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I have to say, No, I really don't feel bad or sorry about this.
I absolutely do not care.
He did it, he chose it. No one put a gun to his head to make him shoot heroin.....sorry!
But I do feel sorry for little children that have cancer, for they have not chose that.
Try going to a cancer center and see little children with no hair......I have, and it will make you re think everything you thought you knew about life.....
then tell me about this retarded man, with a syringe hanging out of his arm and heroin packages all over the place....sorry, sympathy is not happening here......
Of course it's a choice. People choose to do those drugs, or drink that alcohol. They make that choice, no one else made it for them.
I choose not to drink like a fish.
I choose not to snort cocaine. I choose not to stab needles in to my arms that have drugs in them.
I choose not to become reliant on pain medications.
I choose not to pick up a joint.
I choose not to sniff glue.
I choose not to huff.
I choose not to use bath salts.
These are all choices I have made because I know that drugs are not good for you, because I know that many of those items listed above are extremely addictive, and because any temporary high I might get from it is not worth it. Frankly, I find drug abusers to be cowards. "Life is hard, it's too painful, let's do drugs to deaden the pain." Grow the hell up. We all go through pain in our lives. You can deal with it, or you can jab a needle in your arm to pretend it doesn't exist. The former is how you build up strength, the latter is the coward's way out.
Hmm. Do you stab needles that DON'T have drugs in them into your arms?
It's not just talented people and they are not stupid because they have an addiction. There are many people from all walks of life who have an addiction....some people deal with pressure in many different ways.
Excuse me? Where did I say they were stupid? And where did I say it happens only to talented people. Please read clearly before you start criticizing. What I said was:
Quote:
"Very sad. When will such talented people stop doing such stupid things to themselves?"
And sure, people deal with pressure in different ways. Doing drugs like heroin, self-medicating, or whatever you want to call it ... is a stupid, and really, really dangerous, way to deal with it.
Really? PSH had three kids. He didn't seem to care about them one bit. He didn't care about the consequences of his actions at all. He started doing heroin fully cognizant of what it would do to his health and life and didn't give a rip. So now there are three children, family and friends who have to deal with the horribly messy aftermath.
I have had friends who were addicts. I have had family with addiction. I have dealt with damage. I have had a niece and nephew stay with us for weeks at a time while their mother dealt with her addictions. I have dealt with the self-centeredness and self-destructive behavior. I have seen the effects it has had on their children in terms of their mental health. So, no, I don't have a damn bit of sympathy for someone who chose to indulge in such risky behavior to the detriment of everyone else around him, throwing away his gifts and his life as he did so.
And, guess what? I have flaws, too. Not a person on this planet doesn't have flaws. But like the large majority of people out there, I have not allowed my flaws to drive my life and destroy it. I have not allowed my flaws to ruin the lives of my children and family.
So, to be perfectly honest with you, I think being judgmental is actually a good and important thing to do right now. I don't give a damn about the self-esteem of addicts, for they made selfish choices long ago that showed they didn't give a damn about anyone else.
And maybe our judgement will prevent some other idiot from doing the same thing. Meanwhile, lionizing the guy might actually have the opposite effect.
And this is the crux of why so many people have little sympathy for the addicted. Yes, they've gotten themselves into a position where their mind says the addiction is priority and must be protected no matter what. They are no longer able to think logically.
BUT--BEFORE they started getting drunk or high, it seems that the people who become addicts are missing that ability to care more about others, such as their children, than themselves. We have the addiction advocates leaping up and down for years now screeching that addiction is a disease, not a character flaw, but there does still seem to be a character flaw in the people who become addicts. There's no set of brakes that looks ahead at the road and says, "Will I hurt the people around me if I indulge in this activity that's going to make ME feel better? Will my actions cause irreparable damage to the people who love me?"
This flaw often survives the addiction (if the addict survives the addiction and goes into recovery). I've seen it many times where the recovered addict seems to be unable to grasp the magnitude of the damage he or she has done to others. There's no sense of regret or shame. 12-step programs encourage them to make amendsI believe it's a flaw that can be overcome. A person CAN learn how his or her actions affect others, unless they are a sociopath, and I don't think addicts are sociopaths. They usually can empathize greatly with one another, for example, and try to help each other in the recovery process. I wonder if it's something they miss in their emotional development.
