Stop the "Junkie" Stigma

Have you ever seen a junkie in their natural habitat? Maybe you've stumbled across some tweeker talking to themselves as they dance happily to music in the street that isn't there. Or maybe you've seen the dope head nodding off in his car in a Taco Bell parking lot. Congratulations, you've seen a junkie, lol. But, junkies are just homeless, smelly losers who are out of their minds on crazy drugs. They can be a well dressed bussiness owner or a suburban mom of three girls. Just take a step inside your local rehab and have a look around, you'll people of all races, ages, economic backgrounds, religions, genders and sexual orientations. Why? Because, addiction doesn't discriminate.

Addiction ruins countless lives and the lives of their families, that's not something we need to argue. But, what I want to do is end the stigma of being an addict. In our society as soon as you use the word addict, clueless people get pictures in their heads straight out of the show, "Intervention". They imagine morally defective losers who can't hold down a job, can't take care of their basic needs and don't care about anything other than their drug of choice. But, what if I told you that all those things are just symptoms of a larger issue deep within in their soul that they are just masking with drugs and alcohol. We addicts are not defective, we are sick and our sickness tries to convince us that we aren't sick.

Don't get me wrong, dealing with a person in active addiction is a challenging test of patience. We are stubborn, selfish, delusional people. Our drug of choice will make us do things that we never thought we would do and took us to new lows everyday. We were slaves to an evil dictator. We thought we had found our cure only to become increasingly sicker. Now, I'm not saying you need to feel sorry for us. In many of our cases no one forced us to take drugs and we given many chances to make different, healthier choices. There is a large difference between compassion and empathy and pity, which may be outside the scope of this post, but just think about it.

The person you see lying on a park bench with a handle of vodka next to them doesn't see another way out. No matter what they say, (and they will try to convince you otherwise), they are chemically dependent on their substance and can't stop. They tried to feel less pain and instead, brought more suffering down on themselves. They are hurting, both physically and emotionally. Many addicts suffer from co-occuring disorders ranging from depression to schizophrenia. Mental health carries it's own set of stigma and judgements that need to be addressed as well, and things like therapy and medication can be far too expensive for someone to afford.

Those addicts who live "normal" lives with jobs, homes and families are hurting too. They are just better at hiding it, or their life circumstances have made it easier to hide. But the single mother of three girls who has a well paying job, but who is also addicted to stimulants, can be in just as much pain as the homeless veteran. We as a society need to put down our preconcieved notions of what a person with addiction is "supposed" to look like and just offer help. Now yes, there are addicts and alcoholics who are not ready for help (I've been there), but there are many who are ready and simply have no access. I look at the world we live in today, which is so full of hate and anger and I pray that we develope compassion. Remember, that junkie on the side on the street has been through more than you may realize and deserves the love and compassion of Jesus.