Nagivating through Social Media is a lot like dating. If you’re like me (40s, happily single, yet actively out there), you don’t mind venturing into new territory, but have zero patience for bullshit.
So much of what’s out here on the information super highway is coated in a grimy, finger-smudged film of judgment, ignorance and fame-whore-ish-ness; one hand waving opinionated penalty flags, while the other cradles their massively Godzilla-sized balls (born only from existing within the four walls of their 25×25 pixel avatar). Ah, the armour of anonymity.
With so many charmers in cyberspace, it’s all we can do to stay afloat and keep a positive outlook while we ride the choppy waves of Facebook and Twitter. But stay,we do – and it’s because of people like Andrew Slack.
Confession: I’ve never even heard of this dude until a friend posted his words on her Facebook page today. Turns out, he’s one of the good ones. Andrew Slack is co-founder and executive director of HP Alliance, a non-profit organization committed to educating and mobilizing young peeps across the U.S. towards issues of literacy, equality and human rights. And like countless others worldwide – his life, heart and soul are directly impacted by the unmerciful disease of addiction.
When I heard the news of 31 year-old Glee actor Cory Monteith’s death, my heart plummeted into familiar darkness; surrounded by quicksand of hopelessness and despair. Each grainy gravity pull, sucking me under after yet another discovery of human fatality caused by this frightening epidemic.
As I continue to fight my own drug addictions in recovery, my thoughts were all over the map.
Holy shit. So young. He was just in treatment. That could easily be me. Motherfucking FUCK. No.
Like a true recovering narcissist and wanna be ex-co-dependent, I can easily hover in survivor’s guilt – reaching into my own relapse history.
Why him and not me? Why the hell am I still here and not Cory?
And once past the personal connection to such tragic news (of someone whom I’ve never met, but through his work, feel like I have), I land on the vast population of fellow social media peeps. There’s a overwhelmingly loving and empathetic vibe regarding Cory’s overdose, which connects us all in a strange and real way.
But as much love and respect that exists around this tragedy, there is a powerful misunderstanding of what addiction is. One of the most common phrases being, “…but he didn’t even look like a drug addict!”
I’ve kept my own opinions close to the vest, because really, who am I? A fucking 80s coke whore boozer, ex-stripper, blogging narcissist with self-esteem and family dysfunction issues in the bag. Who’d wanna know my take? Turns out, maybe a couple of you reading this now. Thanks to Andrew, my thoughts mirror his own – and I couldn’t say it better myself.
Thank you for reading. Thank you for sharing. Let’s keep educating and loving.
The following is written by Andrew Slack – his original post can be found here.
Andrew Slack, Executive Director of HP Alliance discusses some of his thoughts and feelings on the tragic loss of [Glee actor] Cory Monteith:
“So. Cory died from a disease he actively had for the last two decades: the mental illness that is drug addiction. I had a strong feeling that this was the cause of death given his long term struggle with this. The disease of drug addiction happens to be one that has directly effected people in my life who I love the most – and therefore it has effected me. Our culture still views the disease as a moral illness when in fact it is a mental one.
Our culture has a very immature attitude in dealing with complex problems and drug addiction is a very, very complex problem.
Like most mental illness, it is hard for the culture at large to accept it as outside of the person’s control the way we accept Type 1 diabetes as outside of a child’s control. And it is true, that unlike Type 1 diabetes, addicts have some degree of agency. There is hope that they can get out of the disease based on decisions that they ultimately make. Cory made decisions over the course of two decades that showed he was a fighter. Even in March, he voluntarily checked in to rehab. This did not guarantee that he would survive the disease.
And the small window of reality that there was a chance that that person could have survived if only they had done something different. Or the notion that drugs are done by ‘the bad people.’ I want to say this: it is understandable that our culture feels this way. Human blame is an instant reaction to the human condition of suffering. But our culture’s attitude that drug addiction is somehow a moral failing of an individual is more dangerous than drug addiction itself. Drug addiction is a disease that needs serious treatment. But so does our culture’s response to drug addiction, to mental illness in general, and to all disease.
It hits on an even larger issue: the sociology of birth and death. We live in a culture where death is so feared that we would rather keep people miserable, hooked up on to machines in order to preserve the ‘sanctity of life’ rather than the ‘dignity of life.’ The technocratic Muggle Minded culture views death as a defeat. And therefore, any one who dies as having lost. Voldemort felt this way about his mother. Most of us feel this way toward death, on some level and it’s encouraged by our culture at large.
