"1 in 4 people touched by addiction"

Old 03-18-2007, 07:27 PM
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"1 in 4 people touched by addiction"

that was the latest quote that the directors shared after the addiction show - it was a supplement to the 23 yr old heroin addict who's mom had her arrested - there was a scene with all these suburban mom's their support group was called *bridge to hope* - it was so true to the saying *there but for the grace of god go i* - they were saying that the addict is your mother, your sister, your neighbor in the culdesac - people have got to start talking about this without all the stigma - it's true - you know when you start talking about it (at least in my case) it amazes me who else has been touched by addiction - it's interesting to see how the families talk about it - some are sad, some are angry but most still provide unconditional love - i hope i can get to that point - not feel sorry for them just be there for them when they need me...

i guess this addiction series is a 14 part series - right now something called *a revolving door*is on - a 1 hour documentary about a 33 year old who is bipolar and an addict - it's sad - the life he could have vs. the life he's living - there is another one on after this called *montana meth* - about how methamphetamine has taken over montana - it's just such a f*&^ing waste you know - this addiction crap i mean...

in the *tv junky* show i just couldn't stop thinking about the lil boy who is just so confused - *why did you take the phone from my mommy?* why is mommy crying?* - it's just all so heartbreaking - i wonder if the kids ever understand - god it is just is so hard - one thing that keeps going through my head is when a dr. says it is definitely not a willingness to not change on teh addicts part - after using for a certain amount of time brain chemistry changes and in one installment about methadone a doctor says you may not ever get your brain chemistry right again - it certainly scares me - i wonder if the addicts are as scared as we are for them?

with love,
s
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Old 03-18-2007, 08:26 PM
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1 in 4 WOW I didn't realize there were that many. Would think with there being so many affected by addiction that the goverment would make more rehab centers for them. Guess some states do have them but around here it is hard to find one..Seems it would be cheaper to help them recover than to keep putting them in jail. When AD was in jail for those 2 months they didn't have any kind of program at all for the women the men do have AA meetings once a week...An I've seen stories on here of people waiting to get into rehab or not being able to afford it, so it seems to be a wide spread problem.
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Old 03-18-2007, 08:35 PM
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I guess... over 25 millions americian have addiction problems.
1 addict/akli affects 3-4 peaple ( I assume immediate family).
If it just stops there, it puts it around 1 out of 4 (300 millions).

I was one of those that didn't go through the court system.
Never the less there's help if I WanT IT. So I was willing to go to length to get it.
Nothing compaired to chasing the damn dealers and the drugs.
Only 10% of the energy that I use in chasing drugs into my recovery, it would work.
The key is ...I have to want it.
mmm..most people come out of a rehab and the only thing that
they could grasp is 90 meetings in 90 days. Nothing against rehab center.
It works if people work it or wanted it.

In a community of 35,000. There's an average of 4-6 NA/AA meetings per day combine.
I don't have an excuse. Even when i complain about not having gas money. The group
took money out of the basket and gave me gas momey....No more excusses for me.lol

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Old 03-18-2007, 09:08 PM
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Gee, I wonder how many more need to be affected by addiction before our society implements some real meaningful and supportive programs??!!! Instead of just band-aids to temporarily passify?
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Old 03-19-2007, 03:54 AM
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i'm an addict too and i can relate to what satit said.

i was able to go into one long term program for a while that was closed down while i was there for lack of funding, but i've gone to detox for a few days, a few different times at the local hospital and thats when i first was intoduced to the program.

like satit said, if the addict would put as much effort into finding help as he puts into walking sometimes into the worse neighborhoods possible looking for the dealers to buy drugs, then they could find help if they get to the point that they really want help. like said before me, the key to it is wanting the help bad enough.

true i believe that there is a need for more centers and funding for therm, but even if there were and addicts could be forced to go there, there is still no guarentee that it will work for a lot of addicts. they have to want it and they have to do it because they know that they need to.

