The picture you see here contains messages we received yesterday; is this really how the world views an addict? I’m sure you’ve all seen the media and negative comments that were made right after Philip Seymour Hoffman died from a drug overdose. He was called a “Junkie Dad” and so many other unfortunate names which yet again stirred up another controversial debate about the disease of addiction. I personally was really affected when I read this messages yesterday, because yes I was a bad drug addict, but that didn’t make me a bad person.
How The World Views An Addict
Just because us addicts and alcoholics made a choice to pick up that first drug or drink doesn’t mean that we can be labeled as junkies or that we deserve to die! We were born with the disease of addiction, and sooner or later we began to lose the power of choice over our drugs and alcohol. Using and drinking became more of a necessity, rather than a choice. So, when I receive messages such as this, not only does it make my blood boil, but it fuels my fire to continue to break the stigma of addiction and let it be known that addicts are NOT bad people, we just made some bad decisions.
An Addict Is Just Another Human Being, Just Like You
A few months back, we posted an article about how addiction doesn’t make you a scumbag, and after these messages yesterday, I began plotting for this article. It’s just so unfortunate that people view an addict this way, not understanding the severity of the disease and the possible outcomes that can happen; such as death. You see on the news everyday that another addict has died due to a drug overdose, but yet they just turn their heads. There’s not enough people speaking up about this major epidemic; instead there’s people like this who just bash addicts and think of addiction as some moral dilemma. This giant stigma that is held against addiction and the addict is probably another reason why addicts don’t want to get help for themselves; they may be embarrassed of people knowing what they are.
Help For The Addict, It’s There
We all deserve a second chance at life, and that means getting help and bettering ourselves. Just because we suffer from a disease doesn’t mean we need to let it win. There is help, and bettering your life should be rewarded, NOT frowned upon. It’s ignorant people like the one who sent that message that are letting our fellow addicts lose to their addiction. Yes, we may have chose to try the drug, but we didn’t choose to become addicts. We all had life goals that got put on hold because our disease took over; but by getting help, we’re able to get our lives back on track and achieve our goals. If you’re struggling, call for help today at (866) 323-6590. Excuse my language, but screw anyone who thinks of us as bad people; we’re worth the help and we are worth the world!
