an addiction rehab marketing myth (scam)?

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A vicious van dweller criminal amigo dropped this into my Facebook account yesterday, the reader comments might interest you more than the article itself, which, due to the number of pop ups advertising rehab programs, seems to be rehab industry marketing, rather than real help for addicts:

Few demographics are as misunderstood or misrepresented as the chemically dependent. In fact, addicts are some of the most negatively portrayed and unfairly stereotyped groups in the media. While addiction myths are nothing more than scare tactics, these half-truths have actually made it harder for us to seek treatment and lead some kind of “normal” life.

Thanks, in large part, to the persistent stigmas of addiction, we’re socially shackled to our disease. Asking for help means we risk social humiliation and a variety of negative relationship changes – many of which stem from a misunderstanding of addiction. In fact, evidence has shown that one of the top reasons addicts put off treatment is a fear of the social consequences. We’re ready to come out of the shadows; we’re ready for you to know the truth.

But, before we can create a positive change, we must first dispel the 6 myths..

6 myths about addicts that sober people believe..

Myth #1:

Addicts are not a lost cause. While it’s true this disease will need to be managed for life, we can certainly overcome our chemical dependency.

This myth gives the impression that addicts don’t matter and sets the stage for discrimination by family members, friends, employers, health care providers and the legal system. In reality, modern addiction treatment practices can help us escape the grip of drugs and alcohol. With the right tools and support, we can go on to do great things in life.

Myth #2:

Thanks, in large part, to the rise of televised addiction and emergency interventions, the term “rock bottom” has become ingrained in the DNA of society. The viewing audience sees staged interventions where a “rock bottom” is created for each intended addict; they see most episodes coming to a happy and sober conclusion. Magically, TV addicts are “saved” by these manufactured rock bottoms that come neatly wrapped in a 60-minute package.

In real life, however, the “rock bottom” moment is different for each and every one of us. For some, rock bottom is getting arrested or becoming homeless. For others, rock bottom is losing the love and trust of family or getting fired from a great job.

It’s important to understand that the level of consequences we face before seeking help have little to do with our chances of succeeding in recovery. Rather than waiting for the “proper” moment of desperation, try talking openly and honestly with us.

Myth #3:

This one’s a doozy. Some people can have a drink and walk away; some can take a pain pill here and there with no problem. That makes it easy to assume that we all have the same experience and, instead of walking away, we choose to spend our days in a state of intoxication.

In reality, we are addicted. That means we have to supply our bodies with a steady stream of drugs or alcohol just to feel “normal” or avoid withdrawal symptoms. For us, every day brings increasingly painful hardships that involve physical, emotional and psychological repercussions.

No one in their right mind would choose to live the life of an addict. It’s a lonely and depressing existence.

No one in their right mind would choose to live the life of an addict. It’s a lonely and depressing existence. We feel like prisoners. And no matter how much we try to deny it, we all know – on some level – that we can’t stop on our own. Admitting we’ve lost self-control is a terrifying thought that is present every moment of every day. How eager would you be to live that life?

Myth #4:

Many people don’t know that addiction physically changes the brain. These neurological alterations prompt compulsive actions that can easily be misinterpreted. We aren’t stupid or lazy; far from it. What we are is wrongly and wholeheartedly convinced that we need drugs or alcohol to survive. We’re in denial, but it’s a form of denial firmly rooted in biology.

Our brains have developed a tolerance to drugs that worsens over time. Eventually, there’s a certain level of intoxication needed to keep withdrawal at bay. In an effort to “stay well,” we do some crazy things to feed our habits. Our drive is limited to satisfying the addiction. What we do is always in service of a disease that we can’t control. Quite frankly, it’s exhausting.

Myth #5:

If willpower or the love of family could cure addiction, most of us would be healthy and happy. Unfortunately, it’s not that easy. While it’s true that most of us lack the ability to overcome this disease on our own, the “lack of willpower” is a symptom caused by the neurological imbalances of addiction – not the cause. The inability to stop is driven by the gripping fear of detox; that fear outweighs the logical reasoning that would convince any non-addicted person to stop.

Myth #6:

There’s a huge misconception that punishment can “scare” addicts into sobriety. However, there’s a big difference between sending someone to prison where the access to drugs is virtually cut off and finding lasting sobriety through recovery. Look, it’s easy to get clean in prison. But, without the tools of recovery, relapse is virtually guaranteed once returned to society.

When threatened with punishments like arrest or incarceration, rational people modify their behaviors. Addicts, however, are living with a disease where the emotional and motivational need for drugs completely and totally outweighs the threat of negative consequences.

Again, it’s all related to the neurological changes brought on by drugs or alcohol.

Dr. Alan Leshner, former Director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, said it best in a piece written for Science Magazine: “If the brain is the core of the problem, attending to the brain needs to be a core part of the solution. If they [addicts] have a brain disease, imprisoning them without treatment is futile.” In other words, the key to our sobriety generally relies on our immersion in a therapeutic and supportive community.

