Drug addiction

I recently posted a little about my story of recovery. There is a lot I left out for obvious reasons but there is a lot more information out there that is so important for people to have. I know people tend to look at addiction and alcoholism like they are something that is just a matter of will power but its not. It really truly is a disease. And its a disease that like cancer or diabetes needs treatment.

Its hard when you are in the midst of your addiction to think about going into a inpatient drug treatment center. Its harder than a non-addicted person might realize. Its not just a matter of finding a drug addiction referral service, its also a matter of picking up the phone and forcing yourself to do it. In that action, you are acknowledging that there is a problem and that is so difficult and scary to do.

When someone is considering long term addiction treatment, they are considering putting their life on hold in order to save it. It also usually means that people in their lives will find out and this is where the fear comes in.

For me, I figured no one knew I was using except the people I was using with. I thought I was that good at hiding it and that good at explaining things away. Later, I found out how wrong I was of course, but while I was in it, I truly believed I had everyone fooled. Most addicts are in this mindset, at least the ones I have known. They figure they are masters at hiding it and no one actually knows but in reality, usually, people do know. Maybe there hasn’t been a confrontation yet but the knowledge and worry is still present.

As I said before, treatment centers are a wonderful thing for an addict. They introduce stability and consistency with accountability and recovery added. The one problem with recovery programs of any type though is that if the person is not ready, they do no good. A person has to want to recover and get out of their addiction. Until that desire is there, no one can truly help them, as sad as that statement is.