Living with an addiction
Living with an addiction is something that many people will never admit to. I started this site because I know of people who are living with an addiction and I know people who have family and friends that are addicted.
Personally, I have seen families start to crumble because someone in their family has an addiction. The ages of those addicted range from 13 to 75, so you can see that addiction doesn’t discriminate when it comes to age. The addictions vary from alcohol, gambling, online games, drugs and nicotine.
Some admit to having an addiction while others would never dream of mentioning that word and don’t see that they have a problem.
When many people think of addiction they forget the families and friends that are also affected by that addiction. Families can only sit back and watch as their loved one sinks into the addiction and that addiction controls his/her life. It controls the families, the mums and dads, brothers and sisters and partners.
I started this site because I have seen the pain that it is inflicted on those close to the addicted person. I’ve seen the bruises, the pain, the tears and I have seen bank balances drop, businesses start to slow… and yet those addicted get on with their lives, with their hand out asking, begging, stealing and wanting more to help with their addiction.
I’ve seen the anger that they display when they can’t get their own way, when they can’t get that fix that they so desperately need.
Watching them destroy their family one minute and then they appear as if there is nothing wrong, or they admit that they have a problem to keep the peace, they become nice to their family, they show their love…. This process appears to make their families think that they are coming along nicely and want help or they make their families believe that there is no problem… until they want more… they need that fix.
When an addiction takes control of one’s life, it is hard to go back when the person addicted doesn’t want help. In some cases it is also hard for families to get back on track because they find themselves in a hole because of the hold that the addictive person may have over them.
An addicted person needs to get their fix… their alcohol fix, their next hit; they need money for their chemical addiction just like gamblers need money to see if they can win.
Online gamers sit for hours in front of their computer, they don’t go to work, they don’t go to school, they abuse their family members one minute and are sweet the next. If they can’t get what they want… they abuse their family members and friends, they inflict pain, they use emotional blackmail to get what they want… they won’t accept the help when it is there for them…
Many addictions are similar, because many family members and friends of the addicted person are caught up in a cycle of emotions, the ‘not knowing’ and the feeling that there is nothing they can do…