As much information is available about drugs and drug addictions, there are still a lot of myths concerning drug addictions. Separating fact from fiction can go a long way when trying to decide how to help a loved one with a drug addiction. Learning the facts empower you to do more to help those that you love who happen to have drug addictions.
1. The drug addict must seek help on their own.
This is false. Loved ones and/or the law can force or coerce the drug addict into getting help and it is just as effective as if the addict had chosen to get help on their own. Intervention is very common now and thinking that the addict must reach out for help first is an outdated idea at best.
2. Drug addiction is a voluntary choice
It’s true that taking that first drink or the first experimentation with a drug is voluntary; addiction is not voluntary. Drugs alter the mind, which set in motion a series of reactions that make the person become addicted to the drug. No one starts out with the plan of becoming an addict. Trying a drug is voluntary. Drug addiction is not voluntary.
3. Drug addictions occur in people who are weak.
The fact is, there are doctors, lawyers, teachers, professors, police officers and clergy who have drug addictions.
4. People can beat drug addictions without help.
If that were true, there would not be the drug epidemic present today that continues to increase in number. Treatment is necessary. The only way to overcome it is to receive help for it. The thought that people can beat drug addiction stems back from the old “Snap out of it “ school from decades ago.
5. There should be one magic remedy for drug addiction.
Since there are so many different drugs available and there are so many different types of people, finding one solution to fit everyone is chasing the impossible dream.
6. Treatment doesn’t work.
Of course it works. It works in the majority of cases. It is true that some may need to go back to rehab because of relapse but treatment does indeed work, and for many people. There are too many addiction success stories to say that treatment doesn’t work.
7. No one seeks treatment until they’ve reached the end of the road.
Most people have to sink pretty low, but not everyone has to hit rock bottom before they get help for their addiction.
8. Rehab can be completed in a week or two if the addict is determined.
Drug addiction rehab times vary from situation to situation but saying someone can be rehabilitated in a week or two is probably stretching the truth a bit too far. In some cases, it can be many months.
9. Addicts who relapse are beyond hope.
Not true at all. Many people stumble and get help again. Whether it takes 2, 3 or even 4 times, as long as the addict continues to seek help, there is hope.