This issue gets magnified when someone is actively injecting poison into their body that will make them die or at the very least cower away from the reality of their feelings.
So let me say this. I only knew Cory through his acting on Glee. I didn’t know him the way other Gleeks know him and I certainly don’t know him the way his friends and family know him. But I still can say this: he was not a loser. He was a winner. And he survived under the condition of a disease that one does not receive accolades or awards for surviving. It is very difficult for any one to understand what an addict goes through – including the addict.
This also hits on other issues around how we allow for grief and mourning and making space for it even when the way we knew that person was through the boundary of a screen. But my hope is that we can have a larger discussion around addiction as well.
And I sincerely hope that if any ignorant and sociologically sick individuals are putting any thing up on the Internet that Cory is to blame for his own death, etc – that the Glee community can stand by and celebrate his strength. In the words of Jonathan Larson, ‘To people living with, living with, living with…not dying from disease.’ And even when we die from disease – and all of us will die, to not view that as somehow ‘not alive’ – but to change our paradigm as to how this works.
This is immensely complicated and difficult. But we must remove blame from those who suffer from mental illness while at the same time allowing them space to find their own agency in the midst of their recovery.
Cory died. His spirit lives. Through the power of music and the power of performance and story – we can tell a different story about addiction and disease than the dominant story we hear in our culture’s muggle minded paradigm. One that celebrates rather than condemns. That loves rather than fears. That empathizes rather than pities.
I’m going to say that last one again: ‘That empathizes rather than pities.’ Please think on that. So many of us would rather pity than empathize. Fix pain rather than be with it.
So much more to say. Including the fact that our entire culture has the mindset of that as an addict and all of us need spiritual recovery from the depletion that we have suffered from.
I cried when my suspicions were confirmed that Cory died from this disease and it hit a very personal chord. This is very, very, very sad. Beyond any thing I can really say in an attempt at eloquent words. The loss is real, palpable, and truly tragic beyond measure.”
* * *
Your thoughts?
*UPDATE 8/7/13: Based on the comments below, a follow-up to this post has been written: At the end of the day, who’s really full of it? Please read and share. Comments (from any side of the fence) are always welcome.
Christine Macdonald 
With each passing year of my sobriety my perspective on active addicts continues to transform itself. Early in my recovery i would get all freaked out and heavy hearted when someone OD’d or struggled very publicly (Layne Staley, Kurt Cobain for example lead heartbreaking lives before the Hell-Hound of Heroin finally got ’em) and still died tragically in the end.
Later on my attitude turned to a version of”better them then me”. Yet that seemed too cold and detached.
The one thing that has changed in me today is I am no longer EVER surprised by it. I happens and it is a part of life these days.
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I agree – not surprising. Still, very heartbreaking. Cory is just one of COUNTLESS people who die from this disease. My heart is with all their loved ones.
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WHAT A COMPLETE LOAD OF CRAP!!! If you don’t want to die, don’t make the choice to put drugs into your body. The entire fucking world knows this – young and old. This is not new news. ATTENTION: Don’t do drugs, it could kill you! ONLY AN IDIOT WOULD ATTEMPT TO ARGUE OTHERWISE. It’s not mental, it’s not a disease, and NO SHIT! taking drugs could alter your entire chemical makeup in your body, making your body crave more, rendering your ability to quit more difficult. Again, this is nothing the entire world’s population doesn’t already know. It all boils down to each individual making the choice to never take drugs to begin with. Just don’t do it. You are the only one to blame if you die from taking drugs. Own up to it & quit trying to pass the blame. You’re not a victim. The idiots that attempt to pass the blame are the same people who make it necessary to put all the unnecessary warning labels on everything ie:
Warning: coffee is hot
Warning: don’t hold the wrong end of a chainsaw
Warning: don’t eat the box that the pizza comes in
Warning: knives are sharp
Warning: don’t wash dishes in the urinal
Warning: don’t iron shirt while wearing it
If you’re that fucking dumb…
Don’t do drugs!
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How do you really feel? Oh, Load of Crap. I appreciate your taking the time to read and comment, really I do. I also can see where you’d think that.
If only minds like yours could be open just a little bit. You could see how uninformed and ignorant your thinking is.
I’d love you to read David Sheff’s CLEAN http://www.npr.org/2013/03/30/175485876/david-sheff-on-addiction-prevention-treatment-and-staying-clean – and Kristen Johnston’s GUTS http://www.gutsthebook.com/home.html – but sadly, something tells me you won’t.