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  Sloan Bashinsky · Top Commenter · Janitor at God

  I’m not an addict, never was, using the definition, I always was able to stop drinking without withdrawal, and I was always able to stop drinking for long periods of time - years. I do not drink now, but not because I don’t want to, booze makes me physically ill in my liver and GI tract - just one beer or one glass of wine does that. So, I don’t drink beer or wine, which I used to enjoy drinking. I have had a lot of dealings with addicts, mostly booze and tobacco. I have lots of dealings today with homeless addicts, in Key West there I live. Mostly they use booze and tobacco, but many of them use spice, a blend of potpourri and bug spray. Some get prescription narcotics one way or another. Some get marijuana. My girlfriend, now in the county jail for violating her probation, which required she not drink booze, is homeless when she is not in jail, arising out of her boyfriend dying while she was in jail the first time, for aggravated assault, a felony, while she was drinking. When she was released on probation, she had no money and no place to live. She told me in a letter yesterday that she is really struggling with giving up booze and cigarettes, her two oldest good friends. She is off booze and tobacco now, in the jail, where she went through withdrawal for the third time in jail. She has done private rehab many times. She always went back to using. It cost her dearly, using, I will not say the details. But she knows it cost her dearly. I’m a mystic, so I don’t view life like non-mystics. I am in ongoing engagement and conversation with angels, mostly them conversing with me in various ways, most often in dreams, but they can and do speak to me in plain English in my sleep, at times. And they have ways of conversing with me when I am so-called awake, eyes open, mind so-called engaged. Just me saying this next thing, I find it hard to imagine anyone using a narcotic, prescribed or not, who does not know the risk of becoming addicted. So I find it hard to accept addiction is not something people choose, who keep taking a narcotic, knowing what it c an lead to. I have attended maybe 200 AA, NA, ALANON meetings, I have heard many addicts speak. I learned alcoholics do not tend to view themselves as drug addicts, but simply as alcoholics, even though booze is a narcotic, which NA recognizes. I did not attend those meetings because I was an addict, but for other reasons. In one stretch, because I was struggling with a horrible black night of the soul, and I felt some kinship with other people struggling. In the second, later stretch, because I had been living on the street and now was in a homeless shelter which required clients to have clean urine and attend AA/NA/ALANON meetings regularly. Over the years, old timers in AA and NA told me, reluctantly, 95 percent of people who enter those rooms return to their habit. I have seen in my ife that the relapse rate is very high. I’m going to toss in something mystical, now. This I learned from the angels. The core cause of addiction - narcotics, addictive behavior patterns, co-dependency, etc. - is injury to, even destruction of, the internal feminine, which in Christendom is called the Holy Spirit, the Divine Feminine I usually call it, the anima, the Swiss Psychiatrist Carl Jung seemed to have called it. Without her restoration in a person, addiction recovery is very difficult, an act of will and stuggle ongoing, it seems. I have worked therapeutically with many people. Quite a few were addicts. I have no help for addicts. It’s on them to want to stop using, and then engage the ongoing struggle to say clean after rehab. The only real help I see is supernatural intervention into addicts, an infusion of the whole Divine Feminine. Without that, it’s the ongoing grind to stay clean, has been my observation. There are ways an addict can help initiate the infusion. Stop pointing the finger elsewhere. Take their own inventory ongoing. Stop crusading to save this or that perceived victim, or to right this or that perceived wrong, with which the addict as identified and merged psychologically, and actually is trying to save self by trying to save other. That’s a start, but the real cure has to come from the supernatural realm, and that doesn’t seem to happen much - a miracle. I tell addicts, who say they wish to stop using, to ask God to help them stop. I had the 12 Steps applied to me, when I was living in the homeless shelter. Applied to me by the angels who run me. It was terrible. I learned the 12 Steps are a bona fide spiritual method, if used as originally designed by Bill and Bob. That’s very different from reading the 12 Steps. That’s very different fro attending meetings. It’s not imaginable, having the 12 Steps imposed on you by angels, until is happens to you. Just me talking, I think it would be a great thing if the 12 Steps were imposed by angels on every human being on this planet. Meanwhile, because I am a mystic, I once had exquisite experiences with psychiatry. I know for a fact that drugs psychiatrists administer to their patients are addictive, and stopping using those drugs causes awful withdrawal symptoms. I have heard the same from psychiatrists’ patients, who tried to stop taking their meds. And I know for a fact, and have heard from many psychiatrists’ patients, that the meds themselves create awful side effects. And, i will toss in, I have had psychiatrists come to me for help, and psychologists, and licensed clinical social workers, and addiction counselors - not for chemical addiction issues. In all people who came to me for help, the core cause of their difficulties was internal feminine disorder, or destruction, and/or absence. Also was demonic infection, which is not as severe as demonic possession, but can move in that direction. But that, usually, was secondary to the internal feminine disorder. All of that the angels took me through in myself. It was a long, not fun process, and it’s still underway. As for psychiatrists treating addicts, I don’t see psychiatrists know how to really treat any serious mental illness, but that aside, I don’t see how they can expect their methods to work on an addict who still is using. Finally, based on the number of pop up rehab program advertisements, this article is sponsored by that industry, which might be why it stirred so many different reader responses.

