Addiction - My Toes Too Numb To Step
Addiction is a sneaky bastard. Once it has its claws of substance dependency burrowed
deep into your being it’s extremely difficult to get free. 90%[i] of the time people don’t realize
that they have become addicted and therefore categorically deny any notion that
they are addicted.
Speaking from personal experience I myself did not
realize my addiction to pain killers until I was forced to go without it. Even then I believed that I needed these
substances since I was experiencing pain.
The pain however was not from the injury that I had sustained that led
to the excessive taking of pain killers in the first place it was from my body
believing that it needed this substance to continue functioning long after the
injury had healed.
Weaning yourself off and away from substance dependency
is incredibly difficult. Going through
detox is an uncomfortable and often painful experience that tests you mentally
and physically. But once you get past
that stage, having clawed through a river of sh*t, you come out clean the other
side[ii].
It’s like having a breath of fresh air after going
through a curtain of smoke or smog. It
really is an incredible feeling which is why it surprises me the number of
relapses people get after getting clear of their addiction. Various social, economic or other stressors
are attributed to the relapse of dependency but that is why it is important to
surround yourself with people who understand what hell you went through the
first time.
Organizations such as Alcoholics Anonymous and the
like exist with the sole purpose to help you through these difficult times so I
would strongly advise that anyone who has dependency problems to enlist the aid
of these organizations.
There are certain substances that if you get “hooked”
on them that it can be dangerous and in certain cases even fatal to stop taking
it outright (going cold turkey). Long
term alcoholics can experience severe DT’s (Delirium Tremens) which include
violent shakes, visual hallucination, tactile hallucination and various other
symptoms that if not treated can be potentially fatal.
Quitting other substances outright such as heroin
(opiates) or codeine, while not life threatening is an extremely arduous process
to go through and hopefully something most people will remember and not eager
to go through again such as it was in my case.
There are a number of facilities that can help with
detoxification and usually are well run with highly trained staff and first
rate care so please take advantage of these facilities to help you get through
something as difficult as substance withdrawal and detoxification.
I would like to add that people with an addiction (addicts) are as much a victim of their own addiction as those around them and thus it's not always fair to simply condemn these people for their dependencies.
While generalizing isn't the way to go either at some point people have to take responsibility for themselves and need to be willing to change to deserve sympathy and help.
Stay Safe.
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