to think that most people are unsympathetic about addiction?

[Ilovedaintynuts]

Within minutes of her death being made public my facebook was full of tributes to Whitney Houston but also people saying they have no sympathy as she only has herself to blame..blah blah.

I find addiction and what it does to individuals, families and society tragic.

My occupation is Oncology and I still find extreme addiction as tragic as dying from cancer.

Whethers it's drugs, alcohol, smoking, spending, gambling it's an illness, isn't it?

Why do people think that these addicts should just stop and that it's their fault they are making themselves ill?

I know there are real and understandable reasons why people don't always do what is best for themselves.

But I don't think it does people any favours to perpetuate this myth that sufferers of most illnesses have no control over what happens to them. Quite often people have more control than they realise.

What makes you addicted?

Looking in the wrong place for help? Trying to self medicate because the meds and counselling are crap?

It's a quick fix, a brief distraction to a lifelong problem that narrowmindeds have not the sight to see.

Addictions stem from pain, Misery loves the lonely company of drugs and alcohol. I'm not able to just condemn people that have had a shit life because of the hand they are dealt, you can only put so much on the individual.

Society is unfair and some people never manage to build a better life, they know regardless of effort, that they will always be and feel the same.

Is there an "addictive personality disorder"? Is it in the DSM? I don't think its a widely accepted disorder as such, though there is a lot of research into personality factors and addiction.

I simply think it comes down to self indulgence and ego. Some people are the centres of their own universe. No-one is happy unless they are happy. Nothing else is as important as their own immediate pleasure.

I say this as the daughter of a (recovered) alcoholic.

I personally love the thrill of getting drunk , but I am very wary of drinking too much too regularly as I think I may be pre-disposed to alcoholism. I am also acutely aware of the side effects of alcoholism.

We all choose how much and how often we take drugs (alcohol or otherwise). I'm not for a minute saying it's easy to make a decision to stop or to change your lifestyle but it is possible.

Some addicts deserve sympathy some don't. Whether they 'deserve' it depends on the individuals view.

All deserve help if they seek it out, and pretty much all of them are tragedies.

Empathy rather than sympathy, and priority... sympathy should be reserved for the people who have suffered at their hands.

I don't believe in demonising addicts.

Heroin addicts feel physical pain if they don't get a fix, alcoholics get the shakes. These are physical symptoms.
Not perpetuating myths (rofl are you for real?)
Serious drug addiction is not like having a fag you idiot

I just googled and that's the phrase that came up.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Addictive_personality

There is absolutely no denying people suffer from addictive personalities. I have no idea if it's in the DSM, as I don't have a copy!

So because there are physical symptoms that must mean that people cannot possibly do anything to help themselves?

Umm, ok.

Not all addictions stem from pain Viva my brother's stemmed from a wish to simply get off his head as often as possible because he liked it, life was an endless party, he carried on when others stopped... the pain came swiftly afterwards, and I'm proud of him that he doesn't self-medicate that pain of regret that will always be there, and is clean.

Kitchenroll

I understand what you are saying, but if one piece of the puzzel is out of reach, including the knowledge of how to take control it becomes as usless as no treatment whatsoever.

My brother had bipolar, for 15 years he was in and out of mental health hospitals on section for 6 months every year without fail. They'd let him out and leave him to it, he hated his meds, he hated the sideeffects and even when well enough to be realeased he wasn't well enough to take care of himself. Even if he's thought the meds were a good plan he couldn't have remembered to take them effectivly - he could barely feed himself, his life was as chaotic as any addicts - he drank, though wasn't an alcoholic it did help him cope.

In the end they got him a couple of carers to help look after him and the flat and put him on a type of section that meant he had injections of medication BUT with support to get to the appointments. He then drank moderatly and sociably and remained in the community, his life was still shit but he wasn't locked up.

We all choose how much and how often we take drugs (alcohol or otherwise). I'm not for a minute saying it's easy to make a decision to stop or to change your lifestyle but it is possible.

I agree with you there, but it is possible for some people to become much more easily addicted than you, or not be as well balanced as you to handle it properly.

Trickle - The minute the phrase I can't cope (without a drug) runs through someone's mind, surely they are recognising that they are an addict and if they don't turn for help, or turn away from the drug, they are then embracing it. I think people have alot more self awareness than we give them credit for.

agree op.
im not sure if its unsympathetic though or just lack of understanding.

out of interest- the posters that are hinting that depression and mental health in general is selfish-have you ever lived it?

Nearly all of us at some time drink, a lot of us have used recreational drugs too.Much of us don't end up as addicts or alcoholics, but some do.I think instead of slating her we should stop and think 'there but for the grace of god...'

I agree OP

When Any Winehouse died I was staggered by some of the posts on FB...really vile. I deleted my account not long after.

Trickle, I do understand what you are saying, and I'm sorry for your brother. I know that there are cases with every illness that make it just too hard to take any sort of control over.