  Reply · Like · Unfollow Post · Edited · 5/8/2015
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  Katy Oakley · Top Commenter

  The comments section makes me feel bad. I imagine many of these people are in such a dark spot that if they could buy a magic wand to fix it all, that wand would get purchased way before any drugs. I’m sure there’s some addicts that even in a clean state wouldn’t give a damn about the people they hurt, but I think that’s far from the majority of them.Nobody wants to be an addict. Logically, that statement doesn’t even make sense. Some people get prescriptions that they end up addicted to, others got addicted to it socially. Maybe was it not the smartest thing to do drugs socially? Probably not. Have we all done stupid things socially? Oh yes. It just has worse outcomes for some people. We all do things we shouldn’t knowing we shouldn’t. This really isn’t something that defines a single human. That’s just part of being human.And someone’s initial choice to start a drug isn’t the disease. Its the body’s response to addictive stimulus. Some people have a much more severe reaction to stimulus. Some people can pick up a cigarette and put it down without it bothering them. Others have one and they’re hooked. Its all in how the brain processes. And its not something someone chooses.And people can correct me if I’m wrong, but I’m pretty sure when an addict did for the first time what they got addicted to, what they were thinking about was not what their life became. Whether a prescription, or just not thinking and doing something, or being in such a low spot the individual didn’t care about themselves, is it really necessary to kick someone for that?And as a society let’s think through this. Of people who criticize, have any of you ever been on a prescription that interfered with neurological or chemical synapses? I was on celexa for a few years. This is a prescribed drug, no I was never an addict of any sorts, but when I had to get off of it, it messed with my head and body terribly. I couldn’t think straight, had the memory of a goldfish, and couldn’t process thoughts. That was 25ml. Now, anyone with a similar experience, I imagine what an addict goes through is 100x worse. Especially if they’ve taken more and more to stay ahead of the addiction. Its that much more their body is going to withdraw from. Its not like they can just set it down one day and function perfectly fine the next. The body integrates it with its chemical chemistry. Its not a will thing. Really, I imagine a lot of them feel concerned that they’d fall behind without it. If you feel like you can’t think straight, and are too sick to move, how are you going to live a life? People get scared. And withdrawal takes a looong time. My whole 25ml of celexa had an impact for 3 months. Someone who’s been using something has a lot heavier of a withdrawal than that. So don’t get down on someone if they were clean for a while then went back. They might be scared they’re going to fall behind. Or feel like its never going to end. Or have a day they feel so crappy from it that it doesn’t seem like there’s another solution. Just because someone goes back doesn’t mean they want to. Even if they’ve been clean a while, they can still keep feeling it. And while it might make sense to a non addict to keep pushing forward, someone in that state isn’t going to be thinking clearly. And I imagine in the experience the term “easier said than done” is insurmountably true.And people who go back for psychological reasons especially don’t need to be kicked. They started cuz they felt crappy. Then felt crappier about being an addict. Then crappier about what they did to support addiction. And possibly even crappier about the consequences of it. Don’t kick that type of person especially. Sometimes people need to feel like they’re worth being redeemed.

  Sure, people need to look out for themselves. At the end of the day, everyone is left with his/her own consequences. Not everyone is going to be able to try to get an addict out of addiction. But the least we can do as a society is try to understand this and as a collective try to be supportive. Not of the addiction, but of the recovery. Or at the least, not come to a board that a lot of suffering people are reading and belittle them.

  Reply · Like · 13 · Follow Post · April 12 at 1:00pm

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    Erin Alker · Montgomery County Community College

    Amen!! Why do people have to kick people when their down. I agree with all you said. Its shameful all the hate that’s oozing out of people.

    Reply · Like · 6 · April 14 at 10:43am
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    Jennie Nordhagen · Follow · Top Commenter

    You are a wise woman. Thanks for offering such a reasonable point of view. I swear to God, with the way our oh so “advanced” society shuns anyone with mental illness or addiction, so many more good, decent and smart people are going to keep suffering and dying. It is the BIGGEST problem we have…but, I haven’t seen any support from the “healthy” population…I haven’t seen a bucket challenge in the name of mental illness or a relay for sobriety, have you?
    I want to see more people expressing opinions like yours BECAUSE IT IS ACCURATE!!! The only way to fix something is to be honest about what you’re trying to fix. Comments like yours are what will help pave the way to understanding and then, help and even a CURE.
    Thanks again Katy, really.

