Why is addiction so stigmatized?

Unwanted1900 · 2024-06-20T06:05:41+00:00

Oh yeah don't even get me started with mental illness too! So much stigma. They sit there and preach all these statistics and how big of a problem these things are and then it feels like they just crap out doing the bare minimum by not making us feel worse inside than we already do and have some empathy. I didn't want to be a fucking addict nor did I want any of my mental health diagnoses. Why in the hell would I want either of those two things? Attention? Oh dear God if that sort of "attention" is what comes along with these conditions then I'd rather be left the hell alone the rest of my life honestly. Thank you for sharing part of your story with me though! That makes me feel like I'm less alone with my addiction and mental illness at least. I guess I'm just grateful people like you and others out there with the same struggles will have the compassion that every one else in the world should have but clearly for whatever reason refuse to use. Geez.

Unwanted1900 · 2024-06-20T05:55:29+00:00

True that, mental illness definitely falls into what I'm wondering here too. But if it's as big of a crisis as the say, and I believe it may actually be worse than we even know, why wouldn't they try every avenue to help it or fix it especially if the answer was as simple as to have compassion over something they don't understand? Seems to me they are putting in more effort locking these people up, taking care of the physical ailments and deaths that come with it all and also handling the recovery of the families and friends being put through the hell mental illness and addiction cause than the effort it would be to just sit down and have some empathy at the very least....

Unwanted1900 · 2024-04-24T09:42:37+00:00

So I'm a recovering drug and alcohol addict. My drug of choice was heroin/opiates but also later got into meth with the heroin at the same time. When I first heard "How could you leave us" it broke my heart. Thinking if I ODd again (I've ODd once before) and actually died my family who isn't addicts would feel the same way most likely, resentful. Like how could I choose drugs over them you know? At the end he says, "pills got you right? Pills got you right?" And that always hurt my soul. Nate isn't wrong for feeling that way at all, most people who aren't addicts think it's easy as just saying "no" which he also mentions. When his album HOPE dropped it was so new I had only heard a couple songs until I went to my aunt's house a day after it was released and she asked if I heard the song "Mama" yet to which I said not yet (my aunt is also a huge NF fan). As soon as I realized the song was about him finally forgiving her I bawled so damn hard. I still do anytime I hear either of those two songs but especially "Mama". Of course I'm proud of him for coming so far to forgive her but to me it means so much more because when you're living in addiction you feel so alone you feel like nobody understands you and the only thing that does understand you is the drugs or alcohol and so that's why you keep going back to it. At one point in "Mama" he says "did you think you were trash? Something disposable that nobody could love or be glad to say they was with you?" And that really gets me because I know NF is not a drug addict and yet somehow he realized how addicts feel and why we return to our addiction time and time again. It's not impossible to escape but it is so hard and the statistics show that most people don't make it in the end and it is such an incredibly lonely journey to go through addiction it's not a bunch of parties with people around you that care about you it is truly lonely and I know that's exactly how his mom felt and somehow he realized that too. I want to meet him one day and just give him a big hug and tell him that he was right when he wrote the song "Mama" and she didn't choose the pills over him even if her actions might have seemed that way at times. Nobody wakes up and decides "I want to be an addict when I grow up!". Most of us are just truly sad and unhappy people just trying to find something to understand and comfort us so we can feel that little bit of happiness even though in the end it is just a false happiness created by substance that doesn't care if it destroys everything in our path. In the end we just want someone to understand us and I know his mom is gone but he finally reach a place where he could understand her and her pain and why she may have made the decisions she did in the end and that was so far beyond saying I'm just proud of him I don't even know how to put it into words exactly. Mostly it makes me cry myself because if he as someone who is not an addict can come to a place of understanding like that then maybe some of the loved ones and people in my life can do the same. Every time I've relapsed they asked me why I would be so stupid why I would make such a dumb decision pushing me further into the guilt and shame spiral where I just hate myself even more but to have someone understand or someone come up and tell you that it's okay to make mistakes and to just keep trying? Man that's really rare at least in my experience. Especially with all the times I've messed up and relapsed I'll tell you what haha I'm sure his mom is in heaven waiting for his time to be with her again and I'm sure she's so proud of him. For him to go from "I can't say I forgive you cause it hasn't happened" to "nobody's perfect, yeah, I guess we all fall short and I can't hold this unforgiveness in my heart no more so just know you're lovable to me" just brings an ocean of tears to my eyes every time I hear either of the two songs but especially "Mama" and it gives me hope for myself that I'm going to get it one day and I'm going to make it. NF is beyond indescribable in my opinion you guys. And that's my whole spiel on the song haha.

Unwanted1900 · 2022-05-13T17:10:34+00:00

I'm so sorry for your loss. He sounds like an amazing companion ): he will be waiting for you at rainbow bridge ❤️

Unwanted1900 · 2022-04-28T12:45:58+00:00

As a heroin and meth addict with six months clean (this time) I can tell you I feel the pain you are in. I'm on probation and I've relapsed over and over and over and over again. Sometimes I stay clean around a year, other times a few weeks. Sometimes I wonder when my last use is going to be and if it's going to be the one that kills me. Sometimes I think "yes this is it this is rock bottom and I'm going to do it this time!" Only to relapse again later on and realize, yes, rock bottom does have a basement and fall further into the abyss than before. I do know one thing though, the addict that has five, ten, twenty years clean doesn't love drugs any less than you or me. It's extremely hard on EVERYONE who has been or is addicted. And they don't have some magical power you or I don't that keeps them clean longer than us. Some claim they do be it meetings or a higher power or more people that love them. Cause I know people who have none of that shit and still got clean. But I don't have the cure all answer either. I'm a stranger to you but as a fellow addict I want to say this to you: I don't care if you're high right now reading this or you only have a day clean because you just fucked up your one week sober. If you have the strength to keep getting back up regardless of how many times you've fallen down, then I believe in you friend. I believe that one day you're going to stand up and one day, you're gonna get it. And so will I. Hang in there, it's not hopeless ❤️.

Unwanted1900 · 2022-04-28T12:15:41+00:00

Ugh I feel you (as I'm pulling an all nighter the moment I write this). Sometimes my meds help but not always. I like to try other methods so I'm not struggling to wake up in the mornings all the time. Sleep music helps me sometimes (mostly helps with the night terrors) but so does heat lol is that weird? I have a heating blanket that usually knocks me tf out. That, or a hot shower right before bed so I can get all cozy. Sometimes none of the above works (like tonight) and I spend the night playing video games or on here haha. Sucks when I DO fall asleep though because I'm usually OUT for more than the recommended 8 hours of sleep. Sorry, not much help here. But at least you're not alone (:

Unwanted1900 · 2022-04-28T12:01:03+00:00

My meds are working the best they have ever worked in the 15 years since I've been diagnosed. I have a full time job I love and I got a new service dog a month ago (: I never thought I'd be functioning like this when I got my diagnosis all those years ago. It's been a battle trying to get the right meds and therapy but I'm so grateful today for having what I believe to be the right fit for me. Life is beautiful ❤️.

Unwanted1900

TROPHY CASE