I only hope you don’t have anyone in your life that is effected by the disease of addiction. Then again, maybe you do, and this is how you choose to “deal” with it.
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Wow, I really appreciate his article. I have never thought about drug addiction in that way before…that the afflicted person is actually a warrior that valiantly lives and deals with his/her disease. How many times have I admired people who struggle with physical diseases but look at drug addicts as having a weakness in character…I have always had deep empathy, but not admiration of their daily struggles.
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Thanks Lina – It really is a brain disease at the end of the day. And something as “simple” as going to the ER for a fall, or dentist for surgery, or being prescribed ANY kind of pain or anxiety medicine can trigger our brains. Hell, even a sip of champagne (for some) will do the trick,and the disease takes OVER! Every person is different.
I can see where some people will think it’s just a “choice”, but people don’t choose to lose their homes, family, freedom, careers, EVERYTHING – just for their next high. They are sick – their brain has taken over and they need help.
Once in recovery – it’s a daily struggle (some days are easier than others) to CHOOSE to stay clean. But our diseased brains are still wired to leap right back into addiction when we are triggered. Which is why it’s crucial to keep ourselves in some type of treatment. But triggers happen, and when they do, our diseased brain takes OVER and all we can think of is getting high.
Ther’s no blame game here – we just need to keep fighting and know we can win, but it takes a huge amount of recovery and strength.
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Loadofcrap, really, that’s what you believe? Maybe you might want to educate yourself on the sick and suffering addict’s that DO NOT have a choice. Your ignorance is overwhelming to me, I have lost many friends and family to this DISEASE. I do appreciate you sharing your feelings I only wish the many people like yourself would read the book Clean by David Sheff and the real life horror of Guts by Kristen Johnston.
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Thanks for reading and commenting Patrice. I’m actually happy to read LoadOfCrap’s comment because it illustrates just how many people feel about this issue.
“Drugs are bad. Don’t take them!” (why didn’t I think of that!?)
By that same logic, you can say the same about the obesity epidemic in the US (which is at RECORD highs, especially in children): “Too much food, especially processed, fast food, and sugary drinks are bad and will make you obese” Don’t eat them!”
It’s like telling someone to stop crying – which is ABSURD. How about: “why are you crying? what can we do to help you??
The drugs and food (or shopping, Internet, porn, sex, ANY addiction) is rarely about the addiction itself. There are many layers of why an addict brain switches “on” and spins out of control.
To simply say: “Just stop”. Is a blatent show of ignorance.
People need to be educated, and hopefully we can all understand one another a little more with kindness and compassion, even if we end up on the other side of the issue.
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What bothers me about LadOfCrap’s comment is the lack of rigorous honesty
If LC really believed what’s posted, it wouldn’t have to be done anonymously
What is LC hiding from?
Sometimes good people make bad choices
Those choices lead to necessities, either perceived or real
Some of us escape those original choices
That may seem easy to LC
But the reality is simple doesn’t mean easy
Just because we are clean or sober today doesn’t mean we’re recovered
So, LoadOfCrap, GYHOOYAT!
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Thanks for weighing in Ivan. My guess is that there’s someone in his/her life that they are fed up with (EASY to be w/ addicts – we can be real assholes). And they are frustrated and honestly don’t understand…
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I wonder what would happen if Load of Crap said that about Breast cancer? Alzheimers? Parkinsons? “Just don’t get cancer, duh!”
Addiction is a disease, the CDC has been saying it for FORTY years.
As for the belief that addiction is a choice, I know it’s not. I’ll tell you that I had a horrific migraine one day. The ER gave me a shot of Morphine. From that instant, I was hooked, despite doing everything humanly possible NOT to be.
NOBODY WANTS TO BE A DRUG ADDICT.
I lost years of my life.
While friends were getting married, I was lost, alone.
I lost the chance to give birth naturally.
I lost jobs.
I lost friends.
I lost a wonderful man I was deeply in love with.
I lost all my money.
I lost my self-esteem.
I’m the strongest person I know.
Which is how I know that everything Load of Crap wrote is, in fact, a load of crap.
That beautiful, talented boy DID NOT WANT to be an addict. He fought hard. He lost.
Kristen Johnston
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Thank you for this Kjo.
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Yes, thank you Kristen. Being an addict is no more of a choice than being gay or lesbian … or straight, for that matter.
I just typed out a long response about how addiction has affected me and my immediate family, and the losses through death it has caused, but I got too choked up and don’t feel like this LoadofCrap is even worth the grief he is causing me to feel.
Sorry C.
