Do you have any empathy for drug addicts?

Question

In my opinion life is all about choices and to many people make the wrong decisions. Give me your thoughts & vote in the poll.

ohshee · Accepted Answer

Life is a total experience when we are young we think we know it all all we are doing is experiencing new things but what kids do not understand is the things that we want to experience and explore has the power to take control of our bodies as young kids we think we know it all and we think just because we have a brain and we have that choice the same yes or no are we can stop and we can't stop they don't understand how powerful it really is we have an energy with inside of us it is our guide our teacher it warns us when things are going on but if our energy that person that we really are on the inside gets addicted to something it's it is very hard to get out of it because we as a whole person have a brain and a heart that's the only thing that we can control our energy is energy it is who we really are so we're fighting not only the drug but we are also fighting our energy wish I knew a better way to say it

Let me try it this way have you ever fallen in love with somebody and you broke up and your heart broke for a couple days a week a month and you move on
That's because you your heart and your brain are all one person controlling how you feel how you thinking what you do

Now have you ever fallen in love with somebody things didn't work out you walk away you think you can handle it but all of a sudden you can't eat you can't sleep you can't think about anything but that person and that's not like you it's because your energy fell in love with that person's energy that energy is controlling you you have to not only fight your energy to get to stop feeling the way that is feeling because you walked away from it you're okay with it but your energy has more power than you do when we die our energy gathers our soul our heart our mind our spirit our energy is one little orb of light it takes us into another light we are made of atoms and water electrons neutrons we are energy atoms broke down equals energy this whole world is made of energy that's how come we are all connected I wish people understood what energy is really all about but anyway that addicted person as to not only fight the alcohol or the drug or whatever it has to fight yourself your energy because if your energy is addicted to something it's more of a battle I have empathy for anybody and everybody no matter what it is just because we think we know it off that's a part of learning our life on this planet is one big experience. We need to experience as much as possible because that's who we really are and I cannot down fault anybody for wanting to explore our experience something and then become addicted to it because they don't even know that they're going to become addicted to it because they think they're stronger than that I will fight for that person I will help that person I've been that person

befuddle · Accepted Answer

Nope. You choose to do drugs and all that comes with it. You also choose when you want to quit. Telling a sob story and trying to play the victim isn't going to pull on my heart strings. If you want to do drugs, then do them. If you want to quit then quit. That's on you.

WhatTheHeckkkk · Accepted Answer

50/50, leaning towards yes, I do have empathy.

I struggled with drug addiction in the past, it was a coping mechanism for trauma. I don’t expect anyone to have “empathy” for me because I used it for coping, and I don’t expect anyone to have empathy for me, at all, in general. I completely take responsibility for my actions and know that it was my choice to start taking drugs. No doubt about that - it was a conscious choice to take them at first.

However, after that first few choices to take them, I started developing a dependency, which was out of my control. It felt like medicine you had to take for pain every day. It rewires all the chemicals in your brain, thus being considered a disease… A choice at first, then a disease. No one wants seeks out drugs and says “yeah, I want to be an addict.” No, that’s not how it works.

I stand 50/50 because I understand addiction. I’ve dealt with it, I’ve seen it, I have it. I have a genetic predisposition to addiction because both my parents were addicts. I am simply created that way. My parents started out taking drugs the same way I did - a coping mechanism for traumas. I personally empathize with that! I understand that.

I know it’s a choice at first, and you 100% create your own path in life. So, for whatever reason someone started taking drugs, it was their choice, they could have said no. But, again, after the first few “feel good” feelings that the drugs cause, it soon develops into a dependency that rewires your brain, thus is a disease. That is what I empathize with. I understand how hard it is can stop, I understand how low you have to go until you finally realize (or not), that you need to stop and get help. I, of all people, understand. I empathize with people who have been in my exact place in life.

ShaTTeredMasterpeace · Accepted Answer

People talk a lot about addiction without knowing what it really is and how it works. No one wakes up and chooses to be an addict. I have a very addictive personality and I figured that out at as a teenager. So I never tried hard drugs or anything because i knew the chances of me becoming addicted were high. Most people don't realize until it's too late. Addicts need help. Not to be judged and looked down on.

