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Why does it seem like the majority of people think problems are caused by drugs rather than problems causing people to turn to drugs? (lemmy.world)
submitted 2 months ago* by to c/asklemmy@lemmy.ml
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I was never heavy into drugs but I smoked weed a fair bit in my 20s, knew a lot of other daily users of weed as well as some harder drugs. I don't think I ever came across a person that randomly decided to do drugs for no reason one day and got hooked. They were all people who had pretty messed up problems in their life that were too complex for them to fix on their own.

So it confuses me when people instantly assume that someone is in a bad situation due to drugs rather than them using drugs to deal with a bad situation. And yes I know drug abuse makes problems worse the vast majority of the time but it's not what I see as the root issue in a lot of cases, the drug use is a symptom/coping mechanism for people that society have let fall through the cracks.

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[โ€“] 20 points 2 months ago* (11 children)

The drugs mess up your brain chemistry. Yes, they were in a bad place and did drugs. Being in a bad place didn't make them engage in prostitution, break into cars, share needles, sleep outside, not brushing their teeth, not shower, etc. The drugs did that, and the drugs will keep them in that state until they hit rock bottom or die. You are correct that economic blight causes drug addiction, but drug addiction causes peoples' lives to get so much worse.

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  • [โ€“] [S] 20 points 2 months ago (7 children)

    I'm in no way saying drugs will fix problems (majority of the time), I'm saying drug abuse should be treated as a symptom and not a cause

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  • [โ€“] 11 points 2 months ago (6 children)

    It's both, but you can't address the mental health and economic circumstances until the person gets clean. They're not mentally able while they're on drugs.

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  • [โ€“] 15 points 2 months ago* (4 children)

    I think not addressing the mental health and economic substances until they are "clean", will make it a lot harder for them to get clean

    I don't understand why we need to pick one or the other when thorough and holistic interventions would work a lot better

    I agree with your overall point, this is more of a nitpick on the wording

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  • [โ€“] 5 points 2 months ago

    I agree with you. I had a drinking problem. I tried AA and other methods to stop drinking and they never even came close to helping. One day I discovered that for me, alcohol and opiates did not mix and made me violently ill without fail.

    Using that to my advantage, I became addicted to opiates, knowing I couldn't drink while on them. It broke my mental addiction to alcohol a few months after the physical addiction was gone. Breaking the mental addiction was the critical part. Once I knew I no longer wanted to drink, I knew it no longer had control over me.

    Breaking the opiate addiction afterwards was easy because I never really wanted to do it in the first place. I never had the mental addiction. I just drank until the opiate physical addiction was gone, then stopped drinking because I already didn't want to, it was only a tool being used.

    I don't recommend anyone try this method though. It very likely will kill anyone who attempts it. I wanted to share because for me, it confirms what you said, forcing an addict to get 'clean' will only make it harder for them to do so. In my opinion.

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  • [โ€“] -5 points 2 months ago (2 children)

    Because if you give them money, they're going to spend it on drugs. If you give them an apartment, they're going to destroy it and not care, because they're on drugs. I understand it'd be "nice" if addiction treatment wasn't hard, but it is.

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  • [โ€“] 4 points 2 months ago

    I agree, but I meant that both interventions need to happen at the same time since having regular contact with support and being able to rely on them (instead of drugs) while getting clean will make it more likely that they succeed.

    I feel like we might be pushing for the same point, and are talking about different sides of it

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  • [โ€“] 2 points 2 months ago

    If you give them money and they spend it on drugs, maybe it's because they still did not have enough money to believe they could live a normal life.

    If they destroy an apartment given to them, maybe that apartment was cheaply made and not fit for humans in the first place. Maybe if it were worth caring about, they would care about it.

    Mental health treatment โ‰  addiction treatment

    An addict is more likely to stop being an addict once their normal human needs are fulfilled.

    A mentally ill person does not stop being mentally ill, unless a cure exists. Their symptoms can be mitigated or reduced at best.

    Pay attention to my use of the words "maybe" and "more likely", these are not absolutes and that's most of my issue with your comment. If you give SOME of them money, they'll spend it on drugs. If you give Some of them an apartment, they will destroy it. Others however, might spend that money on an apartment and nice clothes to interview for jobs with.

    These are all just my opinions. I am someone who has destroyed apartments, spent money inappropriately on drugs and alcohol, and did not care about anything for a decade unless it modified my state of consciousness. It took love and patience from a couple people and it wasn't easy for them. It took a couple years and wasn't cheap, but I think it worked and I am lucky to have those people make the effort. I believe it's a solution that should be attempted more. Giving someone money or an apartment is a short term fix that ignores the problems. Giving someone love and patience is a long term solution that difficult but has better odds the longer it is done. There's always exceptions though, some people are just fucked.

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  • [โ€“] 5 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

    Being in a bad place has absolutely resulted in plenty of people turning to sex work and sleeping outside. I've had to do the latter completely sober.

    Yeah drugs can make the situation worse, but it's really easy to be in a financially desperate position and turn to drugs to cope with what you're having to do to get through it.

    The reality is that drug addiction, financial destitution, and homelessness are complicated and there are multiple categories of people in these positions. Drugs will often make the situation worse, and can be the incitement to the downward spiral, but for plenty the drugs are more of a symptom than a cause.

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  • [โ€“] 3 points 2 months ago

    Thank you for a sane take. So many people online seem to not understand the reality of things like drug addiction, alcoholism, homelessness, etc. None of these are quick fixes and all of these spiral into one another.

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