What Do You Wish People Understood About Addiction?
Readers,
Please share your common struggles and social misconceptions about addiction and recovery. What do you wish people understood most of all?
Happy Sharing!
A lot has been said in this thread already and maybe i am writing this post more to myself than to others. I wish people would know that i am not my addiction. I am not myself when i have relapsed and have to fight the same battle all over again. I don't need your judgment. The only thing i need from you is your support. You don't have to understand. Because if you are not an addict it is difficult to understand how hard it can be to stay off of it. I just need you to believe in me and support me.
@Bluelivin
Hi, it is so true what you said. We fight a battle, maybe go down but standing up again and continue this big fight makes us CHAMPIONS. ❤
@amiablePeace77
Yes indeed we are great champions my friend :)
I wish they'd understood that while they can be a burden, it's my burden. Please don't take special considerations for me, it feels awkward and uncomfortable. Just do your thing, if its a problem for me, I'll quietly excuse myself.
I wish people realised that addiction encompasses so much more than drugs and alcohol. Sure they are the most publicised, but what about tobacco, food, gambling, sex, just to label a few more.
The social misconception labels a minority or addicts, when if we could promote addiction across the range of common addictions, greater awareness might help people understand and relate to those that are struggling.
How many people can say that they can resist that extra piece of chocolate or morning coffee- do they think of themselves as an addict? I think not.
Happy to discuss more, PM me.
That addiction is not lack of motivation or weakmindedness but rather a really complex scenario occuring in our brains.
Also understanding the role of harm reduction and how war on drugs is just a needless bloodshed that only generates black market.
Making recreational use of drugs legal and making sales controlled (literarilly "drug"stores) would be win-win for both goverment (less money spent on WoD and purer, safer drugs to addicts, also more money for gov from taxes and less social stigma)
As we say here "The forgotten fruit tastes the best"
The reason behind many of us experimentating with drugs is to see how it will work and just because it is forgotten. I know that myself very well as a ex-smoker.
That it can come in any form; and even the simplest, most harmless form isn't always easy to deal with.
Everyone laughs at me when I say I don't drink coffee. They think I'm so weird or just 'lame'. Thing is, I used to drink coffee - until I realised I was addicted to it. No, to caffeine, more specifically. It was so hard for me to stop. I lowered my coffee intake from two mugs a day to just one in the morning and that got me trembling by noon. I needed more coffee. When it came down to the day I drank no coffee at all, my mind was a mess, couldn't focus, my hands trembled, and I was easily agitated. But nobody believes me, thinking this was a 'learned behaviour' or that I was overreacting.
Of course, with some discipline, I managed to control it and now I limit myself to at most one mug a week. :) It does call out to me from time to time, but I must resist.
@EarlyOnion Caffeine is a drug; it just happens to be one of the most socially acceptable ones.
@resourcefulPond1641 Yup, but when I tell people that it is, they're like either so ignorant that they say it isn't or they just say it's not even serious. Yet there they are, loyally queueing up for Starbucks every day, even if the price puts a hole in their wallet.
@blitheSun94
idk not that much addicted weel ok...about some things yes...
idk i GO BY FLOW and emtions ...sometimes wonder do we need to be moral or natural :O
addiction weel what to know
it's not somth we want...it just patern like...we all have flows...and have bad habits...
I drink alcohol cos idk how to deal with emotions althought not si much...
I watch dirty stuff cos meds mess up me...idk meh
I feel kinda shame and bad cos of that...guess angry cos idk how to deal with...
Addicts are people too, and we don't want to be just handed over to some "therapy" group or "program" so that we can be "fixed up" and come back just the way we were. That's not going to happen; it's a journey that we need friends and family on even if, at the time, we say no.
That it
It can be perveived that we live a crazy ass life and run down the street naked and other over the top behaviour, If only our friends and family knew that 99% of the time we are high but still have a somewhat normal life like hold a steady job, pay the bills etc
They have no idea.. there is still lots of crazy shit going on but we manage...just
@fearlessPapaya8537 So true!
What do I wish people knew about addiction
i wish people realize i dont want continue like this, I want to stop. The fact I try and fail occasionally I hate myself more than you can imagine at times.