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What is the cure for drug addiction?
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Thanks for coming back, LoadOfCrap (Chan). Here’s a little info from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health (formerly known as the National Household Survey on Drug Abuse), which is an annual survey of Americans age 12 and older conducted by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration:
Withdrawal. Medications offer help in suppressing withdrawal symptoms during detoxification. However, medically assisted detoxification is not in itself “treatment”—it is only the first step in the treatment process. Patients who go through medically assisted withdrawal but do not receive any further treatment show drug abuse patterns similar to those who were never treated.
Treatment. Medications can be used to help reestablish normal brain function and to prevent relapse and diminish cravings. Currently, we have medications for opioids (heroin, morphine), tobacco (nicotine), and alcohol addiction and are developing others for treating stimulant (cocaine, methamphetamine) and cannabis (marijuana) addiction. Most people with severe addiction problems, however, are polydrug users (users of more than one drug) and will require treatment for all of the substances that they abuse.
Opioids: Methadone, buprenorphine and, for some individuals, naltrexone are effective medications for the treatment of opiate addiction. Acting on the same targets in the brain as heroin and morphine, methadone and buprenorphine suppress withdrawal symptoms and relieve cravings. Naltrexone works by blocking the effects of heroin or other opioids at their receptor sites and should only be used in patients who have already been detoxified. Because of compliance issues, naltrexone is not as widely used as the other medications. All medications help patients disengage from drug seeking and related criminal behavior and become more receptive to behavioral treatments.
Tobacco: A variety of formulations of nicotine replacement therapies now exist—including the patch, spray, gum, and lozenges—that are available over the counter. In addition, two prescription medications have been FDA–approved for tobacco addiction: bupropion and varenicline. They have different mechanisms of action in the brain, but both help prevent relapse in people trying to quit. Each of the above medications is recommended for use in combination with behavioral treatments, including group and individual therapies, as well as telephone quitlines.
Alcohol: Three medications have been FDA–approved for treating alcohol dependence: naltrexone, acamprosate, and disulfiram. A fourth, topiramate, is showing encouraging results in clinical trials. Naltrexone blocks opioid receptors that are involved in the rewarding effects of drinking and in the craving for alcohol. It reduces relapse to heavy drinking and is highly effective in some but not all patients—this is likely related to genetic differences. Acamprosate is thought to reduce symptoms of protracted withdrawal, such as insomnia, anxiety, restlessness, and dysphoria (an unpleasant or uncomfortable emotional state, such as depression, anxiety, or irritability). It may be more effective in patients with severe dependence. Disulfiram interferes with the degradation of alcohol, resulting in the accumulation of acetaldehyde, which, in turn, produces a very unpleasant reaction that includes flushing, nausea, and palpitations if the patient drinks alcohol. Compliance can be a problem, but among patients who are highly motivated, disulfiram can be very effective.
Drug addiction is a complex illness characterized by intense and, at times, uncontrollable drug craving, along with compulsive drug seeking and use that persist even in the face of devastating consequences. While the path to drug addiction sometimes begins with the voluntary act of taking drugs, over time a person’s ability to choose not to do so becomes compromised, and seeking and consuming the drug becomes compulsive. This behavior results largely from the effects of prolonged drug exposure on brain functioning. Addiction is a brain disease that affects multiple brain circuits, including those involved in reward and motivation, learning and memory, and inhibitory control over behavior.
Because drug abuse and addiction have so many dimensions and disrupt so many aspects of an individual’s life, treatment is not simple. Effective treatment programs typically incorporate many components, each directed to a particular aspect of the illness and its consequences. Addiction treatment must help the individual stop using drugs, maintain a drug-free lifestyle, and achieve productive functioning in the family, at work, and in society.
Because addiction is typically a chronic disease, people cannot simply stop using drugs for a few days and be cured. Most patients require long-term or repeated episodes of care to achieve the ultimate goal of sustained abstinence and recovery of their lives.
~ Hope this helps!
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Close, but no.
Christine,
The medications prescribed to treat drug addiction are created specifically to counteract drug(s) currently in the users body (ie: morphine, tobacco, alcohol, cocaine etc.), none of which are psychiatric medications for treating mental illness. An entirely different set of medicines are prescribed for mental illness, therefore, technically unrelated. And in the majority of cases, the addict is able to kick the habit with therapy and life changes alone.
