Relapse is very dangerous. However, relapse can be a symptom of the disease. Sometimes there are multiple relapses before you get sober and stay sober.
David SheffRead
This stigma associated with drug use--the belief that bad kids use, good kids don't, and those with full-blown addiction are weak, dissolute, and pathetic--has contributed to the escalation of use and has hampered treatment more than any single other factor.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The stigma surrounding drug use hinders effective treatment and contributes to the problem.
David Sheff's quote highlights the damaging stigma associated with drug use, which erroneously categorizes individuals based on their drug habits and exacerbates the cycle of addiction. This stigma not only fosters an environment of judgment and misunderstanding but also obstructs individuals from seeking the help they need, ultimately worsening the drug crisis in society.
Themes
StigmaDrug UseAddictionTreatmentPerception
In practice
Example use cases
During a workshop on addiction recovery, this quote can be used to emphasize the need for compassionate understanding.
More from David Sheff
All quotes →If you subscribe to the idea that # addiction is a disease, it is startling to see how many of these children - paranoid, anxious, bruised, tremulous, withered, in some cases psychotic - are seriously ill, slowly dying. We'd never allow such a scene if these kids had any other disease. They would be in a hospital, not on the streets.
David SheffRead
If you love someone who's an addict and their use is life-threatening, you don't wait until they hit bottom because that can mean that they're going to die. You have to do everything you can to get them in treatment.
David SheffRead
Anyone who has lived through it, or those who are now living through it, knows that caring about an addict is as complex and fraught and debilitating as addiction itself.
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Through Nic's drug addiction, I have learned that parents can bear almost anything....I shock myself with my ability to rationalize and tolerate things once unthinkable. The rationalizations escalate....It's only marijuana. He gets high only on weekends. At least he's not using hard drugs.
David SheffRead
Along with the joy of parenthood, with every child comes a piercing vulnerability. It is at once sublime and terrifying
David SheffRead
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