Drug Addiction: Disease? Choice? Choose Your Words Wisely

Drug addiction is a complex and serious issue. Arguing on Facebook about whether it's a choice or a disease is, frankly, pretty fucking stupid.


That post by a friend of several of my kids prompted this line of thinking tonight.



I will say this: the issue of the way we judge people who are struggling can be an impediment to them getting help. So while you might want to "argue" about it being a "choice" vs. a disease, your words might make a person who is already in a very vulnerable place reluctant to seek help. Know the value of what you are saying and who you are saying it to.


That was my response to his comment. The people who responded to him were pretty much on the same page, or if they had any inflammatory opinions they took his admonishment to heart and didn't express it.


I lived with addiction and the consequences with my daughter's suicide. I know it is a disease. She had everything to live for. The drugs got ahold of her and wouldn't let go. As I've said in other posts on this blog, some of us have a physiological makeup where we can try something and walk away from it. Cigarettes, alcohol, drugs, are truly recreational for us. Some people cannot. She, unfortunately, fell into the latter category.

Now, anyone who has never made a mistake that could have ended badly, step forward.

Anyone who stepped forward is a liar. Thanks for the tip.

We've all done it. Whether it was drinking too much and letting our guard down, being out late in a place we didn't know, letting the gas gauge go down too far in the middle of the night with no gas station in sight, taking that first puff of a cigarette, listening to a friend who told you that "this" will make you feel awesome. It happens. We make mistakes. We just usually don't die from them.


What compounds it is what I said above. People who find themselves in over their head are reluctant to ask for help. They are afraid of how people will view them; they are afraid of the judgment being levied at them. It keeps them from asking and getting the help they need.

My daughter left a suicide note. I haven't talked about it much to too many people. In the throes of her addiction, and having it exposed, she saw no choice. She made that clear. Her note talked about how she couldn't deal with people "pointing and laughing at her." That was what she saw as the outcome. She didn't see the possibility of getting help and getting off of the drugs. She only saw humiliation and judgment.

The internet and social media has made people into assholes, to put it honestly. The same things they would never say to your face they will gladly post online. Their false bravado behind the screen allows them to pretend to be something they aren't. They also don't care who they hurt. For them, it's more about scoring points and becoming legends in their own minds. Their comments range from snarky to downright mean on threads in various places.

There are other people, though, who do care and don't realize how words like the debate of whether drug addiction is a choice or a disease can hurt someone. They don't think about the fact that someone could read their comments, take them to heart, and instead of getting help decide they can't face people again after the exposure of their addiction - especially if these statements are coming from someone they consider a friend.

What do you wish to accomplish with what you say? That is what you need to take a step back and look at. Is it more important to be "right" or more important to be someone they turn to for help? Is it more important for people to find a way out of their addiction, or is it more important for you to punish them? Is it more important to pretend you have never done anything that could have ended badly, or is it more important to have some compassion?