Also, you have yet to address/acknowledge the most important part of the equation, the origin of the problem, the introduction of the drug(s) to the users body. How did the drugs get there? Repeated falls onto a heroin filled syringe randomly laying around? The user being held down against their will, being injected with drugs without their consent? Telekinesis? No. The majority of drug users try and continue using drugs because they want(ed) to, in turn, becoming a slave to the drug(s). Many users refuse to admit/acknowledge that because that would make the user accountable. ~gasp~
To kjothesmartass.
Obviously you would say drug addiction is a disease otherwise you too would be held accountable. The fact is, morphine is a tolerance drug and an addiction to it is a result of continued usage. For you to claim you had zero control of yourself after one single use is just not true! You are not a zombie. Who administered your second use… and third… and fourth…and fifth… until you became a full-blown addict?
And what about the numerous ex-addicts who don’t think it’s a disease or disagree with you? Are you going to say that they really weren’t addicts if the were able to successfully kick the habit (by choice) on their own or with therapy?
Attempting to divert attention away from the topic at hand or to villainize LC by planting the idea in the readers mind that LC would downplay cancer, alzheimer’s, or parkinson’s is just stupid!
To quote kjothesmartass, “Oh my God.This is what the entire country thinks of addicts. They think we’re all silly, spineless, spoiled nimrods who don’t have the guts to face real life.”
You sure act like it.
@Ivan Toblog,
Yea, like “Ivan Toblog” is really your name.
@Patrice
We’re not talking about the few that DO NOT have a choice (ie: crack babies), we’re talking about the many. Pay attention.
Don’t do drugs!
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Like Meg says so beautifully in her comment (below), and I agree – it seems you’re not really interested in understanding addiction on a deper level. And your comments and opinions are so very appreciated! It really does illustrate how so many people think (believe) that addicts just “fall into the needle”.
It’s a BRAIN disease. Short of reading David Sheff’s book CLEAN to you personally, I don’t think there’s any more I can say to help wrap your mind around that.
As far as staying away from drugs in the first place – well, of course! If only life were that black and white.
As far as WHY anyone would take street drugs for the first time? There are many, many reasons people escape with drugs and alcohol. Escaping their own personal hell, pain, trauma from childhood. So they are willing to numb themselves with drugs – and not realizing that they are addicts, will soon fall into a black hole of more pain and misery. It’s a vicious cycle. I can’t speak for all, but I know from my own personal experience, the addicts I know (and myself) are not mentally stable people (but throuh recovery are able to be very healthy and balanced). Have I mentioned this is a BRAIN disease?
Have you ever gone to the dentist? Had surgery? A migraine? A number of life situations could cause any number of chemicals to enter our bodies. The problem is, some people are addicts, and some aren’t. The addicted are now part of the ugly cycle once chemicals are entered into their world and that’s where things get tricky.
Ever have a glass of wine on a dinner date? A beer at a football game? These are totally “Normal” things to do, but for someone with the disease of addiction – it’s a slippery slope. And addiction, in a way, is like having allergies – YOU DON’T REALIZE YOU HAVE IT UNTIL AFTER YOU TAKE IT.
Anyway, thanks again for taking the time to read and comment. It’s a healthy debate that needs more attention – because with every person who feels like a FAILURE because they CAN’T STOP – we risk a precious life.
PS: NO ONE is playing the “poor me”, “victim” card here. This is the hand we were dealt, and we choose to fight with everything we have – or not. We didn’t choose to have this disease, but we do take responsibility to face our shit, and try and live clean, or we don’t. Just like if you were told you had cancer – will you choose the recommended treatment (chemo, therapy, radiation etc), or not.
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So, I’ve gone back and forth about what to add here (if anything) and how to say it. All I have is my own perspective, so that’s what I’ll share.
I don’t want to assume or be too liberal in any speculations … Perhaps there’s been some great wounding in his past regarding addiction, or maybe there’s been no experience whatsoever to draw from, but it’s with the utmost respect that I tend to think that Chan doesn’t want to understand anymore about this. Based on his world view, he’s already got it all figured out.
Based on my life as an addict, living with an addicts, and an ongoing pursuit of health and healing, I think he’s missing so much understanding and insight, I also think he’s not really interested in understanding addiction or other’s struggling with it on a deeper level.
We can throw out stories, stats, and truths all we want, but until he’s willing to see the wolrd through someone else’s lens, it’s all going to be futile. And so maybe that;s not where our energies should be focused.
For those of us who’ve been to hell and back, lived to tell the tale and grown enough to come alongside and love others, we’ve been able to turn an ever present struggle and potential death sentence/curse into a blessing for others … That I would not change for anything. Would I do it again?
