ADDICTIONS AND ADDICTS IN PERSPECTIVE
When you hear words like "addiction" and "addict", or happen to have access to media covering topics surrounding these words, what sort of thoughts, ideas, or images do they conjure up for you? When you think about addiction and the kind of role it plays in society today, or how prevalent an issue it has become, what kind of perspective do you have? What sort of person do you associate with being an addict? What kind of person do you suppose society, with a group paradigm, would call an addict, and how do you suppose they would approach such a person?
To answer these questions, and to gain a perspective on addiction and addicts, let us first attempt to define these two words as they stand by themselves:
addict: -n- a slave to a habit or vice, especially, but not limited to to drugs
addiction: a state of being in which one is as a slave to said habit or vice
Surprisingly, there are still today many stereotypes that exist in regards to what many people would define as what an addict or what an addiction should look like. Many people, more than we realize, still have certain images in our mind as to what an addict, an alcoholic, or an addiction looks like, based on some kind of seemingly nebulously established social standard. We envision the dirty old drunkard living under the bridge, or the drug-crazed "punk kid" creating violence and committing heinous, even unthinkable crimes in order to support their habit, or the desperate young girl on the street turning tricks. While these are very real possible, even likely examples, this limited imagery is what we are shown in the news and on popular media these days. It seems often that too many people neglect to look any farther than these immediately visible images. If their loved ones, or even themselves are not in situations that look like the ones they see as portrayals of addiction, then they often conclude they or their loved ones do not meet the criteria to be called addicts.
The truth of the matter is that addiction and addicts are everywhere. In every walk of life you are likely to find someone who is currently suffering with some form of addiction. There are many people out there even today as I write this who have homes, families, and jobs that live out their lives daily, appearing as if everything is fine, but in truth are very much as slaves to some habit or vice. They may believe themselves to be "in control", or at least have managed to deceive themselves, but in truth are in the throes of a seemingly helpless state.
To make matters worse, there is a certain social stigma attached to these words. All too often, when someone hears these words, they associate them with weakness, failure, or somehow demonize a person who has been so labeled. It is this very stigma that keeps many people out of the recovery they need. Many an active addict today stays deep in their suffering in order to avoid being labeled with a word so often associated with such negative connotations. Also worthy of noting is along with such stigma comes a sense of pride which makes it difficult to reach out for the kind of help they need, if they even know that such exists, provided they even allow themselves to seek it out.
There are some who would call addiction to drugs or alcohol an illness. In many ways, I tend to concur. There are physiological aspects that would fit this bill, though it is a fair to say that these generally occur as a result of addiction more than the addiction itself. There are also mental and psychological factors to consider, though these may be more of a cause of the addiction rather than the addiction itself being the illness. If, however, we were to look into matters of the spirit, there would be some who would view this type of affliction to be an illness of the spirit. If this is the case, then we would be remiss to instantly think of one who suffers in active addiction as a bad person, or as a weak person, or even as a failure of a person. It would be wiser to think of these as sick people, who need help. If we are to think of them as sick people rather than as bad people, then we, as human beings and children of our Lord and our God, are bound by all that is right and good to provide such help in any way we can.
To answer these questions, and to gain a perspective on addiction and addicts, let us first attempt to define these two words as they stand by themselves:
addict: -n- a slave to a habit or vice, especially, but not limited to to drugs
addiction: a state of being in which one is as a slave to said habit or vice
Surprisingly, there are still today many stereotypes that exist in regards to what many people would define as what an addict or what an addiction should look like. Many people, more than we realize, still have certain images in our mind as to what an addict, an alcoholic, or an addiction looks like, based on some kind of seemingly nebulously established social standard. We envision the dirty old drunkard living under the bridge, or the drug-crazed "punk kid" creating violence and committing heinous, even unthinkable crimes in order to support their habit, or the desperate young girl on the street turning tricks. While these are very real possible, even likely examples, this limited imagery is what we are shown in the news and on popular media these days. It seems often that too many people neglect to look any farther than these immediately visible images. If their loved ones, or even themselves are not in situations that look like the ones they see as portrayals of addiction, then they often conclude they or their loved ones do not meet the criteria to be called addicts.
The truth of the matter is that addiction and addicts are everywhere. In every walk of life you are likely to find someone who is currently suffering with some form of addiction. There are many people out there even today as I write this who have homes, families, and jobs that live out their lives daily, appearing as if everything is fine, but in truth are very much as slaves to some habit or vice. They may believe themselves to be "in control", or at least have managed to deceive themselves, but in truth are in the throes of a seemingly helpless state.
To make matters worse, there is a certain social stigma attached to these words. All too often, when someone hears these words, they associate them with weakness, failure, or somehow demonize a person who has been so labeled. It is this very stigma that keeps many people out of the recovery they need. Many an active addict today stays deep in their suffering in order to avoid being labeled with a word so often associated with such negative connotations. Also worthy of noting is along with such stigma comes a sense of pride which makes it difficult to reach out for the kind of help they need, if they even know that such exists, provided they even allow themselves to seek it out.
There are some who would call addiction to drugs or alcohol an illness. In many ways, I tend to concur. There are physiological aspects that would fit this bill, though it is a fair to say that these generally occur as a result of addiction more than the addiction itself. There are also mental and psychological factors to consider, though these may be more of a cause of the addiction rather than the addiction itself being the illness. If, however, we were to look into matters of the spirit, there would be some who would view this type of affliction to be an illness of the spirit. If this is the case, then we would be remiss to instantly think of one who suffers in active addiction as a bad person, or as a weak person, or even as a failure of a person. It would be wiser to think of these as sick people, who need help. If we are to think of them as sick people rather than as bad people, then we, as human beings and children of our Lord and our God, are bound by all that is right and good to provide such help in any way we can.
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