Drugs, Fear, & Your Christmas Card List ~ There’s Hope for Those Who Suffer

This is the abbreviated menu for the withdrawal symptoms associated with Kratom, Morphine, Codeine, Benzo, and Valium, among other pharmaceuticals. According to rehabs.com, “the symptoms of drug withdrawal are perhaps the worst part of the vicious cycle. They keep you trapped in chemical dependency, seemingly ensuring that you’ll never stop taking your drug of choice.”

Although society may like to think of the war on drugs as a battle that happens in dark alleys among people that aren’t found on Christmas card lists, this is not the case. Just a few months ago, an article entitled 42 Addiction Statistics and Facts to Know in 2019 shared a list of devastating truths. Two of these are as follows:

• Opioid painkillers account for 38.2% of drug overdose fatalities
• Doctors prescribed 191,218,272 opioid prescriptions in 2017

Drug addiction can and often does happen accidentally. Those struggling with chronic pain are prescribed medicine so their pain doesn’t steal them from their children’s school plays, homework assignments, and memories of hide-and-go-seek. Patients listen to their doctor diligently and take every painkiller prescribed, thinking they’re following their doctor’s post-surgery directions perfectly. Examples of well-meaning people falling into the drug addiction abyss could continue for the length of this piece.

The point is that it’s extremely possible that someone on your Christmas card list is struggling with a drug addiction they didn’t see coming and now are too under the spell of the substance and too fearful of the withdrawal symptoms to stop the addiction. These aren’t faces of strangers. Victims of drug addiction can be people sitting next to you at your school’s PTO meeting and that you shake hands with at church. Neighbors. Friends. Family. Coworkers. Addiction never discriminates, and it’s often surprising just how well and how long it remains hidden.

For those who struggle in silence and are embarrassed and ashamed of the slippery drug-infused slope they slid down, know that you are your worst critic and that you are one decision away from turning your life into a monumental inspiration. After all, courage and character are often best measured during times when someone reacts to darkness not when someone dances in the light.

If you’re reading this and you struggle with drug addiction of any kind, seek help. There are facilities, specialists, and products, such as AminoPowerAdvanced, that are proven to help people with both their physical and psychological withdrawals. Make your fear of living a life chained to a drug more powerful than your fear of its withdrawal symptoms.

Life is unapologetically and unsystematically stolen every day. Each of us who are given the opportunity to live a new day should feel a certain level of responsibility to live it wisely because doing that is how we honor those who have not been given that same opportunity. Never be ashamed to ask for help. Always assume others want you to live your best life and will support your road to sobriety because those who matter most in your life always do.

Author: Evelyn Lindell
Certified Health & Wellness Coach