Seymour Hoffman might still be alive were it not for the new supply of plentiful, less-expensive, high-potency heroin. And most heroin comes from Afghanistan these days.
Meanwhile, the US military (along with some allies) has been occupying Afghanistan. Does it strike anyone else that maybe we are inadvertently greasing the wheels of killer heroin production and distribution?
We are there to eliminate Muslim extremists, and conversely, to promote, protect, and teach the law-abiding people of Afghanistan (with some nation-building/infrastructure help on the side). So unless a heroin farmer is linked to terrorism, we will leave him alone. We want what's best for Afghanistan which would include support (even if indirect) for their biggest cash crop, poppy/heroin.
BUT--BEFORE they started getting drunk or high, it seems that the people who become addicts are missing that ability to care more about others, such as their children, than themselves. We have the addiction advocates leaping up and down for years now screeching that addiction is a disease, not a character flaw, but there does still seem to be a character flaw in the people who become addicts. There's no set of brakes that looks ahead at the road and says, "Will I hurt the people around me if I indulge in this activity that's going to make ME feel better? Will my actions cause irreparable damage to the people who love me?"
.
Yes, you seem to be on to something there. They do show empathy toward fellow addicts but stop short of having it toward others. If you read some of the open forums for addicts, you see this, you can gain a lot of insight into how they think. Occasionally a recovered addict will admit they do have a certain emotional immaturity that existed before they started using any substances. Now with the addiction recovery industry defending them as "diseased" they have enablers that fail to acknowledge any personal responsibility or character flaws in them. Many addicts actually consider themselves deeper or in some way beyond non-addicts, they say they learned so much more about life and themselves (see, THEMSELVES) through using. If someone who has tried drugs and had those experiences does not become addicted, the addicts think the non-addict didn't use correctly or isn't tuned into the higher experience. Defenders and sympathizers of the addict are only enabling.
http://.bloomberg.com/news/2014-02--...-together.html (sorry, didn't download) But, about MD's being part of the problem of addiction and painkillers (sometimes a prelude to heroin abuse). Maybe some of the wrath belongs on them versus the one who becomes addicted to "doctor's orders." Slippery slope.
And, some addicts start off from:
chronic pain after a failed surgery,
chronic pain after any surgery,
We might as well throw in those addicted to food, obesity kills more people than street drugs. But, it's more socially acceptable. Obesity leads to death, slow death. So, does a diabetic who doesn't watch their diet--they lose their limbs, their eye sight. Slow death. I've seen it. But, socially more acceptable. We all have vices & some kill you fast, some slow. I'm not a fan of addicts, but I think we don't know till we've walked in their shoes...
Yes, you seem to be on to something there. They do show empathy toward fellow addicts but stop short of having it toward others. If you read some of the open forums for addicts, you see this, you can gain a lot of insight into how they think. Occasionally a recovered addict will admit they do have a certain emotional immaturity that existed before they started using any substances. Now with the addiction recovery industry defending them as "diseased" they have enablers that fail to acknowledge any personal responsibility or character flaws in them. Many addicts actually consider themselves deeper or in some way beyond non-addicts, they say they learned so much more about life and themselves (see, THEMSELVES) through using. If someone who has tried drugs and had those experiences does not become addicted, the addicts think the non-addict didn't use correctly or isn't tuned into the higher experience. Defenders and sympathizers of the addict are only enabling.
Very good point. I have known a few addicts/alkies in long-term recovery who have grown greatly in maturity and who have learned to develop deeper relationships with others. One would be surprised to learn that they go to meetings every day and have gone for 25 years.
An old friend who is an alcoholic told me, during her seven-year period of sobriety, that they told her in rehab that you will stay the age you were emotionally when you started to drink or use. So, if you started doing drugs and became an addict at 18 and you decide to become sober at 40, emotionally, you are still around 18. They don't grow. This must also make it more difficult for them to establish healthy relationships with non-addicts. I believe this was part of my friend's problem that led to her relapse. When she was in social situations, she was still trying to work the cutesie, petite, dumb little blond girl act that must have worked for her at 14, but it was pathetic and repulsive on a 40-something woman.
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Hmm. Do you stab needles that DON'T have drugs in them into your arms? 
Defenders and sympathizers of the addict are only enabling.