    Reply · Like · 7 hours ago
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  Amy Peeples · Top Commenter · East Valley High School

  Let’s not forget the heroin addicts who got there because they went to the doctor after maybe injuring their back in a car accident. Once you take that pain killer/ opiate for just a few weeks.. Good luck getting off of it. Every heroin addict I know got started with either Percocet or oxicotton and they were valid scripts written by doctors . Opiates appear to be terribly hard to come off of. I was prescribed Xanax by a doctor when my father passed . I started at 2 mg a day. I didn’t know it but that was a high dose, especially considering how fast you build a tolerance to benzos . Here I am three years later attempting to do a slow taper off of 4 mg a day. I have anxiety, wicked wicked anxiety and adrenaline poring through my veins non stop. It feels like I can’t breath and I am in constant never ending fight or flight mode. Lol getting a gallon of milk at the store is a scary adventure for me now, where as before it was just an everyday part of life. I constantly remind myself “no one is chasing me” calm the fuck down. If you have never taken benzos for anxiety or insomnia (Xanax adivan Valium or kolonopin ) PLEASE DONT EVER GO DOWN THAT ROAD!

  Reply · Like · 14 · Follow Post · April 5 at 12:34pm

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    Erin Alker · Montgomery County Community College

    Good luck in your struggle. Your so brave to talk candidly about your experience

    Reply · Like · 3 · April 14 at 10:39am
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    Abram Randal Farr

    Not true for everyone who takes benzodiazepines for therapeutic reasons, but good luck in your taper.

    Reply · Like · 2 · May 6 at 4:54pm
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    Danny Gunderson · FVTC

    The best part of that is doctors will feed you pills until your addicted, then they wash their hands of you! Somehow they are qualified to hand out narcotics and create addicts, but if you admit your addicted they say they can’t see you anymore and cut you off or at most direct you to a maintenance program like methadone or suboxone so you can stay an addict for life…

    Reply · Like · 1 · May 6 at 6:14pm
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  Beverly Jared · Follow · Top Commenter · Doyle High School

  I hate articles like this because of all the self righteous comments. some people have no idea. no one WANTS to be an addict. It is misery and some people are just predisposed to it. If you are not then just be thankful!

  Reply · Like · 11 · Follow Post · March 13 at 9:22am

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    Abram Randal Farr

    I think this article has some truth but it does have “addict” talk that is oversimplifying things to the point of self-righteousness.

    Reply · Like · 5 · May 6 at 4:58pm
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    Bethany Sheá · Follow · Top Commenter · Assembly Line at Johnson Controls

    I do know one person that wants to be an addict so bad. And tries to be. But I’ve seen him go weeks without this “addiction” and function just fine without withdrawals or anything. It’s kinda sad how badly he wants to be an addict in spite of peoples’ feelings. He literally only does it ’cause it hurts people. Past the point of being sad.. It’s pathetic.

    Reply · Like · 2 · Yesterday at 5:25am
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    Beverly Jared · Follow · Top Commenter · Doyle High School

    Bethany Sheá That is pathetic. Addiction is misery. Withdrawals are misery, mental and physical. Sounds like he just wants attention.

    Reply · Like · 4 hours ago
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  Jerome Theriot · Jack of all trades at Oilfield

  If u ain’t never been there u can’t possibly understand addiction..ppl are fucken idiots

  Reply · Like · 8 · Follow Post · April 3 at 6:58pm

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    Mike Tawney · Top Commenter · Hard Knocks University

    Jerome, The only part I didn’t understand was the lack of understanding on the addicts part. Dude, 15 years together, though all the shit. Using together, partying have a great time together. And then losing each other, because one didn’t or refused to see when it became a problem for both of us. Then using the other to babysit when shit got real and they needed someone to make sure they were okay. Don’t tell me I don’t understand. I lived that shit from the outside in, trying to save someone who threw it all away. Kids, house, job, friends, family, self worth, all of it, and the sad part was, it was after rehab, and meetings and counseling, all while looking for the next big thrill while being clean. that is clean from drugs, that’s all just the drugs, still had the behavior. There is a deficentcy , just not sure if it is medical, a twisted gene or chromosome. Or if it is mental, a lack of conscience or just no feeling for those who loved them.

    Reply · Like · 9 · Edited · April 3 at 11:07pm
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  Mike Tawney · Top Commenter · Hard Knocks University

  And from the other side of that fence, some of this article has merit. Totally based on my experience of being formally married to an addict. To a certain degree they are easier to deal with on a daily basis when they are “maintaining” their addiction. But real life when they clear the fog for a few moments, they look around and life is not as exciting or thrilling when they are sober. So they seek change, like their addiction at any cost. Even with support it is damn the family , damn the normal life, damn being a contributing member of society, this is no fun, gotta change something here so it is back to using or destroying the lives of those who supported them in their worst of times with that change. There are programs for the family and friends of addicts and they teach or make available a lot of coping strategies. But in the end for me anyway, it was all bullshit because it still boiled down to being all about the addict. Some things got to change, and in the end it isn’t about what is best for the family of addicts, it is about what works for them. Carnage and mayhem are scattered all about their feet, but “hey I got “X” clean days ain’t I wonderful”

  Reply · Like · 8 · Follow Post · Edited · March 12 at 7:06am

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    Allison Elizabeth Trader · Works at Key Manufacturing

    Totally agree. I’m an addict and every relapse I’ve had is because I got bored. Life just isn’t where its at without drugs and unfortunately, fo r people like me and your wife who keep using for that reason, will never get out. Addiction will be what kills us.

