At the time
of this writing, a friend is frantically searching for her son who has been
missing since last night. Today, it is storming on PEI, which does nothing to
ease the stress of this family.
A few days ago, another friend was feeling
empty because she had to let her son go even though she knew he was taking a
path full of pain and suffering and even death.
These are
just two examples of the worry and pain that families deal with on a regular
basis when their children are addicted to drugs. We watch our children slowly
kill themselves knowing that we cannot stop it. The stress is enough to make
you want to die sometimes. This is why many parents of addicts end up with
depression, high blood pressure, and various other health issues.
As for the
addicts, they are also suffering. Most look like death. Oh, I know that it is hard to feel sorry for
them, especially if you don’t buy into the “addiction is a disease” model (and
even if you do!). The symptoms of the disease are VERY undesirable. Let’s face
it. Addicts are hard to love (unless you are their parents). It is hard to feel
sympathy for someone who is lying, stealing, and hurting family and friends,
among other things. I get that! I really
do. In fact, until it happened to us, I felt the same way. I thought they should be able to quit. They
just didn’t want to. I thought they were all being selfish for hurting their
families. I held these beliefs because I didn’t do anything to educate myself about
the disease – until addiction hit home.
When your
child has something he could die from, you soon learn everything you can about
it. I have been a mom on a mission for a few years now and I’ve learned a lot! I
recently watched a video called “Pleasure Unwoven” by Dr. Kevin McAuley. It is
the best video I have ever seen for explaining the disease of addiction. Dr.
McAuley is a leading expert on addiction and a recovering addict.
The video
is one hour long and will open your eyes. Please take the time to watch it.
With the addiction epidemic on PEI (and elsewhere) we need to all understand
what we are dealing with so we can properly address the problem.
You may
also be interested in this article by Russell Brand called "My Life Without Drugs" where he discusses his experience
with addiction.
For those of you who take action (watch videos, read articles, comment, share) when you read my posts, I thank you with all my heart. Knowing that people (like you) care enough about my son - and others like him - to do something gives me the strength and courage to keep on educating and trying to make a difference. Thank you!
God bless,
Rose
