There are three sides to every story.

• Your side!
• Their side!
• And the truth!

The truth is the way it really is and not always freely available to be seen known or understood by non addicts.

There are thousands of reasons that drug users become drug addicts.

All drug addicts did at one point in their past take that very first step onto that path, that very first curious or experimental try of that drug which could have been a mild low-level drug or it could have been a head first jump into the deep end with heroin or crack.

Either way, all drug addicts take that very first footstep onto that path which could have just been sheer curiosity, being in the wrong company at the wrong time, being influenced by so-called friends to try it or feeling under some pressure to be one of the group and be accepted or liked.

Someone might be taking drugs because have issues with themselves such as not having any friends or feeling lonely and then in the company of someone else who may be a little bit susceptible or vulnerable who encourages them to try it so they can be the same and share that moment together as friends which is very common.

Taking drugs is not always a sheer indulgence from a stupid dim-witted person who cares of nothing but themselves, it’s often the result of their surrounding and internal influencing factors such as curiosity or attraction to the unknown, peer pressure and so on.

It would be fair to say that there are a lot of drug users who initially took that first taste of drugs because it offered the slightest hint or sense of escapism or happiness, just a little buzz or a lift away from themselves and away from how they felt at that time in themselves.

For others it could be an act of self harm or aggression or a finger up to society or the situation of circumstances they were in or how they felt about themselves within their family life and this may be categorised under a self-medicating action to change the way they were feeling and thinking at that time.

Whatever the reason a drug user becomes a drug addict, the majority of drug users will have opened up a hornets’ nest of symptoms and problems psychological, emotional and physical and every drug addict or drug user knows exactly these words.

The closest and most sensible form of description would be to describe drug addiction as a symptom of something else.

Drug addiction is a symptom of something else deeper and whilst drug addiction is a mighty problem in itself, it is not the real problem but once the snowball rolls and grows it can’t stop!

Moving on away from the withdrawal symptoms and past the first 10 days of de-toxing.

Now what have we got?

We have a person at default that is now in a mental state which could be described as a mixture of appearing and disappearing psychological, mental, emotional and physical symptoms. Mainly mental and psychological which will include sickness and disorder of thought similar to post traumatic stress disorder or anxiety disorder.

Generalised free-floating appearing and disappearing anxiety feelings, anxiousness, mild fear to say the least and that means just a feeling of fear for apparently no reason including a sense of vulnerability from time to time or even threat that are real or imagined which produces feelings of paranoia and suspicion about people’s actions and motives around them.

For some recovering ex-drug addicts in the early stages the darker side of the mind surfaces which includes feelings of guilt or shame and anger and so on.

There are people who are non-addicts who have never taken drugs in their life who suffer terribly with these symptoms on their own let alone as a result of coming off drugs.

The drug addiction for many drug addicts had become a symptom of un-dealt with unresolved underlying issues. Which means all the issues going on beneath the surface or slightly outside of conscious awareness is a form of self-medication on a daily basis to reduce feelings of anxiety or even depression to name just a few and this also includes feelings and awareness of things which are not even categorised yet because the mind has a way of throwing up a mixture of feelings and sensations or disorders which can’t be possibly understood by anyone else but the sufferer or the person experiencing them.

A lot of people taking drugs may find it impossible to mix socially or to be part of a group or a team in the workplace due to low self-esteem or no confidence or unresolved issues from the past which leaves a person unable to cope in the sober and exposed harsh hurtful world.

Giving up drugs such as heroin or crack is literally one of the scariest and frightening things anyone can do.

Most addicts will give up when the time is right and no one can know when that time is until it shows itself in each individual drug user which is often the result of an accumulation of intolerable experiences both inside the mind and outside that person in their surrounding life such as within family and friends which they have probably now lost due to doing anything or everything they can at everyone else’s expense to experience that 30 minute hit of Nirvana!

A drug addict will, by their very addiction destroy their family and home life.

If a drug addict has a family, there is a very high chance that family will be irreversibly damaged and contaminated on every level and in every way until the family adapts and adjusts to the drug addicts circumstances and lifestyle and does whatever they need to do in order to cope with that addicted family member and this often results in the leaving or losing that family, their respect, their care, concern and their love – they just can’t help themselves and only the family members close to the drug addicts will know them words intimately!

It is what it is as all experiences will eventually come down to:

• It is what it is!
• This really is an expression of there being nothing else to say or do; everything has been exasperated, exhausted and destroyed!
• No more can be said or done and most families went to the top of Mount Everest with this one!

Every single person in the drug addict’s family becomes diseased and contaminated or in other words totally dysfunctional.

Everything has to be locked away or padlocks placed on doors, strong rules  are put in place where the addict can only be left into the house at a certain time and be accompanied by another family member and nothing must be left out that can be picked up and sold and so on.

The life and times of the drug addict’s family is a whole problem in itself.

• Each drug addict has a rock bottom and as the saying goes ‘You have to get worse to get better’ is true.

This period of drug use could be five or 10 years if they are lucky!

Once a drug user comes off drugs and gets away from all the physical and crazy withdrawal symptoms then that’s when all the social interactive and psychological battling and fighting with the self begins.

Not for all but for most it tis like this!

Most drug users will go through the rest of their life never going through a single day without thinking of the drugs and juggling with the thoughts of never going near them again or will they?

The life of a recovering addict will never be over, for most it will be a daily and constant uphill struggle to stay clean for the rest of their life and not many days will go by without it being on the mind!

Drug addiction and drug addicts will always carry a stigma and nothing will ever change that!

This is just a small description of things!

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