    Reply · Like · 9 · April 7 at 3:28pm
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    Vanessa Marie Gantt · Portland, Oregon

    Who cares if u married an addict you will NEVER 100 percent understsnd us unless you are or have been an addict active or not active

    Reply · Like · 9 · April 10 at 11:35am
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    Sharon Dawn Uehara

    Vanessa Marie Gantt I care that I married an addict. He tried to kill me and my son. Ever took a tire iron to the kidney while trying to protect your one and only child from a raging madman?

    Reply · Like · 7 · April 11 at 6:05pm
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    Mike Tawney · Top Commenter · Hard Knocks University

    Vanessa, obviously you don’t or haven’t gotten IT yet. I’m not asking anyone to care about me or mine. You are still angry about something or someone, so you lash out at others or you use it to justify your behaviors, what ever they may be. This is an open forum to be able to communicate and share with, you know like at a meeting. The other side of the fence is important also. It isn’t all about the addicts anymore in my life. But if what I said affected one person to seek more information or help from what is reeking havoc in their life, well that is a good thing for them. As for you and me, print my post and take it to a meeting and share both sides of it, not skipping any of the words or details, and then measure the reaction and get back to me. As for the 100% understanding you, or anyone with addiction wrapped around their life, I take them as they come and deal on a personal basis, not in an open forum to try to make them do or understand anything. You see I failed at that with someone I committed to forever, and unlike an addict I don’t have to be beat about the head and body more than once to understand that some just don’t seem to want help or support. You can only hope and pray to find someone with the compassion and heart that I brought to that fight to try to support you during those times in your life. And to those reading this that are fighting addiction from the outside , My advise would be “get to a meeting” Al-a-non or Nar-a-non meetings are where ever there is an AA meeting or a NA meeting , just go into one of those meeting and ask for directions. Someone will help you, because contrary to how you feel about someone who is battling addiction, they are not all assholes. And Vanessa I love you and will pray for you to get the guidance that hopefully you are seeking! God Bless

    Reply · Like · 6 · Follow Post · April 13 at 2:43pm
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    Ryan Pace · Works at Landfall Realty

    I think why she got offended is bc you obviously do not understand the addict’s mind. Until you realize that to many people, even 3 days sober is a HUGE triumph that should be looked at as such and not dismissed because you don’t understand their fight.

    Reply · Like · 2 · Follow Post · May 6 at 8:48pm
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  Tyler Germany · East Central Community College

  Opiates are a hell of a drug.

  Reply · Like · 6 · Follow Post · April 6 at 11:00pm
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  Erin Alker · Montgomery County Community College

  Do something instead of talking shit. I wish every know it all with their negative feelings on a sad sad disease would stop hating people who are struggling and put their money where their mouth is! If u believe addiction isn’t a disease than become a researcher or advocate and come up with another way to help these people. I’m going to school now with the hope of helping addicts and helping to change the stigma they face.

  Reply · Like · 3 · Follow Post · April 14 at 10:37am

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    Leah Simms · Medical Records Coder at Easton hospital- retired

    Very true!! Congrats on your sobriety and going to school to help others!! My son is a Herion addict who had 10 years clean and his fiancé came to him and said she wanted to quit NA and start drinking. He relapsed with her. I believe it is a disease and drugs change the brain. I will always be there for recovery for him but this relapse is worse than ever!! I pray for recovery for all our addicted loved ones because they are human and deserve a good life just like anyone else!! Good luck in your school and whatever job you decide to start!!!

    Reply · Like · 21 hours ago
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  Leslie Kyler

  The worst part of comment boards like this, is how disrespectful people are to each other…. no matter what ‘side of the fence’ you reside on…. it is unnecessary to speak to each other the way some of you are…. in the end we are all people, with feelings, lives, and reasons for our actions. Everyone is different.

  Reply · Like · 3 · Follow Post · April 14 at 10:24am
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  Robert Grover

  If I didn’t know any addicts, I might believe this article.

  Reply · Like · 4 · Follow Post · March 12 at 10:07am

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    Jerome Theriot · Jack of all trades at Oilfield

    Robert grover ur an idiot too..u should go out and hang urself..fuck off

    Reply · Like · 3 · April 3 at 7:02pm
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  Gideon Asche · Top Commenter · Freelance Writer at Self-Employed

  The biggest Myth is that addiction is a disease…Take responsibility for your own actions and stop mooing about a mythical disease …Bill W was a fool…

  Reply · Like · 2 · Follow Post · Edited · April 10 at 12:30pm

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    Gideon Asche · Top Commenter · Freelance Writer at Self-Employed

    You are not just an addict who cant take responsibility for its own actions you are a NAZI…But I guess you blame your lack of common sense on your mythical disease also..If you are not enough of a man to stop being an Addict — OD.That will end your stupidity and you will no longer be a burden to the American people.

