An addict typically does not like being an addict. After a while, the lifestyle a person lives when addicted to alcohol and drugs becomes very dark. It causes the person to be someone that they are ashamed of, which drives the vicious cycle of addiction because they have to run from the guilt and embarrassment.

The goal is to be as numb as possible at all times. So, then one would ponder on why they don’t just stop that cycle. It’s hard to understand addiction unless you have been in the shoes of an addict or alcoholic before. It is easy for family and friends to just think that it’s a phase or they will eventually get tired of it. Sometimes they even enable them to avoid the situation. This is just a way for them to live with the fact that there loved one is struggling.

The only way to fix this unknown void that they are filling with drugs and alcohol is to go to treatment and handle this fully. Don’t just assume that it will end because it will leave you with very tragic consequences that no one wants to go through.

For more information on how to handle addiction, go to narconon-suncoast.org/blog/why-cant-they-just-stop.html. If you are in need of a referral to a treatment center, call us at 877-841-5509.

Shauna Krout

Community Relations

Director, Narconon

Suncoast Drug and

Alcohol Rehabilitation

and Education

Clearwater, FL