There is no Such Thing as an Inactive Addict.

I don't believe in the inactive addict. Even if they are not using, their brain still functions as an addict... but I want to know more.

Once again I am researching and reading about drug addiction. I feel like it is something that I always come back to... wanting to understand more so I know how to handle addicts more, because once an addict... always an addict. Though they may not abuse drugs they still have the personality and character traits of an addict. 

Every time I research I am reassured, I love being educated. And no matter where I go lately I find that this is something that I am faced with. 

Today I read about the addicts tool belt. No matter if they are 'active' or not, they fall back on certain traits when they are overwhelmed or feel as though they cannot cope with what is going on around them. I have found these traits to all be true when dealing with addicts, no matter their addiction.... 

Addicts try to rationalize what they are doing to cope with life. They focus on deception, if no one asks what they are doing, they aren't really 'lying'. Little do they know or can comprehend, they are lying, they are lying to themselves and those that love them, they are deceiving their loved ones by breaking promises... they are lying to themselves by convincing themselves it's 'ok' to slip up just once... and this leads into the third trait... justification. This one I have witnessed so many times. They try to justify what they are taking, many times I've heard, "Well, this drug isn't as addictive as what I used to take... so it's okay." 

If you have to sneak it.... it's wrong. If you have to do any of these things (coping traits) to make what you are doing feel okay, it's wrong. But to an addict, I feel sometimes they lie so much to themselves that they don't know right and wrong anymore. 

Loving someone like this is just devastating. Because how do you know what else they are lying about? This is something that I am still researching. I feel like it is a different struggle for each loved one, whether a spouse, a parent, a sibling, etc. How do you love past the pain of knowing their limitations. 

In the mean time, knowledge is power and so is unconditional love. And you can always give love. That will never hurt you.

~

“Over time, hidden truths morph in the dark soil of deceit into something much worse.” 

― Patti Callahan Henry