    Reply · Like · 2 · April 10 at 1:57pm
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    John Killingsworth · Works at Wells Fargo

    I find it interesting that AA and other 12 step programs are the most successful when it comes to long-term sobriety. Perhaps the medical evidence about addiction/alcoholism is false as well. I live with the disease, sober I might add, and it seems that 12 step programs do teach responsibility and accountability for actions taken regardless of mental illness. I’m responsible for all my actions but that doesn’t negate the factual evidence that addiction is a disease. Bill W may be a fool but he stumbled upon manner of living that has and continues to keep millions of people sober. Be it as it may, that’s just my opinion and experience.

    Reply · Like · 4 · May 6 at 3:12pm
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    Gideon Asche · Top Commenter · Freelance Writer at Self-Employed

    bullshit.. they have an unacceptable recidivism rate. Lying about time clean is the norm.There is no disease.either you are an adult and can act like one or you need to play addict and pretend you have a disease.I have no sympathy and would rather trust a crack whore than a 12 stepper.

    Reply · Like · May 6 at 4:07pm
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    Gideon Asche · Top Commenter · Freelance Writer at Self-Employed

    bullshit.. they have an unacceptable recidivism rate. Lying about time clean is the norm.There is no disease.either you are an adult and can act like one or you need to play addict and pretend you have a disease.I have no sympathy and would rather trust a crack whore than a 12 stepper.

    Reply · Like · Follow Post · May 6 at 4:07pm
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  Acy Cardenaz · Top Commenter · Fry Cook at Texas Roadhouse - Hamilton, OH

  Then. Don’t. Take. Or. Do. Them. In. The. First. Place.Just saying.

  Reply · Like · 2 · Follow Post · April 9 at 11:37pm

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    Adkins Amanda

    Irrelavent

    Reply · Like · 1 · April 12 at 1:38am
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  Mellanese Copeland · Follow

  At the end of the day nobody has to understand my addiction but me. I have to understand what it did to me, what it caused me to do to others and what will happen if I use it again. People have had horrible experiences with addicts and addicts have had horrible experiences but in the end it was a choice. We are not victims we choice the drug we don’t choose the lifestyle and the bullshit that comes with it but it’s a package deal. I’m speaking for this recovering addict…….

  Reply · Like · 1 · Follow Post · May 6 at 4:31pm
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  Janice Jacome · Works at Unemployed but looking

  They forgot a MAJOR one…If they loved us, or if they loved us enough, they’d. STOP!!! So untrue…

  Reply · Like · 1 · Follow Post · May 6 at 10:57pm
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  Abram Randal Farr

  Drug laws need to change

  Reply · Like · 1 · Follow Post · May 6 at 4:51pm
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  Jake Bodnar · REALTOR® at West USA Realty

  Quit feeling sorry for yourselves. You love booze/and or drugs, deal with it. Its fucking wonderful. It makes coping day by day all the much easier. Quit lying to yourselves. Smoke/shoot some more dope. You’ll feel better for the next couple of hours. Hey, its been thirty minutes. Think its time for a shot now! GAAAW! Man, being an addict sucks. Holy Hell, wish I had an outlet for all this vile chemistry. Maybe next week. In October. Fuck it…….anyone have a light?………………..god im so lonely……………….

  Reply · Like · 2 · Follow Post · March 13 at 2:52pm

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    Erin Davis Keiningham · Owner at Be. Hair Loft

    Your a dick

    Reply · Like · 3 · April 1 at 8:48am
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    Darr Sandberg · Top Commenter · Works at I am a self employed artist

    Erin Davis Keiningham : Please don’t degrade men that way. Jake is Jake, his obvious character flaw reflects only on him. And he is, apparently, addicted to pride, ego. His drug of choice is insulting and denigrating people, he gets high on being cruel, so much so, he cannot stop.

    Reply · Like · 4 · April 1 at 3:12pm
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    Jerome Theriot · Jack of all trades at Oilfield

    Jake ur a fucken idiot and.ppl like u should be beat to a bloody.pulp..this is the opinion of the speaker…fuck u

    Reply · Like · April 3 at 7:01pm
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    Jen Howard · Sales Associate at 7-Eleven

    You’re a moron. I’ve been clean eight months. When I was using I did get upset after I’d get well in the morning. Some times cry bc I had to shoot a dilaudid to feel like myself. Well guess what that little bit of consciousness that hit me every morning is what finally got me to get clean. You think deal with it It’s wonderful???? Pease tell me what’s wonderful about being dope sick, missing, getting an abscess that has to be cut open at home bc you need to keep making that money, cotton fever, lying to people that care about you and love you, stealing, panhandling for hours on end, letting friends use your bed to do their backpage calls in exchange for dilaudid bc you can’t bring yourself to do it, never feeling hungry and when you do there’s no food, and having a house but no power or water…. wonderful???? Please tell me where wonderful is in there bc I lived all that, and I don’t see it anywhere.

