badgerden

I heard this on Good Morning America a week or so ago, and it had a big affect on my thinking and perseption of addiction. The discussion was of a celebritie who had slipped in her addiction. Robin Roberts stated something along the lines of " no one blames me or criticizes me if I have a cancer relapse, addictions should be no different". No those are not her exact words but the content is the same.

I read here all the time and I am guilty of it myself. Looking upon ourselves as failures, or weak if we relapse into our addiction. No it is not something to be shouted from the rooftops over, but we do not need to be ashamed nor embarrassed. Addiction is a disease as deadly as cancer if not stopped, treated. Can destroy families and lives as thoroughly as Alzheimers.

Remember this if you have a relapse, all you have to do (easier said than done, I know) is square your shoulders face forward, don't look back at your mistakes, that will just make you lose your sight of the correct path you want to take, start walking. Come here to SR, go to AA, find a retreat somewhere, what ever YOU need to do find your peace and respect for yourself. Crawling into the cave of pity and self loathing does nothing except make your addiction stronger. You may slip, once, twice, twenty times, so what, you keep fighting you keep winning, crawl into the cave, well you can guess the end of that story.

Keep fighting my friends, it will be worth it.

Will stop babbling now.

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Snowydelrico

Well said.

VigilanceNow

Great post! I've come to accept that the people who stigmatize addiction and relapse just have a very poor understanding of addiction itself. Those are typically the people who see it as a lack of willpower/bad decision-making/lack of self-control/deviation from discipline. It is so much more complex than that, and unless you've gone through it, you can't possibly know what it's like. I've tried to explain it to people who have never struggled with alcoholism and it simply an impossible task. I either get resistance that it is a disease at all, or just the sympathetic nod with no real empathy or understanding.

It's good to know that there are people out there who are crusading for this awareness. The stigma that condemns addiction and addiction relapse is often the very thing that throws people spiraling into the depths and refusing to get help for fear of judgment/persecution. If more people in recovery spoke out in triumph of their accomplishment, maybe more people would feel comfortable admitting their problem and seeking treatment.

badgerden

Those are typically the people who see it as a lack of willpower/bad decision-making/lack of self-control/deviation from discipline. This was me before wine took its hold. I worked in a medical office and addicts would come in and I was so flip with the, why don't they just stop, mentality. Don't buy the wine, cigarettes, opioids, just stop. Easy as that. Sadly I know better now and am deeply contrite about how I probably acted or spoke to those that came for help.

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