There are drug addicts everywhere. Some are functional and some are not. Many were drug addicts and many still are. There are many names for these addicts: junky, stoner, dope head, burnout, fiend, and many more demeaning names. Therein lies the problem with drug addiction. As a previous benzodiazepine addict, I noticed that some of my friends remained addicts while others who have tried the drug did not become addicts. Many of these friends that did not become addicts have done benzos with me on multiple occasions but they never became a full-blown addict. Then I thought about it; some people have been prescribed oxycodone, morphine and other opioids for pain after surgery and they take these pills for over three weeks sometimes. Some of these drugs are purer and stronger than the heroin you find on the streets. How come most of these previous users have not become drug addicts? Most people believe that if anyone takes heroin or any other drug consistently for 3 weeks, we would become addicts. This is not the case.
Addiction stems from depression and the lack of coping mechanisms. Addiction is a natural response to depression. The issue lies in the environment. For me, I felt extremely unloved and not cared for. I was terrified of not being loved and I truly thought I was worthless. I craved for happiness and but at the same time, I was scared and depressed. It could have possibly been from my childhood environment where I was abused and mistreated. In my mind, I could not bear the environment that I was in once I got older. I became scared of not being liked by everyone. I wanted everyone to love me but I couldn’t even love myself. This caused an extreme amount of stress, pain, and suffering. Because of this, I had trouble bearing being in the present. I felt disconnected from everyone including my family and even my closest friends, so I removed myself from the present just to escape using drugs. From my experience, I learned that often, the feeling of isolation leads to drug abuse.
The issue with our current system is that we punish drug abusers. They are isolated from everyone else because they are already looked down upon. This further pushes them along the addiction and often this leads to overdose. For me, whenever I was on drugs, I would want to take as much as possible to escape the present. I did not care if I overdosed, because if I did, I would die high. I always wanted to feel that genuine human bond and connection through love but because I was so afraid of not being loved, I distrusted everyone. I believed that being isolated was good because my father told me all successful people love being alone. I realized now that they don’t mind spending time alone not because they felt lonely, it was because they felt loved and they loved themselves so, in turn, they enjoyed being alone. I, on the other hand, hated being alone. I needed to be around people to feel validated. I was extremely sensitive to cues of not being loved. This may have pushed me away from my friends and slowly I turned to drugs. When one does not feel supported and does not have a way to truly connect with others, they become depressed. With depression, can come addiction as people try to find a way to escape the present as in the present they are just lonely and in pain.
All drug addicts are using drugs to cope and to escape. I never was taught how to cope with my emotions. My emotions were never validated so I thought I was supposed to not feel certain ways. For example, when I feel down, I would often get put down by my father and once, my maid even told me I was not supposed to cry because I was a boy. So in turn, I told myself I was not supposed to feel down and sad and if I did feel those emotions, it was because I was weak and worthless. I was never taught how to cope when I was down and I escaped through video games. I played hours and hours every day and I never did my homework. When I arrived at college, I started using drugs instead to cope. Healthier people use healthy coping mechanisms like meditation, reading, and writing. I was never taught how to cope. I never really found my own hobbies because I never knew myself. Drugs were a way for me to not only cope and escape the present but also escape myself. I didn’t like myself when I was sober and I believed I would be a better person on drugs. This would be a similar case for most drug addicts. They are using drugs to cope with pain. And when we further punish and stigmatize them, this pushes them further into addiction but they become more lonely.
In order to deal with this nationwide epidemic of drug abuse, we must provide a better educational system with mental health. Producing or limiting drugs may help short term, but people who never learned to cope will always find unhealthy and addicting coping mechanisms like pornography, sex, video game addiction, dissociation, cutting and drugs still. Punishing and condemning the depressed down not help with treating the root of the problem. Depressed people need support and care. They need to learn better ways to cope rather than the easy outlet. They need to be told that they are loved and many do want to or already have bonds with them. They do not need to be told, “stop doing drugs, you’re a junky.” Drug addicts know that what they are doing is bad and most of them feel extreme guilt. When they are put down by society, this only further makes the problem worse. Most drug addicts who make it out of jail return to addiction because they have no support system in the outside world. They have no way of getting a viable job with a felony on their record. They aren’t given a plan to rehab. They are just thrown back into the depressing environment that they believe they live in so of course, they go back to drugs.
By educating the youth on emotional intelligence, fewer cases of depression and addiction would occur in the future. Not only would people learn to care for themselves, but they would also learn to support others in need of help. For the current issue of addiction, we must lend them a hand and not see them as less than. They are just struggling people in deep pain who feel trapped. We must give them the love that they deserve rather than pushing them away into prison. With bonds and love comes a sense of fulfillment. When one feels loved, when one has genuine connections, one is more willing to live in the present. One is more willing to fight through that addiction and withdraw. If we can help them get back on their feet, provide the support and help they need and stick through it with them, they can become better and survive drug abuse. Unfortunately, so many drug addicts don’t have this support system so they often end up homeless or dead. We must learn to love others and perceive them in an open mind because just like us, drug addicts are people too who just like us have made many many mistakes in their lives. By giving love to others, they will slowly learn to love themselves and in turn, they can give love back to others.
