prescription drug abuse]

An addiction is a state in which the body depends on a substance for normal functioning and may occur along with physical dependence, as in drug addiction.

-jomie-
http://www.oceanhillsrecovery.com