WhiteSteve · Answer

Definitely. Addiction a disease, not a shortcoming. I don’t think anyone envisions becoming an addict the first time they experiment with a substance of some kind, and I don’t think societal attitudes should punish them for mistakes of that nature. These people need help, not disdain, even if they haven’t found their way yet to realizing they need to help themselves.

Sometimes I think we have WAY too high of legitimate expectations of people’s personal responsibility. I mean, obviously, in a perfect world, we could expect people to go around making the correct decisions more often than not in their lives. But if we look around, this just clearly isn’t the case, in many areas, beyond things like substance abuse, so maybe it’s our own expectations that need adjustment, not others’ choices, so much. “Wish into one hand and piss into the other, let me know which hand fills up first”, as they say, lmao. I just believe in dealing with things as they come as dystopian reality and try to manage it from there. It’s nice to think everyone can be counted on for “correct” behavior, but I’d probably argue it’s the opposite, and we just need to lean into it and take it on as an issue as it’s currently presented.

CaptainOverthink · Answer

Not because they're addicts.
Because they're human.

It's a hell of a habit to be stuck in, bad calls and decisions letting themselves get hooked. Wasn't that way myself but seen some stupid shit.

I've done some diverse drugs myself, no opioids though, it's too addictive and not worth the risk. Did cannabis, Psycadelics and occationally mdma. Went on for about 5 years or so. Don't regret much at all. Wish I still could keep up the lifestyle.
Wasn't ever addicted though, in my opinion. It was a thing I did like once a month or so. As usual balance is everything, don't overdo it and do your research.

Was caught once at a party that was shut down in the deep Forest. It's pretty funny how the police uses their resources to chase elves in the forest for noise-complaints.
A few years later I got pulled over for speeding ( 12km/h), checked my register and took me in for testing. I wasn't high but if they can prove I was high within a few months it still counts.
Took my license.
Working to get it back right now.

Since then I realized that being in the police register will heighten the possability of getting tested to such a degree that it's no longer worth doing. So I quit it just like that.
Sober 7 months now, moved away and is starting over.

ChrisMaster69 · Answer

Yeah I do, I’ve known and currently know, drug addicts, alcoholics

No one really starts off down that route, can be a multitude of reasons.

it might be starting off small, just bit of weed, then on to something else and you get hooked along the way.

escapism, way of handling depression, mental health issues, depression.

I've a good friend who was addicted to coke and it was me that pretty much bullied her to attend Bridge Project for addicts.

I've also lost friends to drugs.

Its not a black and white thing with drug addiction.

LovingLoverReturned · Answer

Because I don't generalise
1) I'm empathetic lol (well i know this is an obvious answer)
2) I'm informed (opposite to ignorant)
Imagine being a child, like age 12, and someone secretly gives you something to try which they are trying. Parents aren't with their children 24/7... I've heard this is how many people become drug addicts. Even teens sometimes are at parties and don't even realise what they are taking. Teens can be stupid.. but, as someone who never partied or got in trouble , i still understand it is a part of culture... and to make it worse, young people ""tend" to misjudge the world to be their playground...

If a person is an adult and tries drugs, knowing all the risks... for fun, .. then no empathy... but i don't think it is often that someone reaches adulthood and suddenly decide to do drugs. They usually got a taste for it at a time in their life life they were most vulnerable and uninformed...

Redstang88 · Answer

Yeah in a lot of cases I do, but I haven’t always.
@WhiteSteve hit a lot of good points. Nobody sets out looking to be a desperate addict. We all wonder how someone could let themselves go that far, but it’s a slippery slope to say the least. The worse it gets, the more people you push away (if you have anybody in the first place), the more fucked up your life’s as a result, the more people turn to the only way they know how to cope.
After dating a girl with a pretty severe drinking problem and having struggled with that myself, I can feel for people that find themselves at rock bottom. We’ve all made poor choices in our lives, and while ultimately it is on us I think most people are at least worthy of trying

not_a_twinkie · Answer

Yup.
Addiction is a terrible thing and I've seen it first hand, not in the way you might imagine though. My mother is addicted to caffeine and smoked cigarettes for 25 years, my best friend's father was addicted to prescription pain meds and her brother is an alcoholic. I've had friends admit to being addicted to numerous soft drugs (mostly weed), and seen a neighbour waste away to an unknown addiction.
The only reason I don't have an addiction is because I've been around enough people to recognise the signs and know when to stop, but a lot of people don't.
You can't judge someone until you've been in their shoes

England4eva · Answer

Many drug addicts have experienced some form or another of sexual abuse as bd turn to drugs to self-medicate from the trauma. Check out the YouTube channel; soft white underbelly (I think this is the name)

Society is very easy to judge someone else’s life when it’s deemed undesirable. It’s very rare anyone undertakes any research of their own, before becoming to a socially acceptable opinion.

