Life after addiction

And so you move on.

It is not some 'namaste' revelation, nor is it some hopeful journey. Or at least, not right away.

Succumbing to addiction creates victims, not only in the addict themselves but in the sufferers who have to reap the damage sowed by the loved one who is an addict.

Relationships are burned away - indeed, trust is burned away and depending on how bad the damage done, the harm might be irreparable.  There could very well be trauma involved - has there been violence of sorts? fraud? Violation of trust, of one's safe haven, of one's home ?

These are all considerations that the community remains comfortably unaware of. It is considered that now that the addict has recognised his or her wrongs and, or gone into rehab, things will look up but this is most often not the case.

And so society moves on, unaware of the underworld that is in recovery. It could be argued that even the support services are unaware: there is much weeping and gnashing of teeth by the loved ones who have, after all, done nothing but sit by in anguish while their loved one threw themselves at self-destruction.

It is easy to feel alone, to feel unappreciated. But life has more to offer and addiction is not the end of the road: through recovery, it can be the start of a more fruitful life. Recovery does not have to be pointless or without direction.  Alec Baldwin once said that a friend told him: "You know, you don't have to feel this way tomorrow, unless you want to".  Or words to that effect.