    Reply · Like · 5 · Follow Post · April 4 at 6:13am
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    Amy Peeples · Top Commenter · East Valley High School

    I think he was being sarcastic and can honestly hear what he is saying when he says this . It’s a fucking lonely ass life addicts choose, none of us ever thought we would end up defendant on this drug. He is coming from a place where addicts go when they simply give up. Sad kind of. Like a sublime song or something ..

    Reply · Like · 3 · Follow Post · April 5 at 12:22pm
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    Jen Howard · Sales Associate at 7-Eleven

    Once again addiction isn’t a choice. I know I shot a dilaudid to see what it was like… the rush was beyond good so I kept doing it because Ioved that rush, never ever thinking I’d become an addict. But I did and the only choices I made daily were about how I was going to get another one or even just a half. At that point it was never to get high or feel a body rush I loved. It was to feel like me again and those rushes became painful the sicker I was. So it’s a choice to feel normal again…

    Reply · Like · 1 · Follow Post · April 8 at 7:01am
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    Adkins Amanda

    Your comment doesn’t even make since, ignorant fuck.

    Reply · Like · Follow Post · April 12 at 1:42am
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  Brian Bliss · Top Commenter

  As a person who has watched the show Intervention, it is obvious that the writer has not. Are they staged, possibly, that is always a question with Television Reality Shows. However, not all are at what I would consider rock bottom and not all end happily, I have seen several where the person walked away from the Intervention, others that left rehab and others that relapsed. So while you are up there pontificating the “truth” you might want to utilize a little truth.

  Reply · Like · 2 · Follow Post · March 13 at 2:00pm
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  Ryan Quinn

  I was a heroin addict for 10 years off and on and this article is fairly true but I do believe that the addict has to want to change and make a strong effort to change but it is very hard if you have no one left who will support you and love you so if you are struggling with a loved one that honestly wants to quit then don’t give up on them they need you. My family never gave up on me and now I have been sober over a year!

  Reply · Like · Follow Post · 16 hours ago
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  Carrie Ferguson · Program Manager at Junior Achievement of Southeast Texas

  I agree with all these are myths, for the most part. My daughter uses and is 17, we tried to put her in a rehab and it appeared she’s not addicted enough. But she refuses IOP. I think she won’t change until something drastic happens, I never want to see her hit rock bottom but feel that’s what it might take.

  Reply · Like · Follow Post · 13 hours ago
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  Danny Gunderson · FVTC

  The way detoxing feels is impossible to completely describe, imagine losing someone you love, either death or a bad break up, now imagine that same feeling without a specific cause and mix it with the worst flu you have ever had. What would you do to make that feeling go away? Almost anything if your human.

  Reply · Like · Follow Post · May 6 at 6:07pm
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  Janet Sosinski · Bucks County Community College

  Also the Doctors that just keep renewing pain killers to people way to long and they become addicted to them !!!!! These myths are all true !! They are exactly what you hear non addicts say about addicts !!

  Reply · Like · Follow Post · 17 hours ago
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  Mersadies Arrowsmith · Independent Business Owner; CE at Cleaning Business

  I myself have been an addict for 2 years.the herion constantly makes me depressed and I can’t take it anymore. .I go into rehab Tuesday and I can’t wait to live the solar life!!

  Reply · Like · Follow Post · 14 hours ago
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  Stephen Groppe · Top Commenter · Lamar Consolidated High School

  I’ll be honest i smoke weed everyday when i get off work..and while i am at work i won’t be high be i feel like i must have a certain amount of THC in my system to work.. but when i run out of weed i run out until i can get more.. where does that leave me?

  Reply · Like · Follow Post · Yesterday at 4:21am
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  Joseph Roxberry · Top Commenter · Pizza Cook at Mercyhurst University

  To many it does not seem that important but tobacco is the single most addictive drug out there, with the easiest access. I smoked a pack a day for 13 years and hated every second of it. The worst part? Unlike most drugs or alcohol, there are no support group, no therapy, and when you try to explain your addiction people look at you like your crazy. I may be among the lucky few to have quit but for most people I know there isn’t much of an option. Thankfully the prices of cigarettes have gone up so much it is now almost more affordable to try E-cigs, the patch, or nicotene gum. Sadly those only mitigate side effects and don’t stop the addiction to nicotene.

  Reply · Like · Follow Post · April 21 at 1:08pm
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  John E Lotus · Top Commenter · Hard Knox

  being an addict is a choice period.