FUCK NO.
And I’ll continue going out of my way to help others avoid the same thing.
I work with addiction, trauma, mental illness, and a population who very few have the desire to come alongside due to social stigma and their marginalized status. It’s given me new eyes for how to see others, the world, and even myself … I’m sure Chan is far more that he’s allowed us to see and I’m grateful that he jumped in, but let’s keep making sure that we take care of eachother, love well, and keep healing so that those who “get it” continue to grow and one day outnumber those that don’t.
Christine, keep writing.
Kristen, keep talking.
It’s all we can do 🙂
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You are 100% correct. Time to spend energy where it’s better served. THANK YOU for this. You are a gem. xxoo
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For my brother it’s a choice. You ask him why he’s the way he is and he’ll say it’s because the police hanged him in 1979 causing brain damage, but while writing my memoir, The Troubles, I realized he was fucked up long, long before then.
My father always thought him moving us to Alaska five years earlier where drugs were easy to score and the schools didn’t care was to blame. My mother thought it was heredity – both my mother and aunt suffered from severe depression and were on constant medication.
The question is why does he continue to screw himself and everyone around him? It’s that he needs to be the center of attention, and his “addiction” is the quickest, surest way to do that. Whether it’s alcohol or drugs both legal and otherwise his excuse is that he’s a victim. Hell, he still thinks he got a raw deal when given three years probation for killing his fiance in a drunk-driving crash September 26, 1987.
Yes, there are many factors involved when it comes to addiction but what seems to be lacking in my brother’s case is any real commitment to getting better. I get that now.
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Thanks for reading this and providing your comment and story. You ask ” The question is why does he continue to screw himself and everyone around him?” – because he is sick. His brain is sick. He’s an addict. I’m sorry he doedsn’t want to get treatment. There are many that don’t and wind up in jail, or dead.
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The lady doth protest too much, methinks.
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I love you.
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Thanks, Christine. By the way, that’s in response to Load Of Crap, not Richard. Also, I don’t believe I’m a victim whatsoever. I know what I did, and I wish like hell I could go back and do things differently, but I can’t. It’s taken me a long time to forgive myself.
I hold NO ONE but myself responsible for my addiction.
But, as both Load of Crap & Richard’s brother have proven, some addicts are assholes, as are some sober people.
And if someone doesn’t have the balls to write derogatory, inflammatory nonsense under his OWN name, I have no interest.
Kristen Johnston
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OK, I think everyone has said just what I want to say however, I think loadofcrap needs to give his shit a name and pay attention to the facts that are clearly listed above. Please, Christine, continue to write, I so enjoy your writing! Kristen, please never stop writing or speaking out on addiction. Sharing yourself is saving so many and I believe will make some much needed changes.
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What a lovely comment, Patrice – THANK YOU!
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Christine
Good on you for your blog and your clear way of trying to describe your experience and how you are handling it. I think there is good evidence that sharing like this is helpful to many people, All the arguments about why people take drugs is pretty redundant when it comes to stopping or changing, The focus needs to be on the need to change and the way to change and the help needsed to stay chnaged,
The debate is also different in various parts of the world. The US has a uinque and somewhat peculiar mixture of public, non profit and private for profit treatment that too often distorts the debate. In England much of the treatment is public and community based and sometimes not quite enough residential or inpatient, So depending on where you are in the world the emphasis will be different We have new ways to prevent overdose and we now understand the risks of overdose much better. In peoples journey through addiction keeping them alive is the bottome line and we need to get better at in many ways, SO KEEP UP THE GREAT WORK, and worry about the nay sayers, they are not going to contribute much or change anything,
Deep respect
Michael Farrell
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“The focus needs to be on the need to change and the way to change and the help needed to stay chnaged” – This is perfect. Thank you. And thanks for taking the time to read and comment, Michael.
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A follow-up to this post has been written. Please read and feel free to chime in. MANY thanks to everyone – from both sides of the fence. https://poletosoul.me/2013/08/06/at-the-end-of-the-day-whos-really-full-of-it/comment-page-1/
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I understand the power of addiction. Even though mine is with tabacoo it is something that I struggle with. I have end stage emphysema and I get a lot of crap because I still smoke. I also suffer from major bouts of depression. People will tell me that it is a choice I am making and all I have to do is to make riright choice, it’s just in your mind. Yes it is all in my mind, but if mind control was that easy we would all be zombies following the command of someone.
As far as death is concerned its just a jumping off point. So when I pass, celebrate my moving onto new paths.
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