The 5 Myths Of Addiction

Misconceptions about addicts are a barrier to recovery, says this veteran alcohol and drug counselor.

- Mary Spaulding

A mom sat sobbing in my counseling office. When she was able to compose herself, she whispered, “I started drinking heavily two days after my daughter’s funeral, and I just couldn’t stop.” Her daughter was in elementary school when she died of cancer.

While working in the inpatient chemical dependency unit at a hospital in Oklahoma City, I met a man who’d been given an ultimatum by his boss and his wife: Either get help for his drinking or he’d be fired and divorced. The man insisted he didn’t have a problem.

Another client was in a relapse prevention group I ran. She knew she had a problem. Her kids had been taken by social services and placed with their grandparents because of her drug abuse. She missed them desperately. She said she had to stay sober to get them back.

I’m a licensed alcohol and drug counselor. In my 25 years of working with people with substance use disorders, I have yet to meet a so-called skid row bum. No gutter drunks either. Or hardcore street junkies.

The people I treat don’t fit the stereotypes about addicts. They’re people like you and me—rich, poor, young, old, married, divorced, from all ethnic backgrounds, each with his or her own unique and heart-wrenching story. They are devastated by their addictions and ashamed of the harm they’ve caused. They want to stop but don’t know how. They come to people like me for help.

Here’s one thing I’ve found that does not help addicts: those stereotypes, what I call the myths about addiction. Addicts are popularly depicted as weak-willed quasi-criminals indifferent to the trail of destruction they leave in their wake.