RIP Philip Seymour Hoffman

[Speedbag]

Addiction of any kind can be devastating and it cares not who you are, what you do or how rich and famous you are. Particularly drug and alcohol addiction.

I ran state district felony criminal courts for many years and my wife has been a felony probation officer in those same courts for even longer. We have seen what addiction can do to people. Nice, affluent folks and what you'd call "terrible" folks. The results were the same.

One of our courthouse friends (an attorney) now has a pending drug possession charge in my wife's court. The police and ambulance were called to a cheap dive motel because he was passed out on the bed with hookers surrounded by needles and bags of dope. Sound like Hoffman's scene? He's a great guy and a very good defense attorney who (like was mentioned in a previous post) stopped making right turns and took a hard left.

He lost his wife, who knows if he sees his kids, will assuredly be put on some sort of probation by the State Bar (or have his license suspended) resulting in loss of income and has lost many good friends who grew tired of trying to help. Again, he's a good guy that addiction has dragged into the abyss. Our prayers are with him and his family. Thank God he wasn't found dead of an overdose. At least he has a chance with the right court ordered help. Probably in a lock down facility for an extended period of time. And even that is no guarantee. It never is.

So unless you (or a friend/loved one) has been an addict please do not throw rocks at those that are or those that have been. Therefore but for the grace of God go I.

This.

A required read: The Heroin Diaries by Nikki Sixx

[derby]

http://www.theguardian.com/culture/2013/mar/09/russell-brand-life-without-drugs

It is 10 years since I used drugs or drank alcohol and my life has improved immeasurably. I have a job, a house, a cat, good friendships and generally a bright outlook.

The price of this is constant vigilance because the disease of addiction is not rational.

...

Drugs and alcohol are not my problem, reality is my problem, drugs and alcohol are my solution.

If this seems odd to you it is because you are not an alcoholic or a drug addict. You are likely one of the 90% of people who can drink and use drugs safely. I have friends who can smoke weed, swill gin, even do crack and then merrily get on with their lives. For me, this is not an option. I will relinquish all else to ride that buzz to oblivion. Even if it began as a timid glass of chardonnay on a ponce's yacht, it would end with me necking the bottle, swimming to shore and sprinting to Bethnal Green in search of a crack house.

[fastwin]

Exactly. Therein lies the problem with addiction. Like any disease it can affect one person and pass over the next 20 in line before it strikes again. As Russell Brand stated above in derby's post, his friends can go nuts on drugs/booze and seemingly be fine but just a drink can completely torpedo his personal life.

Problem #2 is that it's always lurking and waiting to strike again. Some folks have the mental strength to get over their addiction, say alcohol, then later in life find a way to control it. They can moderately drink in a social setting and be OK for example. More power to them, they are the few. I am no expert by any means, but I have seen the problems of addiction in my family and my wife and I have seen it daily in our professional lives.

The human mind is a wonderful, amazing thing but it also has many design flaws. Dealing with addictions and the havoc it can wreak on rational thinking is not one of its' best qualities.

Sadly Hoffman's story will never be the last of it's kind.   

[Cody]

maybe it's just me....but I would think having children would be enough of a reason to want to stay sober.

It's just you.

Once addiction has taken hold, nothing else matters than getting high. Your life is consumed by the substance you are addicted to. Even when you have that substance, you think about running out, so you are already panicking about the next high even though you are high. Children. Families. Job. None of that matters. I know it is a hard concept to follow or understand if you aren't a recovering substance abuser. You will never understand it.

Addicts do understand it and we can't explain it more than I just did.

[Cody]

sadly another junkie

Nice. 

Addicts are people too and they are very sick. They don't deserve to be called "junkies" by someone typing behind a faceless name.

[hbliam]

Nice. 

Addicts are people too and they are very sick. They don't deserve to be called "junkies" by someone typing behind a faceless name.

Very sick is cancer. Heroin is poor choice after poor choice after poor choice.

[fastwin]

It's just you.

Once addiction has taken hold, nothing else matters than getting high. Your life is consumed by the substance you are addicted to. Even when you have that substance, you think about running out, so you are already panicking about the next high even though you are high. Children. Families. Job. None of that matters. I know it is a hard concept to follow or understand if you aren't a recovering substance abuser. You will never understand it.

Addicts do understand it and we can't explain it more than I just did.

[Cody]

Very sick is cancer. Heroin is poor choice after poor choice after poor choice.

Sounds like you have a good understanding of addiction.

[swampduc]

Very sick is cancer. Heroin is poor choice after poor choice after poor choice.

That's an impressively arrogant and ignorant statement. There are many circumstances involved. Many addicts have comorbodities, including other mental illnesses. Or are you saying that mental illness is something one can simply "decide" his way out of?

[Ducatamount]

Very sick is cancer. Heroin is poor choice after poor choice after poor choice.

I'm never sure (in many of his posts) if he's trolling or serious. 

[Howie]

So you guys think there could be a reason for  "poor choice after poor choice after poor choice"?  I agree.  Also, some straighten out without help, some don't.  Sometimes it is not good to be judgmental and better to show some compassion instead.  RIP Phillip Seymour Hoffman.

[hbliam]

Sounds like you have a good understanding of addiction.

I've interviewed hundreds of addicts. Every one of them chose to take drugs.

Everything in life is choices.

My point is, in my opinion, people that are "very sick"  are those that have no choice in the matter. No options, very little hope or no hope, no real choices. Addicts still have all three.

[hbliam]

That's an impressively arrogant and ignorant statement. There are many circumstances involved. Many addicts have comorbodities, including other mental illnesses. Or are you saying that mental illness is something one can simply "decide" his way out of?

I don't see anywhere that I said anything about mental illness.

[kopfjäger]

"People with an addiction do not have control over what they are doing, taking or using. Their addiction may reach a point at which it is harmful. Addictions do not only include physical things we consume, such as drugs or alcohol, but may include virtually anything, such abstract things as gambling to seemingly harmless products, such as chocolate - in other words, addiction may refer to a substance dependence (e.g. drug addiction) or behavioral addiction (e.g. gambling addiction)."

[hbliam]

I'm never sure (in many of his posts) if he's trolling or serious. 

I'm not eloquent and I apologize for that. I'm just stating my experiences.