But I think it would be wrong to lay all the blame on an illness. There are people that have bipolar that do manage to stay well most of the time, and I think that that is because that have been able (or they have been enabled) to take some kind of responsibility for themselves.

I'm also thinking about people who I used to work with that have MS (that's why I mentioned that particular illness earlier) There is no denying that MS is an illness that cannot be prevented, but the way people react to it can have a significant impact on their prognosis. I used to see people who told me that they did yoga or physio at home every day, and it was very noticeable tha they did. Then there were others who just couldnt find the motivation to do that, and more often than not they ended up in pain or confined to a wheelchair much quicker than they would have done otherwise.

While I realise that some thing will just be too hard for some people, I think society needs to promote the belief that people do have at least some control of themselves, because it is clearly beneficial for people to have that. It doesn't help anyone to start of with the belief that an illness is an illness so what will happen from that will just happen.

I didn't say all, But one cant be very happy in life if the be all and end all is being sucked of a spoon or bit of tin foil, or at the bottom of a bottle.

Most addicts can be helped, Although a huge majority relapse in less than a year after so called successful treatment.

Treatment fails because of many different issues. Some lack willpower or self belief. The main issue with addiction treatment is the fact that it is rubbish.

That is the issue with addiction. Is the individual worthy of being "clean"? I hate the stigmata associated with it all, Like users are dirty.
It's uncivilised and horrible.

These people need genuine help and support. What they get currently is not enough. There isn't a service for picking these people up, getting them jobs and support, new friends and the like and moving into a new area.

I think that drug addiction is slightly different, a choice was made to take an illegal substance, and I would defy anyone to say they weren't 'aware' of the risks of these drugs in this day and age. By taking that first illegal drug you are effectively chancing addiction and all the awful things that come with it.

Obviously something like alcohol addiction is different as alcohol is something that many people enjoy and can 'take or leave', but again this probably makes people less sympathetic to addiction as they can relate to taking a drink but not to an addiction to it.

Oh I disgree, my brother was extremely happy when he started binging, he was in a band, it was simply one long part. Unfortunately for him, he became addicted before he became bored of the life... all his other friends got bored. He was unlucky, but he played with fire.

There's a lot of reasons people start using too much of something. Not many start with the intention of being an addict.

But CharShep, not all illegal drugs carry as much risk as say alcohol... there isn't enough clarity when all drugs are illegal, people tend to think 'well that's not as dangerous as I was led to believe, therefore this isn't', and get into trouble when it is.

Sometimes opportunity meets vunerability. Most people who gone through a shit time don't reach for drugs, but many do if the opportunity is there. Fuck it just once, is probably a very common phrase for many addicts.

My parent's friend, a GP knew the risks of most drugs, she became an addict. Intelligent, articulate, vunerable. Self medicated. Was stupid. Became an addict, killed herself. She didn't actually deserve judgment, maybe not sympathy as such (stupid woman in many ways) but she did deserve compassion and empathy.

molly don't ask me how I know so many bloody people with a back story, maybe it's just becasue I'm a bit of a Quaker and seem to attract people to be open, but I do know a couple of ex-addicts and while they could cope with their life in the moment they truly didn't think they needed treatment becasue what they were doing was working for them, they felt like they were functioning. These do happen to be people whose whole childhood was chaotic so the presence of drugs in their life actually stabilised them if you can believe that. They really believed they had found a simple answer to their problems - these were semi-functioning addicts petty crime to fund habbit but bringing up children too. I think it's easy to underestimate how much people live right for the now and don't think much into the future if they don't have to. Obviously I've only ever spoken to ex-addicts and don't really know the thinking behind people who never get help and remain addicted till death - I think those people may possibly be different as they have a different outcome.

Some of these people deliberatly went to prison to get clean, over and over again, as soon as they got back out they couldn't cope again and went back to what worked. In the end they were trying but going round in circals becasue once the drug was gone their thinking hadn't changed and they still had no coping mechanisms for everyday living. It's a big thing to suddenly be abel to cope with feeling and living again.

Likewise I know people who recognised they were addicted or becoming dependant to something so they stopped it - but their life never cycled into chaos, every single one of them, drugs or alcohol related thought about the future, recognised a problem and tackled it alone without help. But they have all been very different people with much more support and a stable life before the addiction than the people who's lives did spiral out of control. Most were depressed and needed some MH treatment later even though they were no longer in danger of substance misuse.

I think we sometimes overestimate peoples resiliance, not everyone is equally abel.

Sorry that's so long

Binging tends to make people happy until they come down, I have thoroughly enjoyed Illegal drugs in my past and have never had an addiction.

There is more to it than that, Some people are predisposed.

I know more addicts of legal substances (alcohol, POMS, cigarettes, pornography, food) than illegal.

A lot of the haters on here will have their own addictions too, they don't count though, do they?

addiction is an illness caused by themselves its a tradgedy when people die from addiction However people especially famous people take these drugs because they like it , then they spiral out of control and dont want help , Im harsh about it I would never say oh its their own fault but i do feel they go into these things with anopen mind ,