Addiction recovery is a continuous effort, one that can take years to get through. The urge to use can persist long after you’ve made the conscious decision to stop using, and indeed, you’ll have to rely on your own willpower and on the support and love of those around you to avoid a relapse – and get back on the horse if a relapse does happen.
Yet despite all the helpful information out there on addiction and addiction recovery, and despite the efforts made to continuously fund and share research showing the benefits of recovery programs like sober living, group support and positive outreach, a lot of stigma and shame culture continues to hinder, slow and thwart the recovery of many Americans struggling with addiction.
Falsehoods must be called out and debunked, especially when they harm others. Addiction is a grave issue especially in the United States, where an opioid crisis continues to take lives. And despite the rising death tolls and annual statistics showing staggering loss of life, drug treatment is unaffordable to most and continues to be a low-priority issue for policymakers, while the stigma and confusion around what drug addiction really is and how it works continues to go unchecked.
Addiction is a problem, but addicts are not. There are dozens of ways to fix addiction and improve the quality of life for every single American, and countless ideas for effective programs – but the government isn’t putting the resources into developing such programs because people at large don’t seem to be interested in them. Here are the myths that continue to keep America asleep on the dangers of addiction.
Addiction Is a Moral Failing
There is still a pervasive belief in America that addiction is caused by bad choices, and is entirely a matter of personal responsibility – meaning those who struggle with addiction are simply misguided, morally corrupt, or carry some other form of defectiveness.
This is simply untrue, and provably false. Morality and addiction have nothing to do with one another – taking drugs does not make you a bad person, and drugs are neither good nor evil, being a category of inanimate objects. Those who believe that addiction is simply caused by bad choices and that drug overdoses “weed out” the “evil” in society are deliberately turning a blind eye to the painful facts that surround addiction, sometimes going so far as to deny the validity of certain addictions in order to bolster a narrative.
Addiction can occur in anyone’s life, and is caused mostly by a mixture of genetic predisposition, circumstance and misfortune. One terrible loss can lead to a cascade of anxieties and hardships, leading to coping mechanisms and a vicious cycle. In other cases, an accident causing chronic pain could be the first step to an unexpected opioid addiction.
All Addicts Are Criminals
Being addicted to drugs is not a criminal act, per se. Many of society’s most common addictions – alcoholism, prescription medication abuse, nicotine addiction – are entirely legal. If the addiction comes from illicit drugs, then there may be cause for an arrest and forced treatment if an incident occurs due to the addiction.
While illicit drugs continue to be a problem and a danger, much of their danger comes from their illegal status. Cocaine, methamphetamine and heroin are often cut and mixed with dangerous additives, filler substances and prepared through dubious cooking methods. Overdoses happen not just due to growing tolerance, but due to the lack of real quality control.
Research has shown that legalizing and controlling the distribution of addictive substances, while diverting the funds used to incarcerate addicts and instead rehabilitate them into the workforce is far more effective than locking people up. Many of those who struggle with addiction relapse because they can’t find a way to belong in society even after getting clean. They struggle to reconnect with family or find work, while dealing with the stress of sobriety after months or years of addiction.
To make matters worse, many of America’s addicted inmates are struggling with mental illness, to the point where more of the mentally-ill are imprisoned than hospitalized. This is not an effective way to deal with two of society’s greatest issues – instead, it’s a waste of resources.
Addiction Is Just a Choice
No one wants to be controlled by a substance, entirely incapable of living a happy life. Instead, people want to be loved, they want to have fun, they want to matter in the lives of others, and belong. Addiction isn’t about choices – while it’s true that most people aren’t forced to take drugs, they don’t have the option to simply stop using, either, and the circumstances that surround most cases of addiction are far more complicated than making a sound, rational decision within the vacuum of a comfortable life.
Anyone with a hope at a fulfilling life will fight their addiction with everything they have, until the day they die. Addiction isn’t a chosen path, it’s a trap that grows the amount of people it ensnares through misinformation, stigma, and a lack of widespread treatment.
Addiction Is Not Treatable
Any type of addiction can be broken, even if individual cases end in tragedy. Regardless of what drug a person is hooked on, drug recovery treatments today are versatile and sophisticated enough to help a person regardless of what they’re on. It’s not a question of if treatment can work – it’s simply a question of if treatment can work in time.
The danger with drugs is that too much of them at once will cause an overdose, and death. As an addict falls further down the rabbit hole, their body will crave increasing amounts of a drug or drug combination to get high – that’s the consequence of tolerance. At some point, it becomes too much.
Until then, there’s hope. Drug recovery treatment exists for alcoholics, smokers and those who abuse prescription medication due to chronic pain, just as it exists for those struggling to quit heroin, cocaine or meth. It’s only too late when the patient themselves gives up hope, and until then, a shot at a healthy life is never unrealistic.
The only way to solve addiction as a society is through policy – but on an individual level, recognizing that your situation isn’t hopeless if you’re still alive and breathing means you can take the steps today to ensure you have a better tomorrow.