It’s not popular to stick up for people living on the streets. However, I don’t need to win the popularity vote to know it’s morally inhumane, to look down on those who were moulded into an awful lifestyle from dark childhoods, and a failed system.

Once hooked on drugs it’s not as simple as to just “stop taking them.” In fact, going cold turkey in many cases is extremely dangerous. People who are legitimate addicts need to be in rehab which costs hundreds of thousands and doesn’t always give results.

DarkCarousel · Answer

Yes, I do. There is a lot of research tied to linking addiction to childhood trauma and certain genes that show predisposition to addiction.
Unfortunately, violence often comes alongside that addiction. The addict that I loved tried to kill me. The addict that I loved reduced me to almost nothing because his need for a fix outweighed the safety of me and his loved ones.
I have a heart for those struggling with addiction because I’ve seen the pain within them— that which led to the need to try and numb the pain away. But I have to love and root for them from afar.

Kaneki05 · Answer

Unless someone forced them not really. But also I am not against drugs.
So I don't have empathy for a drug user they made that choice and carry on doing so, if they didn't they would of got off the drugs while not easy it's obviously doable since many have.
But also if someone wants to take drugs I ain't gonna judge them for it their choice their life, longs if there not hurting people while on the drugs or to get drugs then go ahead.

I think I would have more empathy for why they may of got into drugs in the first place rather than taking. Like one may take them because abused at some point I would feel empathy they've been abused, not empathy for the drug taking. If that makes sense.

Red_Arrow · Answer

Many addicts started by being prescribed strong drugs to alleviate extreme pain. Often after surgery, drugs are all that make the pain bearable. For some undergoing treatments for things like cancer, drugs are prescribed to stop the pain or to keep them from throwing up their insides. Too many possible ways the people can be hooked on drugs with no other choices. So I am not one to assume the worst in every user. But I do see that most addicts caused their own problems. I just don't look down on every addict.

DizzyDesii · Answer

I feel there are so many options to cure stress or whatever may be the issue. If someone takes drugs by choice, I do not
feel sorry for them. If someone for example is kidnapped into prostitution or something and doped up and asking to escape or needing help getting out of the business, I feel bad because they did not choose to walk that path. I’d only show extreme empathy if someone in my immediate family were to walk the path of choosing to be on drugs. I’d try to get them away from it and into rehab and so on. But if they continue to leave rehab or if they are not trying to help themselves, i won't continue hurting myself to get them back on track. I’d just pray and hope for the best

Anonymous · Answer

I grew up with me dad saying they're bad people cuz they could have taken other choices, blah blah blah and they're lost and my mom saying recovery is hard but there's people who recover. My conclusion was that they tried to feel better in the wrong way and end up with a hard life. Last year I met my best friend and after a while he told me he used to be a drug addict and he's such a lovely man, I would have never thought he went through such a thing. That reinforced my point of view, but taught me that recovery is only possible if they truly want to get better. Sadly many don't find a reason to get better and that's the problem.

Rangers · Answer

Yes, I of course want them to stop doing them and succeed but I can't force them to stop. Neither can we as a society, we can make getting drugs harder to targeting suppliers but they'll find a way to sneak through the cracks and get drugs. I'm not in favor of criminal penalties for people who buy drugs, and neither is our justice system if the arrest records are anything to go by as almost nobody has possession or purchase as their primary offense and the most common sentence for such behavior is treatment.

Guido · Answer

None at all. Doing drugs was a choice and there are consequences for poor choices. The only people that deserve help are the ones injured and get hooked on their prescription meds. Only get help once. If they go back to it hen it's a choice.
I may be a hard ass but I am all for letting drug users die from their overdoses instead of spending a ton of money on them so they can go buy more drugs the next day. Eventually the drug dealers will run out of customers. Maybe it will teach people to make better choices if they want to live.

