re: Honest obituary of 20 year old dying from heroin

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It's not a disease...

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Heroin chemically changes the brain and creates a dependency for it. Yes, people do make the decision to do heroin, but its not that black or white of a situation. For many, heroin takes the place of pain meds. If someone gets hooked on pain meds, if they are no longer able to get a prescription for it from their doctor, they have to buy them on the street and it cost a lot more money to buy pain meds than it does heroin.

With that said, is it the fault of everyone who becomes addicted to pain meds? Also, young people make bad decisions. It is easy to say "if you don't want to be addicted to heroin then don't do it", but 17, 18 year olds think different. I am sure there are people who think "I will not become addicted".. Either way, heroin use is a problem that erodes the quality of life and that alone makes it a disease.

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There is a lot of evidence that addiction is hereditary.

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And....

Prescribers and pharmacists that are easily manipulated, careless, or too generous are contributing to the problem.

There are bad doctors that sell these prescriptions. Look up Shannon Caesar.

Databases are helping us identify and avoid the providers and patients that abuse prescribed drugs. Your pharmacist can see you filled that prescription 20 days ago at the other pharmacy.

Addicts and forgers hopping between doctors and pharmacies are now more eventually identified, but the professional diverters know the flaws in the system.

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...yet is still caused by stupid decisions to "try" something and further caused by someone who doesn't have the willpower to stop.

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meh. what stupid shite have you done in your life?

i mean i've done a bunch of stupid shite lol, that didn't result in having a life long addiction to deal with. i've had unprotected sex with women that i didn't know, i've drank full bottles of 100% vodka and driven home. actually i ended up at motel 6 parking lot lol but i was safe somehow.

the day i picked up the pipe i had sold a girl a car and asked her out on a date, she picks me up in the new car and we go out to drink, after a few drinks we go to the beach (siesta keys florida)and she breaks out a white bag and being tipsy and 22 years old i'm like frick it lol. and she was banging too. i'm sorry i was 22 and was thinking with my dick like most 22 year olds do.

not to mention we literally had a car on the car lot called the crack car lol if you sold a car the boss (who also smoked crack, actually he's the guy who taught me how to cook itg in a microwave) you'd get a free gram and you'd go in the back of the car and get loaded. so the peer pressure was already there and i see all these grown arse men having fun and being able to work normally i'm like what's the big deal


i really blame DARE. because i didn't drink til i was 21 and drinking didn't do anything. i had tried weed and i realized everything they said about weed was a lie even though i don't care for it. so i thought everything else was a lie to. they wren't lying about crack.

Addiction is a disorder, not a disease.

Diseases are caused by bacteria, viruses or parasites with the exception of degenerative diseases which are physiological in nature.

Addiction is a disorder like obsessive compulsive disorder and occurs in the brain. Although the brain is also a mechanical part of your body, because it is so complex and not completely understood, problems with it are categorized separately from other parts of the body. Individuals can also exert a greater degree of control over brain function than other parts of the body. I can control my OCD if I try hard enough but my fricked up degenerative joint problems from working my body too hard at a young age is nothing I can do anything about without surgery or drugs. I cant "will" the problem away.

Mental disorders like addiction and schizophrenia can also have an underlying predisposition causation feeding it as well as a genetic component. In the case of schizophrenia, many are predisposed but it never crops up. It often requires a trigger like a traumatic event or series of events in a short period of time, mostly when the subject is in their 20's, to facilitate the onset of the disorder. Many go their entire lives with the predisposition but its never realized because the conditional triggers are never met.

In the case of addiction many are susceptible to addiction but never become addicted because they never commit to the activities in the frequency or level required to trigger their underlying predisposition. Still others may become addicted but are able to "will" the addiction away and refrain from the behavior because again, the brain is malleable and under our own control. Nonetheless, substances themselves arent "addictive", the addiction is in the individual. Thats why some people can engage in drug use their whole life and never become addicted(think, alcohol) and why people can become addicted to the most innocuous and vital activities like eating food or cracking knuckles.

So to sum up...

There are no addictive substances/behaviors - Addiction is in the individual

and...

Addiction is not a "disease" - Its a mental disorder

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I have 15-20 suboxone patients. They are medical professionals, lawyers, seafood industry, accountants, hairdressers, fast food workers, construction baws, college students, et cetera. They are good people. Their old friends and physicians not so much.

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I forgot to mention they are all white people. All my Suboxone patients are white. This is interesting.

Physiological changes do occur in addiction. That's why you get addicted


You people are cute when you try to act like you know shite about medicine

Show me the articles, Socrates...

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Good for those people who are actively trying to fight it.

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Agreed, I don't subscribe to that line of thinking but whatever helps people take control of their situation.

And I've wasted too much time and effort arguing with people over what is and isn't a disease, who gives a shite? If someone wants to talk about solutions I'm all ears but I don't have time for someone whose main objective is to convince me addiction is rightfully classified as a "disease".

I'd upvote you twice if I could.

Enough with all the faux sympathy for a girl no one here likely knew. She was probably an adddict before she got on heroin. Likely no different than meth heads, drinkers, etc. She relapsed after being sober. Hardly the same as someone whose cancer returns.
My own experience with my sister who was an addict for years tells me they won't quit till they want to. That's not how a disease works.
So while I'm sorry for the outcome, it ain't the same as it is for people with a real disease.