Particular circumstances may differ in the life of an addict, but the desire to escape reality by using alcohol or drugs is consistent across the board. Addiction knows no bounds in terms of age, gender, economic status, geographical area, religion or ethnicity. Addicts can be found in the most elite country clubs as well as on the dirtiest of streets. They can be wearing Gucci and diamonds, or they can be wearing soiled rags. They can be model perfect, or they can be common and plain. They can be Muslim, Christian, Jew or atheist. Despite outward appearances, the inward reality is the same. Addicts drink alcohol and use drugs because they don’t like the way they feel, and they want to escape their feelings and alter reality. They choose to do so with drugs or alcohol because it works. It works until it stops working. As dependence grows into addiction, the substance begins to take over. The substance is in control of decisions and actions. As the disease of addiction progresses, addicts enter into a life of guilt, shame, deceit and despair, putting their lives and the lives of people who care most into a chaotic whirlwind.
Life of An Addict Leads To Betrayal And Chaos
When alcohol or drugs take control, they become a priority. Any kind of moral character addicts may have falls by the wayside as they behave in ways they would not otherwise. They become unreliable in terms of showing up for work on time or meeting their friends for dinner or taking their spouses to a special event. They feel sick and hung over, so they lie to their bosses and families. They spend all of their money – and sometimes money they have stolen – on obtaining more alcohol or heroin or meth or whatever their drug of choice. They suppress their guilt and shame by drinking or using even more, and they blame others – often their closest family and friends – for their behavior. The life of an addict is full of anxiety, fear and despair, which they attempt to cover up by still more substance abuse. Help and hope comes with the willingness to seek the help they need.