Vampirelover_12 · Answer

To those who voted no, let me educate you. Some of them use drugs to cope with horrible things, to make them feel good or happy. The brain releases feel-good chemicals whilst they're high or drunk. Maybe they were raped, witnessed a murder, were in a war, etc. Not justifying it, but people cope in different ways.

So think before you answer when it comes to these.

NathanDavis · Answer

Yes... because being kind, helpful, supportive and understanding and sometimes the difference in their life... is also, a choice you can make...

Apple1996 · Answer

a lot of times yes. Most of them have some type of reason to why they got into using drugs like bad childhood, traumatic life events, sometimes addiction is purely in their genes, got addicted from being medicated in the hospital, being depressed. Like I get that other people have been in those situations and don't get addicted but they did and I feel bad that they had to turn to drugs cause of those reasons.

dustybiker · Answer

People can be predisposed to addictions without knowing it. Given a short and simple prescription for strong pain meds can lead to a world of trouble never asked for.
Not fighting back is against my personality though. I can understand them, I don’t usually get along with a give up/beaten down attitude.
It’s respect from a distance.

weysally · Answer

no I don't, I know every one has a choice, but there are enough warnings out there,
like my dad says about smoking, back then it was seen as clamorous to smoke, and no warnings, but now there are warnings if people want to ignore them so be it but don't ask me to pick up the pieces

Jessica405 · Answer

No. No empathy at all. Yer pays yer money and takes yer choice. Their decision to get involved with drugs. There would be no valid reason for them to become involved. I prefer reality and life's collidoscope of events to bother with oblivion in a haze of drugs.

blackgaletiger · Answer

To a certain degree yes as I understand there are many variables and backstories behind every user. However, as you stated its a choice. At one point if a person has made a concrete choice then there is no need for empathy just acceptance of what is as this is the situation they choice

Miristheiss · Answer

There are some exceptions here and there but overall... no, I have no sympathy.

Most of them chose to start taking drugs. My sympathies would rest more with those who had injuries or surgeries and were prescribed pain killers and got hooked that way.

Daniela1982 · Answer

Everyone makes a wrong choice in their life almost every day. Drugs, booze, sex, are just a few. The people that probably have the most empathy are those who were also into those addictions but were able to extricate themselves out of it.

cth96190 · Answer

No, I do not have empathy for drug addicts.
I deal with addicts every day through my work in private security.
Drug users become that way because they are mentally defective. Their psychological weakness and addictive personality are expressed through drug use.
The world and the gene pool would be better without the addicts.
My solution for junkies is a Final Solution.

humanearth · Answer

I have watch many friends suffer from drug abuse, street and legal.

I even had friends that OD and died.

I never once fell victim to drugs. I always flew the straight and narrow way.

But I did have my heavy drinking days in my college years. That came and gone, now I live as a survivalists of the lead paint, drinking out the hose, no seat belt wearing and carburetor days

laurieluvsit · Answer

Yes! ... I wrote a myTake about it

DownIndaDumpz · Answer

No because I'm one, not addicted to technical drugs but... I know the reason I keep doing it is cos of lack of self control and because I don't want to stop enough... If we really wanted to stop doing something enough we would... So if someone doesn't stop and keeps doing something.. I look at them as weak and need to have self control...

Anonymous · Answer

Mostly no unless they are addicted because their mothers made them addicted by being an addic while pregnant or by giving them drugs as kids. That’s the only times I would feel sad about an addict.

All others choose to become that so nothing to feel bad about them for. They wanted that.

AndrésC64 · Answer

Absolutely. Like you said life is about choices and sometimes people make the wrong ones. With drugs the wrong choice can be extremely difficult to overcome. My best friend was an addict, she would say that she still is, like once an alcoholic always an alcoholic. But she's managed to kick the habit and move on to a better life. Not everyone is able to do that for various reasons.

noohair · Answer

Very few people understand addiction. No one plans on being an addict. But the chemical changes in the brain can be very powerful. I am in recovery but I will always be an addict.

Charliefretz329 · Answer

Definitely, it’s a chemical addiction and we all are chemically different. What makes a person obsess over a substance like a thirsty man 2 days in the desert without water is dependent on their unique personal body and brain composition. I feel for any addict, drug or otherwise, it’s terrible.