  Reply · Like · 1 · Follow Post · March 12 at 5:22am

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    John Randall · Follow · Top Commenter · Instructor / Pacesetter at Gore Mountain Ski Area

    at first yes it is your absolutely correct but its the fact that once you continue to do it some people can just stop and some dont have the ability to, very similar to the way cigarettes work. and heroin is incredibly addictive I would like to see many people take it for a 4-5 month stint and not become addicted I guarantee 75% would be addicted and not be able to modulate the amount that they are using. Most people dont catch a glimpse of recovered addicts because they dont look any different you are all thinking of people in active addiction that havent made the decision to stop yet. That’s where the connotation of an ADDICT come from

    Reply · Like · 3 · March 13 at 8:05am
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    Jen Howard · Sales Associate at 7-Eleven

    It’s a choice the first time you use and every time there after until that morning you wake up dope sick and there you are an addict.
    As some one who shot dilaudid for almost a year, and have been clean eight months, I can tell you one thing. There is nothing glamorous about an addicts lifestyle. Withdrawals, misses, abscesses, cotton fever, lying, stealing, using, panhandling, prostitution (yes seen both males and females do it), very little if any food and drink, limited shelter if any, and I can just keep going on and on. No one wants to live like that, if beating addiction was easy everyone would do it. It’s not a choice, you’re just stuck doing the same viscous cycle over and over. Maybe you could try to understand before you judge.

    Reply · Like · 7 · April 4 at 5:57am
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    Amanda Holley · Managment at Waffle House

    It is most deff not a choice. Maybe the first few times but after your actually addicted then its way different than jist a choice.. how come this isnt on the list of untrue things sober people think about addicts??

    Reply · Like · 2 · April 7 at 12:55pm

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  Anthem Black · Follow · Fuel bar at Barry’s Boot Camp

  The myth regarding “rock bottom” contradicts itself… yes every addict must hit their own personal “rock bottom” and personal consequences do effect the addicts drive to quit. Punishment or incarceration actually mandates treatments and most government mandated drug related “punishments” are there stop unwanted behavior like crimes committed against self and other people.Unfortunately, every addict is different and needs to want to stop and so it takes their personal experience and their desire to get back to the better life… I feel like this article wants to have the right idea, but is speaking from an all too personal view and so just misses the mark

  Reply · Like · Follow Post · April 15 at 9:09am
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  Eric Beekman · Southern Oregon University

  Umm, in no way are you totally cut off from drugs in jail, or prison. I come from a family where nearly all of us where at one time, or are currently addicts. Not a single one quit till they didn’t want too do the drug any more. I don’t mean don’t want too deal with the crappy life that society makes you live, if your on drugs, or don’t want too deal with the jail, probation, life, or even the crappy people you end up with, or even homelessness or starving. I’m talking about honestly not wanting too do the drug anymore. Like as in the high isn’t something you want in your life. Then and only then does help… well help.

  Reply · Like · Follow Post · April 13 at 6:56pm
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  Hal Anding · Follow · Humboldt State University

  Whole article reminds me of a joke…An alcoholic wakes up on the beach alone one morning, apparently after quite a bender. He dusts himself off and begins to stumble down the beach. He trips on a lamp half buried in the sand. Dusts it off, and a genie pops out.Thank you for rubbing my lamp, you get two wishes.
  The drunk replies don’t I get three?
  Fuck you, no. You’re a drunk and I make the rules, says the genie.
  OK, well then, for my first wish I’ll have a bottomless bottle of Jack Daniels.
  Poof!
  It appears at the drunks feet. He unscrew the cap, sniffs the bottle gingerly.
  Smells alright, so he takes a sip. It’s the best October of Jack he’s ever had!
  He holds it out at arms length and it quietly fills itself up. So he pours it out for a few seconds, then rights it. And it fills right up again.
  I’ll be damned!, he slurs.
  And for your second wish, master,..anything in the world?, the genie asks, clearly dismayed at the man before him.
  “I’ll take another one of these!”

  Reply · Like · Follow Post · April 10 at 2:17am

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    Hal Anding · Follow · Humboldt State University

    *October, bottle

    Reply · Like · April 10 at 2:19am
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  Nicholas Roberts · Follow · Senior Machinist at Smith&Nephew

  I think the writer really shaped the argument wrong, “sober” is a term reserved for those in recovery. Addict doesn’t mean using either.
  Good lord anyone who’s been through this knows that real addicts won’t listen if someone ” talks to them” what a joke, it took consequences my enablers couldn’t buy me out of. And those tv shows didn’t change shit except how many douche bag wanna be healers are getting paid $2000 to ” intervene” most of whom are all too aware how little success their likely to have.

  Reply · Like · Follow Post · April 10 at 1:11pm
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  Ariana McGuire · Top Commenter · Fort Zumwalt North High School

  This article gives me more reasons to hate people. I can’t believe people actually assume they know anything about this stuff especially if they don’t have a PhD in somthing even relavant.

  Reply · Like · Follow Post · April 12 at 4:59am
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  Brett Fowler · Top Commenter · Surgical Technologist at Novant Health Forsyth Medical Center

  Marijuana is hard to quit

  Reply · Like · Follow Post · April 8 at 1:19pm

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    Luke Roy · Works at Lakewoods Chrysler

    Lol, I hope your being sarcastic.

    Reply · Like · 15 hours ago

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