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?

Anorexia and addiction are two sides of the same coin, in my opinion.

Telling a heroin addict that if they really cared, they would stop taking heroin is the same thing exactly as telling an anorexic that if they wanted to het better they could just eat!

So simple to say, so difficult to actually do.

Thanks to all who shared their experience. I feel justified in some of my feelings because others have shared theirs.

For those that are gobsmacked at the 'unsympathetic' ones, perhaps you need to assess whether it is fair to be sympathetic to the hardened family members of alcoholics. Their views are moulded from their experience (not from their lack of experience). Their views are equally as valid, they may not be warming and what you want to hear but those views are shaped from experience and they have their place.

Mynameisnotsusan, hmmm, I think addiction to different drugs tend to follow different paths and different levels of intensity. It's probably not accurate to compare them all. There tends to be a slower paced submersion into addiction with alcohol in comparison to heroin for example.

Of course all views have their place. But not all relatives of 'hardened' alcoholics feel the same. Not at all.

Sorry to all if those that have gone through a family member with addiction. It is hard and painful.