its kind of hard just to walk into a treatment center, just because. a lot of addicts have to get to a place that they feel like they have no other choice, unfortunately seems like a lot of us, just won't try to quit cause the drugs tells us that there has got to be a way that we can use but with more control, so we keep trying until we've run out of ways to try it and run out of enabler who'll help to keep us afloat while we keep experimenting with the drugs. you don't see a lot of addict remaining clean knowing that their life is still in tact while using. most ones i've met, lost all first, i know that i did
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Old 03-19-2007, 04:57 AM
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Originally Posted by marteen View Post
Gee, I wonder how many more need to be affected by addiction before our society implements some real meaningful and supportive programs??!!! Instead of just band-aids to temporarily passify?
Amen, sister!!!
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Old 03-19-2007, 05:09 AM
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Thanks for this post. I waver [maybe I was in denial, maybe too detached, just fed up], but seeing the evidence, this poor man spent hours each day while I was at work getting loans[even on his old car], going to pawn shops, I think he even sold some of our CD's, along with writing numerous bad checks[some with my name on them], and using my credit card without permission. He managed all of these things, without my knowledge until a few weeks before his death. If as Satit said, he had spent one tenth of the energy getting well, he would have gotten the help. I don't understand the call of this drug, As much as they hate themselves, I think he liked the high.
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Old 03-19-2007, 06:23 AM
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But Satit... what made you WANT it, eh? Did you just get tired of being high? Was it not fun anymore? Did you finally hurt enough people? Or did you just wake up one day and say... Ok, fun's over. I'm not doing this any more?

What is this "magic key" to "wanting it"?

I apologize for coming on so strong, but I do not think this is a moral and behavioral issue. I think it is physical. I believe the addicts I know want to quit and have put more effort into quitting than most normies EVER have or will.

Today, we wait on intervention... by life, by a family member, by the courts... to help bring them a break from frantic cycle of using and get through to the real person. But with decent research, there can have something more than a passoff to a 3 day detox and week long "rehab".

I do not think they are just bad, selfish people who think getting high is more fun than saving a marriage or custody of a child or a home or a job. And that attitude gets in the way of decent funding for good research.

They are not bad people who need to get good... but sick people who need to get well.

We used to lock up depressed people... then someone developed Prozac. We can continue to lock up our addicts - 80% of prison populations are addicts. And pay for that "treatment", or perhaps support the idea that addicts are viable members of society who deserve the sort of medical solutions we have for other life threatening diseases.

When I think of 80% of our prisons being emptied and those folks becoming responsible members of society... it just boggles my mind. But addiction is not a pretty cause, with cute poster kids in wheelchairs. Addiction is ugly... on every level.

It will take big the money pharmacuetical companies finally figuring out that THEY can have a piece of the money that is now being spent on drugs... if they would just make the research a priority.

Ok... rant off.
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Old 03-19-2007, 08:03 AM
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personal bias

since coming to sr i've really tried to approach addiction with an open mind - when i first came here it was because my 17 yr old son was in an intensive outpatient program that was court ordered because of a dui - the program was incredibly helpful to me in particular - it helped my son as well but i do not honestly think he is/was an addict - my husband on the other hand has a problem with alcohol - it was never a problem until my son was in his iop and we decided we would not have alcohol in the house - no beer, wine, liquor, etc - not a problem for me but for my husband it was - he was drinking those little bottles of alcohol and lying about it - he was never alcohol dependant but lying about it was a serious problem - and then i gained custody of my two lil nephews because of my sisters addiction to crack - my nephews are 2 and 4 yrs old and in a month and a week my sister has never called to talk to them - we don't know if she is alive or dead because after filing a missing person report the police located a tape of her leaving a hotel with her boyfriend and closed the case - i think i've had the opportunity to experience *addiction* in just about every shape and form - does it make me an expert? - hardly - the more you learn the less you know...

i've experienced more anger in the last month than i have ever experienced in my life - i told my sister at one point last summer when she was staying here that if she and her boyfriend wanted to kill themselves that was one thing but i would NOT let anything happen to these kids - she has older boys who are now living with their dad's - a 17 year old who just went to jail in florida - and an 11 and 8 year old who are coming with my mom next weekend to visit their brothers - the lil guys dad is my sisters bf - i often wondered if they (sister and bf) just had enough of a spine to say no than we wouldn't be in this mess - my son didn't have a problem not drinking or smoking pot after he had to go to court and go through this program - my husband stopped with the little bottles - but not without some hard fought battles on both of our parts - and i ihave a feeling those battles will be ongoing but we will deal with them - my sisters issues baffle me - a true addict - it boggles my mind how drugs become more important than children - but that is why i am intrigued by this show addiction - i really want to try to understand - really...

