One of the most damaging elements of drug addiction can often be the societal stigma that surrounds an addict’s life. These stigmas are fueled by many myths that surround drug addiction, thus shaping the perception of the people that an addict may need most. Here are a few harmful myths about drug addiction that you should look out for…
Drug addiction is a choice
One of the largest false perceptions of drug addiction is that it is a choice. According to this myth, drug addiction just a character flaw in certain people, that they are purposefully hurting the people around them. This leads many to think that addicts can stop whenever they want to, and therefore neglect to give them the sympathy or understanding that they need. Using a drug in the first place, whether for curiosity or peer pressure, is a choice. However, the actual disease of addiction is just that, a disease that needs to be cured in order for a person to get better.
If treatment failed once, it won’t work
People on this planet come in all sorts of shapes, sizes, and colors. And the psychological makeup of these people are all radically different. In the same way, all drug users are unique people, with their own backgrounds, lifestyles, fears, dreams, and particular struggles. There is not a standard program that can be a cure-all for drug addiction, each one is different and works better or worse for different people. In this way, the treatment for a drug addict can be as varied and unique as the people themselves. Also, a relapse may simply be a part of a drug addict’s recovery process, and something that inevitably had to happen so the doctors would know what wasn’t working.
Perception of how drugs make you feel
There is a strange view of what drugs are and how they effect you. The image of most drugs is, indeed, very negative, but it often leaves out an important part of the picture. The truth is that drugs will feel amazing to a person. Heroin, in the moment, can be one of the most euphoric feelings in the world because it forces your brain to release an overload of dopamine, which is the equivalent to feeling an orgasm over-and-over. Forgetting this fact is to forget how these people get addicted in the first place. These fleeting moments of feeling good will be replaced by broken lives and a health deterioration. But to understand why a person gets addicted in the first place, one must always remember that the feeling of drugs is immensely powerful.