This community is suffering from an invisible illness: A large percentage of our kids and family members are addicted to drugs; opiates such as Oxycontin, Norco, Vicodin, Xanax and other “prescribed” medications that often lead to heroin, coke or meth.
Meth, Ecstasy and others are prolific, but the opiates are taking over fast. The attraction our youth (and many adults) have to opiates is more than just the euphoric feeling they provide. Once they are accustomed to the high, they can usually work, go to school and other “functioning” type behaviors that allow them to convince themselves they don’t have a problem until it’s way too late.
By the time you realize you are an addict… you have been one a long time!
The “working” or “student” addict is not actually succeeding in spite of their drug use. Performance begins to deteriorate and soon life becomes dreadful and entrenched deeply in addiction. This is why there’s no such thing as a functioning addict. I was using-addicted for over a decade, yet I worked, had relationships, and my own apartment all of which merely prolonged my addiction. The only thing that was fully “functioning” in my life was my addiction. There’s no such thing as a “functioning addict, only an addict with a job or one who’s getting an education, etc.
I hope we’re getting smarter and realizing that our addicts are not these scummy, derelict looking, delinquent types we conjure in our heads. We live in a good community and my clients are good people who go to college, in businesses, often get good grades and have jobs. Addicts can be suffering right under your nose and you might not know it. It is so easy to get yourself lost in addiction; good kids, smart kids, successful and ambitious adults: no one is immune to this debilitating disorder.
But there is a scientific method and understanding of this disorder and how to treat it. Don’t postpone getting answers and getting back on track and remember to choose a professional who is exclusively qualified to deal with addictions and has been through recovery themselves.
Scott Spackey is a California Registered Addiction Specialist, Interventionist, Certified Clinical Hypnotherapist and Life-Coach. For more information, please call 661-299-1966, email: Scott@Life-Mind.com and visit www.life-mind.com.