there was a dr. who said that addiction is not about not having enough willpower to just say no - an addicts frontal lobe just doesn't have that capacity - if two people tried the same drug and experienced the same euphoria a normal person would think - hmm that was interesting and be done with it - an addict can't stop himself from doing the drug - and the more the addict uses the drug the more his brain chemistry is permanently altered - the explanation of replacement therapy in regards to opiates was intriguing to me - it really made sense when this dr. in maine explained it - he was leading a group of young people - he explained how your brain makes opiates to deal with pain etc. - when you use opiates your brain stops producing them on it's own - when you stop using drugs your body has no backup of opiates and when you've used for a long time it takes your body a really long time to start producing opiates again - that's why an addict relapses so often - not only did they sto p using and producing opiates there body is having to deal with no way make them feel better like a normal person and its tenfold - i still hvae a problem with why? - why an addict who has gone into recovery would go through it all over again but that's another post i suppose - for now it's beginning to make a little sense to me though...

i will try to suppress my anger at my sister for what shes done to these little guys - the anger subsides but then i'm only human so if i do talk to her i don't know what i'll say - but at least i've learned a bit about this - addiction i mean - still trying to understand and no where near ready t0 accept - but trying - for everyones sake...

love,
s
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Old 03-19-2007, 08:15 AM
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at first when I read this I thought oh my gosh, then the more I thought about it I thought sure why not. When will this disease be more recognized? If they want to stop the drugs in america why not start with reovery. If they would put more energy and funding into the recovery system stopping the drugs might be abit easier. oh darn do I sound like a polotician
and why couldn't I be number 5
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Old 03-19-2007, 08:18 AM
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Hi itiswhatitis: I'm emotionless again this morning - bad night with AD - I too can't understand Why Why Why - so much heart ache - people who love stats just love stats they don't seem to care about the problems do they - as Teke says "Prepare for the worst - Hope for the better"
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Old 03-19-2007, 09:34 AM
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prepare for the worst and hope for the better...

god that's a shi*^y way to live isn't it? - i guess sometimes it's better to just not think about it at all - and then deal with it as it comes - but in the back of your mind prepare for the worst and hope for the best...

godspeed,
s
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Old 03-19-2007, 10:18 AM
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Bigsis..you would ask.
A combination of everything.
A friend set me up.lol There I was telling her all the time that she needed
help and she had the problem. i didn't have a problem.lol
She'd just gotten out of treament and need a ride to some weird meeting
name AA. i just set in my car but got ask to go in and have some cofee.
Them crazy people threw the BB and me.lmaf I thought it was a joke.

Then she took me to another meeting. I wanted to throw up.
it wasn't from the alcohol. i only had a couple. It was from hearing
what people were sharing. All the damn crap i didn't want to deal with
and had sholve deep inside of me. To top it off, i wanted to run but my
legs became numb or fell asleep for some damn reason.

I basically destroyed my life in front of her eyes, wihtin 3 months.
Good job, nice house, nice car and all that crap.
I actully didn't have problems finding work..for some damn reason.
I slept in my car becuase home was a wreck and i was way out there.
It was a given that I lost everything on the outside. i did it on purpose.

I lost everything inside of me. Incomprehenceable demorlazation
as some would call it.

Just the pain, it never went away no matter how much drugs or
alcohol I use. The people in AA had what i wanted. They seem
happy and they seem to know my pain and had found a way out.
AA bascially love me unconditionally...them folks put up with me.
I though they were going to teach me how to drink like a gentalman.lol
No I didn't want to stop...i just hung around long enough
for AA to mess up my buzz.
It took me over 6 months for me to get my first 90 days.
I keep coming back no matter what...nothing made sense most of the time.
I just hung on to that.


I belive it was devine intervention or the grace of god.
Because i was really, really wack out. Just alot of events
that i can't really explain.

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