Just_call_me_Levi · Answer

Very much so, yes! It's not always a choice, and even when it is, we all make stupid decisions all the time. Some just so happened to cause more harm than others.

It's also no motivation at all to seek help and stop doing drugs when you don't feel your loved ones are there to support you all the way.

FreyaRed · Answer

Making wrong decision once isn't necessarily a sigh of mental limitation, some things can't be predicted without experience. Repeating wrong decisions is the opposite and I don't think someone deserves empathy for stupidity.

Evilbunnyfoofoo · Answer

Yes. It is very easy to get caught up in drugs and alcohol. Especially in todays life of massive stress, poor education and social media. I do not have sympathy for those that cannot seem to do the work to kick the addiction when that chance is offered and supported. At that point it’s just run away self gratification.

OneManOnly01 · Answer

Yeah they’re not addicted on purpose. Yes I know it’s their fault for trying drugs in the first place but once your addicted to anything, it’s really tough to quit

Bratsondanielle · Answer

If people decide to take drugs, that's on them. They'll face the consequences. What I hate is the tax dollars that go to rehab. That could be spent better on people who are worth something

sage2021 · Answer

It was their choice. I had the same stuff offered to me and I always said no thanks!

Levin · Answer

I have empathy for anyone who wants to get their life in order. But when they're in that state of mind, they can act pretty terribly.

exitseven · Answer

Nobody forced these losers to use drugs. If they OD and somebody brings them back with narcan they will just live to do more B&Es. I know a few drug addicts and they will never give it up.

spiralshape · Answer

Only if it's marijuana or cigarette or alcohol addicts, because they are not as harmful as other drugs. As a straight man, I'd still rather kiss a man who doesn't smoke or drink than a woman who does crack, cocaine, or reads Nazi content

ticonderoga2 · Answer

Are you a mother or wife or myriad other descriptions? Why would there not be empathy? Regardless of their decision to do what they do, do you not want them to be normal? Or normal as can be?

Hispanic-Cool-Guy · Answer

Yes for the most part. Some are victims of circumstances that took them down a very ugly road.

No drug addict while growing up dream was to grow up to be stuck on getting high and looking like total 💩

qwert1234 · Answer

Yes and no. In general: Addicts who go to rehab earns my respect for trying. Addicts who stay addicts or relapses, not so much.

Surely · Answer

None whatsoever! Unless somehow it wasn’t their choice to become one! Why are they entitled to free narcan but diabetics have to pay for drugs to keep them alive?

Sevenpointfive · Answer

i don't know why i wouldn't. i think the question needs clarification to your meaning

jimmy2 · Answer

All my family died due to drug and alcohol abuse, 4 brothers

GoodGuyBreakingBad · Answer

I feel bad for drug addicts if they are trying to get help but there are times they just don't care

SuccessfulHornDog · Answer

Yes, a little. They may have made bad decisions that ended up with addiction but it is very hard for them to fix it now

jasco · Answer

While I understand how easy it is to get addicted to certain things, at the end of the day you need to realize you have a problem

Juxtapose · Answer

Generally no, they made that choice to put it in their body. If they don't look up what it can do to them then that is on them.

888theGreat · Answer

not much. No one forces people to start using drugs

Anonymous · Answer

I don’t have empathy or sympathy for drug addicts. Which is the same reason I don’t give money to homeless, because 95% of them are addicts. At least in America.

Pete671 · Answer

Yes you never know what problems people have had in life,,,

LadiesFavoriteToy · Answer

Nope. People know drugs are bad for you and you have the brain power to refuse it all. Life is all about choices.

Waldoe · Answer

young adults like to try all the forbidden things at least once... it is a tempting and dangerous path...

007kingifrit · Answer

compassion can make us feel good... but if used excessively becomes the enemy of clean streets and safe homes.

bolverk · Answer

No, where and what they are is because of their choices

driven159 · Answer

You do it to yourself same as alcoholics self-induced

EnglishEuropean · Answer

Yes I do. They've made poor life choices but anyone can make a mistake.

Yellovv · Answer

No, because same like you said, their choices their mistakes, that's doesn't makes them right, most of them are trouble maker...

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