Quote Me

We are all addicted to something that takes away the pain. If we're lucky we choose the healthier options, if we don't, well then we all know how that story goes no matter how it's written or who writes it. Loving an active addict is horrifying, it's comparable to watching a horror movie. Your covering your eyes and screaming things like 'don't go in there' or 'turn around' of course they never do and end up catching an axe to the face and that is pretty much what happens to an addict when they are in self destruct mode no matter how much you cry, scream, beg or throw yourself in front of them if they're hell bent on going there they'll catch an axe to the face.
That's hard to accept when you love someone and your led to believe in their moment of need that they want what you want when they don't. What you want is for them to get better and in order for an addict to get better they have to put in a lot of hard painful work. For us, the ones left to watch this madness unfold it makes more sense to just do the work because besides it being the smart thing to do it is also way less painful in the long run. What addicts fail to realize is that by not doing the work they are burning bridges and sooner or later they are out of luck and people to lie to. What they are left with are people just as sick as they are and who, if they were healthy and in their right minds they wouldn't give the time of day to. Because inevitably anyone who truly loves their addict will eventually walk away, not because they don't love them, but because they love them to much. It is much to painful to watch them throw themselves away, to watch them turn into the same parasite that they spend their time with. It is too painful to watch them be shunned by old friends, family and society. It is too painful to watch them lose their children. It is too painful to watch them lose everything including themselves. Everyday your heartbreaks because they are blind to what is happening, they do not see all that they are losing and the damage left in the wake of their lies, and destructive unacceptable behavior. Eventually you will have to rip yourself away from your addict, whoever they may be to you; a lover, friend, brother, sister, or child. For your sake and theirs you have to find the strength to leave them to their own devices and pray that they will reach out to you for your love and support when they finally want to get right.
People that have been lucky enough to never had addiction run roughshot thru their lives don't understand that addiction is a disease, I have never met anyone that wanted to grow up to be a drug addict. Addiction is no different than cancer, they are both diseases nobody wants and both are quite capable of killing you. For the lucky ones that have never had to contend with addiction I suppose the addict and we who love them are equally as stupid. They look at the addict and say 'why don't you just stop'? They look at us, the ones that love them and say 'why don't you just leave'? The painful irony is that both questions have the same answer; "because we can't".